You’re already using “ao” to say at the or, to the, but it has another entirely different meaning when used together with a verb in the infinitive. When I first started hearing people say this I didn’t even notice t since it’s just an “ow” before of a verb. I though it was some weird slang….
Read more...Forming the Conditional in Portuguese is the English equivalent of would or could. To a language instructor, this tense is known as “the future of the preterite”. We just call it, THE CONDITIONAL. Use it whenever you want to say would or could in the FUTURE (only). It’s not used for the past as we…
Read more...Use I think the Portuguese Imperative is the_most_confusing verb tense to understand. I try and steer beginners far, far away from it because: Brazilians do not use this form with any consistency. What I really mean to say here is, they follow the rules of grammar, but they switch between the regular and the tu…
Read more...Those of you that are already comfortable with the differences between SER & ESTAR are ready for this: ESTAR-the definitive reference. I wanted to do a review of all its uses (ie, verb tenses) in all it’s GLORY. *In order of importance (use) the present > eu estou (conversational= tô) > você está (conversation =…
Read more...TO WISH FOR / THAT / TO in Portuguese I though something was wrong with my dictionary when I couldn’t find the Portuguese verb to wish for. Such a basic thing. It’s as if there were no verb for to want. Maybe wishing is an innately american thing. Or perhaps Brazilians are just content and…
Read more...Use The future subjunctive is used to talk about future actions that are not completely sure to happen. Such as, As soon as I get off work, I’ll call you. When I get to the beach, we’ll go surfing. If you talk to Raquel, tell her I’m at home. In portuguese these become, Assim que…
Read more...In the previous post we talked about this verb tense also. But, since many people commented that they want to see more examples of this particular example, we are doing some more! And BTW, only language professors need to know these categories of verb tenses. You only need to know that this is one of…
Read more...Advanced Portuguese Subjunctive The thing about using if in Portuguese, is that it usually brings up the subjunctive. The subjunctive mood scares people. In English we have it so easy. We can say for example, if you want to go with me… and it can mean if you want to go now, or in the…
Read more...In English we say for example, “Get yourself ready, quickly” or – “He explained the rules to me, rudely.” These are called Adverbs of Manner because they express the manner in which something happened. Just as with other Portuguese Adverbs these always ad emphasis and emotion. They are usually trailer-hitched onto the end of a…
Read more...Speak in the present perfect. You use it all the time to say for example, “I’ve been working” “We’ve been traveling” or, “What have been doing?” It’s all about the been! To use this verb tense (the present perfect indicative) all you need to do is connect ter with any past participle of a verb….
Read more...My wife just asked me to translate this from English to Portuguese. ‘What?’, I said. Turns out, ‘Juweet’ = ‘did you eat?’ Oh. And we say it all the time. True. It reminded me of the many, many confusing Portuguese language-transformations /convolutions that I hear everyday. If you’re trying to get to an advanced portuguese…
Read more...To make a conversation flow we use conjunctions. You do it all_the_time. Conclusivas: Indicam relação de conclusão. > pois (posposta ao verbo), logo, portanto, então, por isso, por conseguinte, por isto, assim, etc. Exemplos: >> Ele bebeu bem mais do que poderia; logo, ficou embriagado. > Aditivas > Adversativas > Alternativas > Explicativas
Read more...The previous posts in this series about conjuctions: > Conclusivas > Aditivas > Adversativas > Alternativas Explicativas: Expressam a relação de explicação, razão ou motivo. > que, porque, porquanto, pois (before the verb). Exemplos: >> Ele não entra porque está sem tempo. >> Eu resolvi limpar a janela que fica suja quando chove. >> Ele vai à praia pois está de férias….
Read more...Spectacular Conjunctions, part 3 Alternativas: Como o seu nome indica, expressam uma relação de alternância, seja por incompatibilidade dos termos ligados ou por equivalência dos mesmos. > ou… ou, ou, ora… ora, já… já, quer… quer, etc. Exemplos: >> Ou ela, ou eu.>>> It’s either me or her. >> Você vai ter que comer tudo, quer você…
Read more...Fabulous Conjunctions, part 2 In this second post we present for your learning pleasure, the adversativas — the glue that bonds us. Adversativas: Indicam uma relação de oposição bem como de contraste ou compensação entre as unidades ligadas. >>Adversativas show a relationship of opposition and contrast. Também pode gerar um sentido de consequência a algo…
Read more...Are they calling you a ‘nota dez’ or simply a ‘um-sete-um’ -? You better know. Brazilians love to use numbers with hidden meanings. Let’s look at the most common; zero = brand, spanking, new. > Ele ganhou um carro zero para trabalho. 10= really, really good. > Ela é linda, inteligente e simpatica — Ela…
Read more...One of the toughest things to get used to in this language is how you ‘ask’ for things. I mean, in a polite way — like when you’re requesting something from a store clerk. We dare used to saying for example, ‘I would like…’ / ‘May I have…’ / ‘Could you please give me a…
Read more...In Portuguese there are several ways to talk about the future, each with varying shades of meaning. The present subjunctive is used to show that some idea or action is hypothetical.
Read more...Use In general, The subjunctive tense is used when the action you’re talking about has some degree of uncertainty. The imperfect subjunctive is used for actions that are very unlikely to happen — or to have occured. The imperfect subjunctive is sometimes called, the past subjunctive – that’s because it often talks about things that were…
Read more...In Portuguese there are several ways to refer to something that happened in the past, each with varying shades of meaning. The present perfect indicative (!) includes expressions like ‘I have been going out every night’. Use it when talking about action that has been happening (and still is).
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