“Gringo” is not a bad word in Brazil. It’s used as a kind word for any foreigner. DO NOT be offended when someone calls you a gringo! In these next two dialogs we’ll learn some very useful new vocabulário. Whenever you’re getting new vocab in a story with rich context, it’s supremely memorable! Article: Contextual…
Read more...The verb FALTAR in Portuguese is used to describe a lack or shortage of something. It’s very commonly used with expressions “a falta” and “em falta”. a falta, em falta Using Faltar It is pronounced as “fawlt-AH”, similar to the English word “halt”. It is often used to describe current or past shortages, with the…
Read more...The Portuguese verb TOMAR can be confusing. The problems comes from the fact that it can take the meaning of to take or to drink or to consume. It’s almost the same thing as beber. In general, Brazilians use tomar when talking about taking something that will become part of their being – that will…
Read more...Dar para This is an extension of our post about the many uses of the verb DAR. DAR + para = A beautiful pair. There’s something deeply satisfying about using DAR together with para to say things like, Is he a good kisser? Is that restaurant decent? Is it fixable? ~ you just need to…
Read more...Pode ser : maybe, could be, possible You hear this quite a lot in Brazil! You’re literally saying: to be able to be. Pode ser! And that seems a bit strange – at first. I’m sure that learning to say “maybe” feels strange to english learners as well. » Maybe. Could be. Possibly. » Maybe…
Read more...I’ve been writing about how de hooks-up with certain verbs to change meaning or say specific things. Coisa linda, não é? Now, let’s look at what de does when coupled with with the words antes & depois. I’m going to avoid the grammar-talk and not even use the word adverb again EXCEPT for this excerpt…
Read more...This was going to be an intermediate level post, but this phrase is so popular that it’s important for everyone to know how to use it. Right away! Pode deixar is one of those phrases that finds it’s way into just about every conversation here. Pode deixar: PODER (to be able to,can) + DEIXAR (to…
Read more...The Portuguese preposition de shows up everywhere. As you know, I DISLIKE digging into linguistics unless it’s necessary to move forward / to understand something. *I don’t actually dislike studying the nature, structure, and variation of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics (!!!). It’s that it doesn’t really help you get…
Read more...This always gave me a real hard time. In English it seems so simple to say for example, I can’t wait to see you or, I can hardly wait to see you.. I’d heard people saying, mal posso esperar para… But this didn’t make much sense. I was understanding this as, bad can wait for……
Read more...I didn’t learn how to use the 3 ways of saying there in Portuguese until I’d been in Brazil for several years. That changed suddenly when talking on the phone I said, Como vai lá? Silence followed. It was as if I had said, Como vai lá em Londres?. Oh! Você quer dizer, Como vai…
Read more...Brazilians use the word lá to express much more than just the literal, there, that place over there. Lá in Portuguese is actually used in many different expressions in everyday speech. Later, we’ll look at the other ways (the other words!) also used to say there besides lá! » ali and aí — these ALSO…
Read more...I couldn’t believe how hard it was to say, “I just got home” or, “They just arrived” — I tried to use só or, somente for just. Then I would say something like, I soon got home or, I now arrived home. Crazy difficult. Then I discovered ACABAR DE. ACABAR + de + VERB =…
Read more...I got really curious about the use of por in Portuguese. Her’s how Google Translates por: por = by, for, per, in, of, to, with, via, out of, for the sake of AND SO ON. Confusing to say the very least. While true that por can translate as all of the above, I’ve found that…
Read more...When do you use POR and when is it best to use PARA to say, FOR? You’ll soon learn that Portuguese has different words to express what we would use one word to accomplish. It’s part of what makes the language very precise. English is considered vague by comparison! por vs. para ~ Can’t we…
Read more...In English, the infinitive form is just to + the verb: to dance, to kiss, to spend… I’m just going to sit here until this all makes good sense. The Portuguese infinitive is just the verb itself: falar comer dormir There’s no need to add a to. Every verb is born in its infinitive beauty….
Read more...Using the Present Subjunctive Portuguese uses the Subjunctive mood to indicate something is uncertain to happen or to have occurred. There are 3 different degrees of uncertainty: (1) extremely unlikely, (2) plausible, (3) likely. The Present Subjunctive is used for case (2): actions that are plausible, yet have not yet occurred. Use this tense to talk…
Read more...You use the Portuguese Reflexive when you want to be clear that you’re talking about yourself or, herself, themselves etc. When we say The Portuguese Reflexive, we’re really talking about those pronouns that get added right before a verb. These are called Reflexive Pronouns: Reflexive Pronoun Eu me Eu me levantei. (I got myself up)…
Read more...In Portuguese, there are several ways to refer to something that happened in the past, each with varying shades of meaning. Verb tenses! The Past Imperfect – officially called the Imperfect Indicative (o Pretérito Imperfeito), is used when talking about continuous or ongoing action in the past. Something that used to occur or, would always occur….
Read more...por acaso » by chance Simônimos » inesperadamente, acidentalmente, casualmente, aleatoriamente, arbitrariamente Exemplo: Encontrei meus primos no festival por acaso. Não tínhamos combinado nada. » I met my cousins at the festival by chance. We hadn’t arranged anything. de propósito » on purpose Simônimos » deliberadamente, intencionalmente Exemplo: O propósito da vida é seguir a…
Read more...IR has to be one of the most satisfying verbs to speak in the past (preterit) tense. SAY IT: eu fui (FOO-EY), você foi (FOY). FUI & FOI – these are how you express went.I went (fui), you/he/she went (fui). It’s the past tense for action that is DONE, DONE, DONE. (the complete conjugation of…
Read more...To say “without stopping” it’s just sem – without- plus the verb (almost any verb) in it’s infinitive form. You can use this format to say things like, sem falar, sem pagar, sem pensar, sem perguntar and so on. Very useful. sem falar = without saying sem pagar = without paying sem pensar = without…
Read more...Assim is the 90th most used word in the Portuguese language! Assim has two main meanings: Assim in Portuguese = like this, like that Eu sou assim. ➜ I’m like this/that. The verb SER is used because this is a permamnent condition. Nós somos assim. ➜ We’re like this/that I just wanted to show the…
Read more...I’m old enough to remember the lan house. And in Brazil – especially the favelas you can still (it’s 2020) find them! In my early days traveling in Brazil I would always go to the same lan house. I would always go when I knew there would be this one girl working there – but…
Read more...I think this is the best example. It’s so natural. From the new Novela (o Retorno) The scene: Lucas has to spend the night in Unkle Leo’s room. Leo: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Line-by-line: (1) Eu ensino para você. >> I’ll teach you. (2) Eu vou te ensinar. >> I’m going to teach you….
Read more...Prerequisite Reading: Portuguese verb TER. Superpowers? Sim, TER has superpowers. Though these are considered advanced-level, any ambitious learner can start using them now! Just keep in mind that the conjugation of TER is very irregular. Let’s start with the most used: The Imperative of Ter You will hear these all_the_time: Tenha um bom dia! >…
Read more...Even I struggle to get this straight. The thing that makes this tricky: In Portuguese, we’re constantly reminding you to get your gender straight. And I’m not talking about your sexual preference here não! It’s a constant struggle to keep word gender correct, certo? Muito or Muita? Minha cerveja está gelada. Meu vinho está gelado….
Read more...We Americans are so lazy. We get away with saying so much with so little. I probably use the word, kind a dozen times every day. But in Brazil, there are several more options used to say, What kind? in Portuguese. What kind of cheese do you want? I like all kinds of science fiction…
Read more...I found it confusing having two verbs for to wait. ESPERAR AGUARDAR Waiting, in Portuguese – parsing the possibilities What is the difference? When talking about waiting you won’t find a hard rule for either of these verbs. Look at these examples: Eu vou esperar você voltar ao hotel. > I’m going to wait for…
Read more...perto de I keep coming back to this subject because so many people ask about it. I’ve posted about Portuguese adverbs of position & place before, but today I just want to review the super-common two: perto de: close to and, longe de: far from It’s obvious why the de is there, right? Brazilians say…
Read more...I am with luck. That is literally how you would say “I’m lucky” in Brazilian Portuguese: eu estou com sorte. estar com (beginner) In Brazilian Portuguese it’s important to remember that this special combination of ESTAR + COM is used to say things like: I’m hungry. > Eu estou com fome. I’m thirsty. > Eu…
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