Is it Muito or Muita? In Portuguese, when talking about degree or intensity, always use “muito.” It’s the DEFAULT. For quantities you have to match the the subject. Below, I’ll help you decide when the situation is talking about degree/intensity, or quantity. When it’s not clear, ask yourself: is this about the quantity of something?
Read more...In Portuguese, expressing something, nothing, and anything can be confusing 😵💫. In this post I will show you how to navigate the phrases and words in-context that Brazilians use daily to express these “indefinite pronouns”.
Read more...“Gringo” is not a bad word in Brazil. It’s used as a kind label 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!
Read more...Faltar in Portuguese is one of those insanely useful verbs. You can say something is “em falta” to describe something that’s lacking or missing ➔ A cidade está em falta de água. (The city is lacking water.)
Read more...The Portuguese verb “tomar” can be confusing because it encompasses the meanings of “to take,” “to drink,” and “to consume.” Similar to “beber,” Brazilians specifically use “tomar” when something becomes part of their being or changes them internally. For instance, they “take” breakfast and coffee, but not lunch or dinner. Let me explain…
Read more...The combination of the Portuguese verb DAR + para is one of the most powerful you will find. Let me show you how to convey possibilities and abilities. With lots of real-world examples, from making a meal to to asking if something is doable. It’s a unique construction that, along with other special verbs like FICAR, IR, and TER, accelerates language learning and aids in natural conversations.
Read more...Pode ser is one of those phrases that finds it’s way into just about every Brazilian conversation. “Pode ser” in Portuguese, can express “maybe,” “could be,” or “possible,” and using it correctly will put you in charge of the conversation.
Read more...Antes & depois in Portuguese (before & after) work best when followed by a “de”. Put it to work: Vamos para o Brasil antes de Junho – antes do Carnaval!
Read more...Pode deixar in Portuguese translates generally as: leave it to me. It’s one of those phrases that finds it’s way into just about every conversation here. Let’s look at the most popular ways that real Brazilians use this one.
Read more...The Portuguese preposition DE shows up in some unexpected places. DE does the heavy lifting of tying words together and shifting meanings. The best way to get up-to-speed on the superpowers of “de” are by example and CONTEXT🧑🏼🔬.
Read more...There are 3 ways that Brazilians use to say that something hard to wait for. The most common is with “mal posso esperar” – “badly able to wait” (literally). We usually say “I can hardly wait” and Brazilians say, “Eu mal posso esperar”.
Read more...Years of study and practice and I finally know how to say “there”, in Portuguese 🤠. I never thought that something so simple could become so complicated. I’m going to show you this with out the frustrating grammar-talk that most books will throw at you just to learn how to choose the right “there” !
Read more...Lá in Portuguese is actually used in many different ways in day-today conversation. To Brazilians it’s much more than just, “there”! Let’s look at the most common examples and how “lá” gets incorporated into some of the most iconic Portuguese expressions.
Read more...By combining ACABAR with “de” (acabar de) you immediately gain SUPERPOWERS. You’ll be able to say things like: I just arrived; She wound up buying that car, and more! The amazing thing about Portuguese is that you can shape-shift verbs just by adding connector words like “de” or, “a” for example.
Read more...Using POR in Portuguese is not as simple as saying, “for”. It turns out that POR is used to express “for” in just a very specific way. Let’s take a closer look at exactly how, and see by examples when and when not to use it.
Read more...It’s far too easy to get these two simple words confused! Whether to use POR vs. PARA quickly becomes an easy decision as soon as you see some key examples of each, in-context. Let’s do exactly that!
Read more...In English, the infinitive form is “to” + the verb. Like this: to dance, to kiss, to spend etc. The Portuguese infinitive is just the verb itself: falar, comer, dormir etc. There’s no need to add a “to”. Every verb is born in its infinitive beauty self-contained and ready for use.
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.
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 Story (o Retorno) The scene: Lucas has to spend the night in Uncle 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...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…
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