adverbs of place: longe and perto
far from = longe de
close to = perto de
longe (far)
perto (close)
If the de is followed by an o, a (articles) or an ele, ela (pronouns) you must combine (contract) the de with it. For example,
de + a = da » Eu estou longe da cidade. (I'm far from the city.)
de + ele = dele » Nós moramos perto dele. (We live close to him.)
affirmations: TER razão & ESTAR certeza
There are specific ways that agreement is expressed. All use the words certeza (certainty) and razão (reason).
Você tem certeza? (Are you sure?)
Você tem razão! (You're right!)
Você está certo! (You're right!)
articles
In Portuguese, the article the is used more often than in English.
It’s commonly placed before someone’s name,
o Jorge
a Marisa
as well as
In general, most nouns (things) are also preceded by the.
masculine: o barco (the boat)
feminine: a feira (the fair)
masculine: Você gostou do carro? (Did you like the car?)
feminine: Vamos para a casa da Clara. (Let's go to Clara's house.)
The gender of the: o or a, depends on the subject.
Masculine nouns usually end in o, feminine in a.
There are plenty of exceptions 😂 Here are the most common irregulars PLUS a list of words that are AMBIGUOUS *The ending does not help us know the gender!
irregular: o programa (the program)
irregular: o cinema (the cinema)
irregular: o clima (the cimate)
irregular: o problema (the problem)
irregular: o sofa (the sofa)
irregular: o dia (the day)
irregular: o cara (the dude, man)
ambiguous: a carne (the meat)
ambiguous: a colher (the spoon)
ambiguous: a chave (the key)
ambiguous: a foto (the photo)
ambiguous: a noite (the night)
ambiguous: a vez (the time, turn)
ambiguous: o leite (the milk)
contractions ao & à
a (to) always combines (contracts) with “the”: o & a.
With o and a: (the)
a + o = ao >
Vamos ao cinema?
(Let’s go to the movies?)
a + a = à >
Vamos à praia.
(Let’s go to the beach.)
contractions do & da
De (of) combines (contracts) with ‘the”: o & a.
With o and a: (the)
de + o = do >
É a casa do Marcelo.
(It’s Marcelo’s house.)
de + a = da >
Eu sou da Bahia.
(I’m from Bahia.)
contractions no & na
Em always combines (contracts) with “the”: o & a.
With o and a: (the)
em + o = no >
Ela está no cinema.
(She’s at the movies.)
em + a = na >
Ela está na praia.
(She’s at the beach.)
expresssing “this” & “that”, “these” & “those”
There are 3 different words for saying this and 3 for that. Which one you use depends on the gender of the thing you’re talking about.
This & That (conversational)
m=masculne, f=feminine, n=neutral
this (m) > esse: Esse carro é seu? (Is this your car?)
that (m) > aquele: Aquele prédio é alto. (That's a tall building.)
this (f) > essa: Adoro essa loja! (I love this store!)
that (f) > aquela: Quero aquela camisa. (I want that shirt.)
this (n) > isso: O que é isso? (What is this?)
that (n) > aquilo: Tem nada a ver com aquilo. (It has nothing to do with that.)
*All of these contract (combine) with any other prepositions or articles that come before them (contractions with em, with de)
em esse = nesse
de esse = desse
em aquele = naquele
de aquele = daquele
nesse » Nós vamos numa festa nesse prédio. (We're going to a party in this building.)
desse » Por que você está falando desse jeito? (Why are you speaking this way?)
naquele » Não vou naquele lugar. (I'm not going in that place.)
daquele » Foi um dia daqueles. (It was one of those days.)
using double negatives
It’s not required to use a negative (não) twice in a sentence. However, Brazilians love to use the double negative.
Eu não quero não. (I don't want any.)
Eu não quero nada não. (I don't want anything.)
Não quero nada disso não! (I don't want any of this!)
formal address
When you want to address someone that’s older or, in a formal situation use: o senhor and a senhora.
O senhor é brasileiro? (Sir, are you Brazilian?)
a senhora gosta de viajar? (Do you like to travel, ma'am?)
the future tense using IR
You can use ir (to go) to say where you’re going, or what you’re going to do. Either way you just need to know how to conjugate ir in the present tense. It’s (very) irregular.
Present Indicative
- Eu vou. ➜ I’m going
- Você, ele, ela vai. ➜ You, he, she go(es)
- Nós vamos ➜ We’re going
- Vocês, eles, elas vão ➜ They’re going
Use ir in the present together with any noun to talk about where you’re going.
Eu vou à praia. (I'm going to the beach.)
Eu vou ao supermercado. (I'm going to the supermarket.)
Você vai no banco? (Are you going to the bank?)
Use ir in the present together with almost any verb to talk about what you’re going to do.
Eu vou correr. (I'm going to run.)
Você vai comer? (Are you going to eat?)
Nós vamos viajar. (We're going to travel.)
indefinite pronouns: algo, nada, tudo, cada
Called indefinite pronouns because they refer to things that are indefinite.
algo = something
nada = nothing
tudo = everything
cada = each
algo > Algo para beber? (Something to drink?)
nada > Nada faz sentido. (Nothing makes sense.)
tudo > Ele quer tudo! (He wants everything!)
cada > Ela sabe cada palavra. (She knows each word.)
You don’t need to modify these to agree with gender — they don’t change.
indefinite pronouns: algum, nenhum
algum(a) = some
nenhum(a) = no one
algum > Vamos para algum lugar. (Let's go somewhere.)
alguma > Mais alguma coisa? (Something more?)
nenhum > Nenhum carro me interessa. (No car interests me.)
nenhuma > Nenhuma dessas coisas. (None of these things.)
Plurals:
alguns, algumas = some
Alguns carros são novos. Some cars are new.
Algumas pessoas gostam de futbol. Some people like soccer.
using mais
To express things like newer, older, prettier, more expensive etc., use mais.
O carro é mais novo. (The car is newer.)
É mais caro. (It's more expensive.)
Ele é mais velho. (He's older.)
the expression: muito prazer
The proper way to say this is, muito prazer em conhecer você ➜➜ very pleased to meet you. The literal translation is more like: lot’s of pleasure in knowing you.
But, that’s a mouthful. Brazilians usually shorten this to, muito prazer or even, prazer.
What about saying, how do you do? Brazilians don’t say that! You can say, como vai? or, tudo bem? instead.
normal ➜ Muito prazer! (It's a great pleasure!)
formal ➜ Muito prazer em conhecer você. (Great to meet you.)
using para
Para has two meanings.
(1) to (a place)
You can use either a, or para to express to. In general, using para implies that you are going to somewhere in order to be there a while. Usually that’s to your home, to work etc. But don’t get hung up on this – time is relative 😉
to ➜ Eu vou para o brasil. (I'm going to Brazil.)
to ➜ Você vai para a praia? (Are you going to the beach?)
(2) in order to
in order to ➜ Eu estou aqui para estudar. (I'm here to study.)
in order to ➜ Trabalho para ganhar dinheiro. (I work to earn money.)
possessive pronouns
mine & yours
mine = meu / minha
yours = seu / sua
Eu amo meu namorado! (I love my boyfriend!)
É minha música favorita. (It's my favorite song.)
Seu carro é diferente. (Your car is different.)
Como está sua mãe? (How's your mom?)
his & hers
his = dele
hers = dela
É o carro dele. (It's his car.)
A casa dela é enorme. (Her house is enormous.)
the preposition de
The meaning of the preposition de changes with context to mean either of, from, by, with or about.
of ➜ É de madeira. (It's made of wood.)
from ➜ De onde você é? (from where are you?)
by ➜ Vamos de carro. (Let's go by car.)
with ➜ Estou de relógio. (I have a watch.)
about ➜ De que você quer falar? (What do you want to talk about?)
When the (preposition) de appears right before a verb in it’s infinitive form (with the ar, er, ir ending) this translates as: to talk, to do, to run etc.
Notice that you wouldn’t insert a de when saying something like, eu vou fazer or, vamos falar BUT YOU COULD!
In other words, if you were to say: vamos de falar em Português you’d be perfectly understood. In fact – this is how things are spoken in the Português of portugal.
The preposition de is most famously found (almost) always after the verbs GOSTAR and PRECISAR. So you’re really saying for example that you like of something or, need of something.
de fazer ➜ Eu tenho o direito de fazer. ➜ I have the right to do (it).
de falar ➜ Estou com medo de falar. ➜ I'm afraid to speak.
de comer ➜ É a hora de comer. ➜ It's time to eat.
Present Indicative tense
The present tense (the present indicative) is formed depending on the verb endings ~ar verbs, ~er verbs and ~ir verbs. Follow these examples to understand the patterns.
The most common irregulars are: ser, estar, ter, ir
Other common irregulars include: fazer, dizer, poder, querer, saber, ver, trazer
using primeiro(a)
Primeiro(a) means, first. The ending has to agree with the subject gender.
O primeiro beijo. (The first kiss.)
A primeira vez. (The first time.)
SER and ESTAR
Ser is for somewhat permanent characteristics. Don’t take this too literally – nothing is truly permanent 😉
very permanent ➜ Meu nome é Raquel. ➜ My name is Raquel.
somewhat permanent ➜ Eu sou brasileiro. ➜ I'm Brazilian.)
not so permanent ➜ Ele é casado. ➜ He's married.
Estar is for temporary passing things.
Eu estou cansado. (I'm tired.)
Como você está? (How are you?)
using SER & FICAR to express location
Ser & ficar can be used interchangeably to talk about the location of something:
When talking about something permanent – a bank, the park, etc, you can use either ser or ficar to describe where it is.
O hotel é aqui. (The hotel's here.)
O hotel fica aqui. same
the expression: todo mundo
Use todo mundo to express everyone. It literally means: the entire world.
Todo mundo quer morar aqui. (Everyone wants to live here.)
Vou falar com todo mundo. (I'm going to talk to everyone.)
the expression: tudo bem
tudo bem = everything fine or, everything ok. It can be a question as well as an answer. Brazilians will also say, tudo bom. It’s the same thing, though it translates to literally: everything good.
Tudo bem? (Everything ok?)
Está tudo bem! (Everything is fine!)
common introduction phrases
Muito Prazer
In Portuguese, you actually say something like Much pleasure to know you.
Muito prazer is the most common approach.
Variations
Muito prazer. Pleased to meet you.
Muito prazer em conhecer você. I'm pleased to meet you.
Muito prazer em conhecê-lo. I'm pleased to meet you. (to a man)
Muito prazer em conhecê-la. I'm pleased to meet you. (to a woman)
É um prazer. It's a pleasure.
In Portuguese, there are two common ways to ask someone what their name is.
Como se chama?
In, Como se chama? you are literally saying, “How are you, yourself called?” – and the se is the part that says you, yourself.
Qual é seu nome?
When you say, Qual é seu nome? you’re saying, “Which is your name?”
Como se chama? (How are you called?)
Eu me chamo Gabriela. (I call myself Gabriela.)
Qual é seu nome? (Which is your name?)
aprender ➜ to learn
Eu quero aprender mais. I want to learn more.
Ela não aprendeu. She didn't learn.
chamar ➜ to call, be named
Chama suas amigas para jantar aqui. ➜ Call your girlfrinds para eat dinner here.
Eu me chamo Susana. ➜ I call myself Susana.
entender ➜ to understand
Complete conjugation.
estar ➜ to be (temporary)
Use estar to talk about temporary, passing things.
Complete conjugation.
Eu estou atrasado. (I'm late.)
Onde você está? (Where are you?)
Estamos perto do metrô. (We're close to the subway.)
Eles estão no restaurante. (They're at the restaurant.)
falar ➜ to speak
Ele fala muito. ➜ He talks alot.
Vamos falar português! ➜ Let's speak Portuguese!
fechar ➜ to close
ficar ➜ to remain, stay, become
remain / stay » Vou ficar aqui. (I'm going to stay here.)
location » Onde fica o banco? (Where's the bank located?)
becoming » Está ficando tarde. (It's getting late.)
ligar ➜ to call, connect
Use ligar to talk about calling or connecting – almost always when talking about modern technology: telephones, computers, networks.
Complete conjugation.
Eu vou ligar para você. (I'm going to call you.)
Você quer ligar à Internet? (Do you want to go online?)
Ligar can also be used to express caring or, connectedness.
Eu não ligo. (I don't care.)
pagar ➜ to pay
precisar ➜ to need
PRECISAR often gets followed by a de when talking about needing SOMETHING.
Eu preciso de você! (I need you!)
When you are talking about needing TO DO something, no de is required.
Eu preciso correr. (I need to run.)
querer ➜ to want
eu quero Eu quero ir. (I want to go.)
ele/ela quer Ele quer um táxi. (He wants a taxi.)
você quer Você quer viajar? (Do you want to travel?
ser ➜ to be (permanent)
ter ➜ to have
Eu tenho uma reserva. I have a reservation.
Ela tem uma ideia. She has an idea.
Você vai ter tempo? Are you going to have time?
Ela não tem o direito! She has no right!
trabalhar ➜ to work
Complete conjugation.
Comentários