Is this really Portuguese? Sim, é. You will hear it every day in Brazil. And for some reason, it’s not presented in any of the Brazilian Portuguese grammar books or other learning materials! Probably because it’s relatively recently become part of the common (conversational) vernacular. But it’s omnipresent. In conversational Portuguese, Brazilians will use CADÊ in…
Read more...zzZZahhh is how it’s pronounced. Brazilians love to use this adverb. You will hear it all_the_time. That’s because there are many different ways they use it. Já in Portuguese can mean many different things. Let’s look at the most common. The first thing you need to know, is that it always keeps the core meaning…
Read more...TO WISH FOR / THAT / TO in Portuguese I thought 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...Some verbs have very different meanings in the context of specific situations. Here we see a Brazilian favorite: CHEGA! – in action. ~Enjoy. FELIPE O que você achou? CLAUDIA Oi? * Brazilians use “oi” to say “what”. FELIPE Do filme. O que você achou? JOSH Você viu esse ator no outro filme? CLAUDIA Oi? FELIPE…
Read more...Once in a while. Portuguese does a lot with the word . It’s important to get up-to-speed on the way vez is used. Almost none of it is intuitive – you need to memorize these. Think about how English uses time and once to say different things: The time of my life. Once upon a…
Read more...This is a really easy to learn expression that means basically, “done” or, “it’s a done deal”. You will get big bonus points using this. But save it for some situation where you really want to be cool like, Let’s have lunch together sometime? Já é! Já é literally means, It already is. Vinte reais…
Read more...To say you’re on holiday in Portuguese it’s, você está de férias. But to say the word holiday, it’s feriado. It’s just like in English when we say Summer holiday or talk about being on holiday. So it’s: on holiday = de férias holiday = feriado Simple, but confusing. Practice these: on holiday (de férias) Eu estou de férias. ➜ I’m…
Read more...From our online Portuguese course. In English, we do not have this tense (the imperfect indicative). But watch out because in Portuguese of Brazil you cannot talk about the past without it! In Portuguese, when talking about an event in the past that was ongoing or would always occur, we use this tense. Here is…
Read more...That’s what olympic athlete Rafaela Silva said after being eliminated (declassificada) for an illegal Judo move. And the expression, “cabeça quente” — hot head is something we would say as well. What’s worth learning from this is that Brazilians use ‘cabeça’ in expressions all the time. Let’s see… de cabeça para baixo = upside-down >…
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...Soul mates. The perfect fit. Not something you bump into everyday but, when it happens it’s a beautiful thing. In portuguese the expression is perfect: ‘soul twin’ > alma gêmea ALMA = soul, spirit, heart or essense GÊMEA = twin Alma Gêmea. “As pessoas acham que alma gêmea é o encaixe perfeito (perfect fit) e é isso que todo…
Read more...Anything that is a rough draft or, a sketch of something can be called um RASCUNHO. That includes a document, a work of art, something being made – really anything that’s not yet ready, can be referred to as a RASCUNHO. Some examples, > O relatório é um rascunho. A versão final vai sair só depois….
Read more...Once upon a time, the orelhão – public phones, required a token or, ficha. After placing the token in the coin slot it would cair once the party picked-up.
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