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Qualquer in Portuguese

March 22, 2020November 21, 2024 By James Hall

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…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

FALAR, DIZER or CONTAR?

March 15, 2020February 15, 2023 By James Hall

How do Brazilians use FALAR and DIZER? Is there really a difference?

(4) Advanced Portuguese

the Imperfect Subjunctive

March 1, 2020November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Using the Imperfect 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 Imperfect Subjunctive is used for case (1): actions that are extremely unlikely to happen or to have happened. If I were…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Other tenses of TER

December 2, 2019November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Ter in the Future Tense The common way is to use the verb ir as a helper verb (the future tense with ir) Eu… vou ter mais tempo amanhã. > I’m going to have more time tomorrow. Ele vai ter que correr. > He’s going to have to run. Você vai ter uma namorada nova….

(4) Advanced Portuguese

te for você

November 29, 2019November 28, 2023 By James Hall

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….

(2) Beginning Portuguese, (3) Intermediate Portuguese

Advanced forms of TER

November 25, 2019November 21, 2024 By James Hall

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! >…

(4) Advanced Portuguese, (2) Beginning Portuguese, (3) Intermediate Portuguese

What kind? in Portuguese.

October 28, 2019February 15, 2023 By James Hall

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…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Inviting Yourself

August 9, 2019November 21, 2024 By James Hall

How do you say something like, I’d like to go with you sometime or ask, Can we play with you guys? In Portuguese there… are several key verbs that make it easy and clear that you’d like to do something – to participate. Portuguese invitational verbs participar: to participate poder: to be able to, can…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Waiting, in Portuguese

June 25, 2019February 15, 2023 By James Hall

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…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese, (4) Advanced Portuguese

Boost your Portuguese vocabulary in 3 steps

May 2, 2019April 30, 2024 By James Hall

No amount of “hacking” and optimizing the process of learning Portuguese will get you to fluency without first constructing a foundation. And that foundation… has to be made of the most-used words and phrases. This base of vocabulary is the most important ingredient in the recipe for language acquisition. Once this solid base has been acquired, all pathways to learning the language are open.

(1) Portuguese Learning Tips

perto de

April 17, 2019November 21, 2024 By James Hall

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…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Porta das Fundos – laugh and learn Portuguese

March 11, 2019November 28, 2023 By James Hall

A student just reminded me of a very cool YouTube comedy channel called Porta dos fundos. Besides being insanely funny, it’s actually funny to… non-Brazilians as well (but, for advanced & intermediate learners). Even I find most of the great Brazilian way too hard to laugh at. There are just too many subtle cultural references…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

a partir de

December 11, 2018November 21, 2024 By James Hall

There are several verbs that when used in specific ways open the door to new possibilities. Let’s look at the combination, A partir de… and how this one can be used. The Portuguese verb PARTIR means: to leave, depart, go away. a partir de When combined like this, partir takes on the meaning: starting from…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Saying: to run into, to bump into

December 6, 2018November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Why is this so hard to say? to run into, to bump into: Saying it in Portuguese. When you’re in Brazil it’s normal to… spend much more time on foot, walking the streets. Even though automobiles inundate life as here, the infrastructure of most cities just can’t handle them and as a result, there are…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Portuguese Expressions of Time

October 6, 2018October 4, 2021 By James Hall

These are really useful ways to talk about the timing of things. These are the most common ones but, you can also modify these… to say exactly what you want to say without learning anything else! I put most of these on my flashcard stack and memorized them before traveling to Brazil. Test yourself: Study…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Chegou a hora – in Portuguese

August 29, 2018November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Chegou a hora – in Portuguese means of course: the time has arrived, the time has come, or simply, it’s time. Seems so simple,… right. But how would you say something like: “when the time comes to…” or, “please, be on time –? Simple Use: Chegou a hora de trabalhar. ➜ It’s time to work….

(4) Advanced Portuguese

pequeno & grande – menor & maior

July 30, 2018October 4, 2021 By James Hall

Stumbling block #1 for new learners is making sense of how Brazilians say small, smaller, smallest & big, bigger, biggest. (or, large/larger/largest) What’s the… big deal? In all Portuguese you express things like short, smart, fat, fast, sexy like this: short = baixo shorter = mais baixo shortest = o mais baixo * And of…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Portuguese ~ or verbs

June 6, 2018August 12, 2024 By James Hall

Is there no end to the suffering? It’s not enough that we have to learn to conjugate 3 different verb types (the ar, ei… & ir endings). There is yet another group: the Portuguese ~or verbs! Sim, e não. The good news is, there are only a few of these actually used and: their conjugations…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

the Portuguese past tense

June 1, 2018November 21, 2024 By James Hall

In Portuguese, there are several ways to refer to something that happened in the past – each with different shades of meaning. When you… choose one Portuguese past tense over another, you’re letting people know more about the story you’re telling. Talking about the past is always an act of story-telling. The Preterit Indicative tense…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

The Locales – James interview

May 1, 2018October 4, 2021 By James Hall

Great alt-travel blog, The Locales brilliantly leverages local guides and country experts to bring a fresh perspective to many travel destinations. Founder, Weston Moody… has posted audio travle-guides and travel advice about subjects such as budget travel, kayaking in Angola, and visting remote areas of the Nepalese Himalayas. The Locales goal is to empower people…

(1) Portuguese Learning Tips

Modern Brazilian introductions

February 16, 2018May 21, 2024 By James Hall

You can score BIG points just being able to meet & greet in Brazil. Before you even know how to say anything else, learn… these. Use them to practice your pronunciation – you’ll be using them over and over. For example — Tudo bem is the main thing everyone says when seeing someone you know…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

estar com, estar de

January 30, 2018November 21, 2024 By James Hall

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…

(2) Beginning Portuguese, (3) Intermediate Portuguese

to need in Portuguese

January 4, 2018November 21, 2024 By James Hall

You need to learn Portuguese. You have to learn Portuguese. Just as in English, there are two ways to express need in Brazilian Portuguese. Each has its own specific way of being used. (1) precisar PRECISAR = to need. Precisar is a little tricky because you must always put a “de” after it unless it’s…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Conectivos e conectores: Aditivas

January 2, 2018April 20, 2021 By Alexandre

Words that connect us. In this first of a series of posts we are going to talk about those words & phrases that are… always there — holding the sentence together. Tudo bem? In grammar-speak, these are called conjunctions. Do not be afraid. They are your friends. You already use them all-the-time 😉 Aditivas: Indicam…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Vamos embora!

December 25, 2017November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Vamos emobra! When Brazilian’s say goodbye. IN ORDER OF USAGE (most common first) — the ways Brazilians say good-bye. (1) Tchau! (2) eu vou… embora EMBORA = away. Eu vou embora. = I’m going away (leaving). Most dictionaries list this as: em•bo•ra | {conj.} (apesar de; ainda que; ainda) That’s because this is an expression…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

ter que – to have to, in Portuguese

December 4, 2017November 21, 2024 By James Hall

You have to do this, you have to do that. This is a must-know! The good news: It’s easy to express to have to… in Portuguese. The key is knowing how to conjugate the verb TER. ter to have I have eu tenh o you/he/she has você/ele/ela tem In Portuguese, you add a que to…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Dia Internacional do Samba

December 2, 2017September 28, 2021 By James Hall

We all have our own unsolved mysteries about SAMBA, right? Do you really have to go to a samba school to learn samba? Is… there some store where you buy those outfits? Can men samba too? Does it mean you’re gay if you do? It’s just like salsa – but with less clothing? It just…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Primeiro, Primeira in Portuguese

November 16, 2017November 27, 2023 By James Hall

Think of all the ways we use the word, first. It’s the first building on the right. We wanted to talk to you first. I’m always first in line. I liked the first album better. Primeiro, primeira in Portuguese (first) can take the meaning of before as well as literally: the first. The unusual…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Bêbado

November 7, 2017November 21, 2024 By James Hall

There’s this perception that Brazilians enjoy a drink. Verdade ou mito? VERDADE. It’s the weather. Imagine if all the skanky bars in your town… were open air, tables spilling out onto the sidewalk where you could instantly see smiling people with cold drinks. I bet you’d stop by at least once in a while. That’s…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

I just assumed that… SUPOR in Portuguese

October 6, 2017November 21, 2024 By James Hall

It took me forever to learn how to express the idea of to suppose or, to assume. I would always wind up using achar or,… imagniar — both of which really don’t mean the same thing. The solution is simple, elegant – and rare: SUPOR in Portuguese means to suppose. A verb ending in -or! These…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

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