One of the biggest deals to learn as a beginner is the difference between SER and ESTAR. Let’s forget the differences between the two and just look at ser, and when/how to use it. SER: to be SER is really just to talk about the hard facts. Nothing at all temporal or changing. But don’t…
Read more...The táxi driver says seja bem vindo ao Brasil. The grammar in this sentence is actually very complicated so let’s skip the explanation. You just need to learn that the ao is a+o. The “o” is THE and it’s just for masculine objects. The feminine version is “a” and so when you combine a +…
JORGE O que foi? Literally, “what was it?” This is of course, the simple past tense of ser. This is just another way of saying, “what happened?”. There are three ways that Brazilians ask, “what happened?”: (1) O que aconteceu?; (2) O que foi?; (3) O que houve? (verbo HAVER). PAULO Está muito lento agora….
* New 3rd part will begin right after a replay the first two segments 🤞 This really is how this would play out in Brazil. Not that the maids here cover up the inevitable accidents, but just that things do_break. All 3 of these chapters happened to me, personally. Having a housekeeper is a real…
*The new chapter will begin right after a review of the first one 🤞. ARTUR Ô Lívia? This Ô is just like oh. Você pode usar a escada, tá? A perfect example of how Brazilians really say está. FAXINEIRA Tudo bem. Não preciso não, o patrão. Here you can hear her say the o patrão….
PSICÓLOGO Pode começar. PSICÓLOGO Cinco, dez, quinze, vinte, vinte e cinco… PACIENTE O que… o que é isso? PSICÓLOGO Isso é seu dinheiro indo embora. Vinte e cinco… You already know that IR EMBORA means, to go away. So here, the INDO is the Present Progressive of IR. indo = going indo embora = going…
Most Portuguese courses start by teaching the future tense (using IR). Como vai? That’s because it’s the simplest thing to learn. But in the real world you want to be able to talk about what happened a few minutes ago; what happened yesterday, and so on. And, this is NO BIG DEAL to do. You…
Read more...Previously, we looked at how to use the portuguese verb SER. Now let’s look at the differences between SER and ESTAR. Ser Ser is for intrinsic, somewhat permanent characteristics. Meu nome é Raquel. My name is (permanently/always) Raquel. Eu sou brasileira. I am (permanently/always) Brazilian. Ele é casado. He is (somewhat permanently) married. Estar Estar…
Read more...CLAUDIA Aqui tem algum filme do Alfred Hitchcock? Did you hear her say algum filme? She swallowed the algum. HUGO Oi? Não. Aqui são filmes românticos. Os filmes de suspense, eu não sei onde estão. I’m so proud of this line because it contains SER and ESTAR side-by-side — in the plural (they) -! Amazing….
When talking about assigned/reserved seating – in a plane, on a bus, in a theater – use: o assento, rather than cadeira! (on a bus) Which is my seat? » Qual é meu assento? Sir, which is your seat? » Qual é seu assento, senhor? Is it reserved seating? » É assento marcado? *marcado here…
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…
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