Não dá. Eu odeio!
Eduardo Não dá, não dá! Não entendo nada! Nem física, nem literatura e nem gramática. Eu odeio química! Química! Por que que eu preciso aprender isso? Ana Calma filho. Sei que não é fácil. Você tem que ter calmo e estudar muito. Não dá. This is a great way to start a sentence. Literally no…
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Tô chegando in Portuguese
We all have a specific vocabulary stack for setting up and managing our time. Scheduling our lives is a top priority, right? In Portuguese, it’s no different. They have a core of really common verbs & vocab that they use again and again. But there are a few tricks to staying within the standards. Encontros…
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4: Suco Verde ➜ dialog
JANICE Pois não senhor. “Pois não” translates to “at your service”. You’ll only hear it in this type of situation – being served. WILLIAM Olá, bom dia. Eu quero uma Coca-Cola. Uma Coca-Cola Zero. JANICE Olá e, seja bem vindo meu amigo. Mas, nós não temos Coca-Cola. WILLIAM Não tem. Sério? Você aqui tem sucos!…
Deixa para lá – in Portuguese
I’ve written about the expression pode deixar and, me deixa em paz ~ me deixa sozinho (leave me in peace ~ leave me alone)… but the one that keeps coming back is: deixa para lá. Por quê? Why does this one generate the most interest? Deixa para lá. Probably because deixar is one powerful verb….
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Hurry up in Portuguese
You’ve heard it said: Brazil is a slow-paced world. Everything happens according to some tropical relógio (clock). And that’s true – mais ou menos. But being in a hurry still happens here. There is always more to do than there is time to do it. Even in Brasil. How to say hurry up in Portuguese…
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5: Recomeço ➜ dialog
When you hear new words clearly and in context – in a story, your chances of remembering them are good. This is an advanced dialog spoken at a normal pace, but even if you’re new to Portuguese you’ll quickly pick up much of this. *RECOMEÇAR = to re-start, begin again. The title translates to Our…
Deu mole!
Moleza! Deu Mole! If you’re starting to have real conversations with real Brazilians, DEU MOLE! is one of the first girias (slangs) that you will hear. To understand this one let’s look at where it comes from. Maria Mole. *Some people just want to know what this means, but I love to know the origins….
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7: Faxineira 1 ➜ dialog
This Street Dialog is divided into 3 parts. There’s a lot to learn here. Even though this is an intermediate-advanced sequence, there are things to learn at all levels so – I encourage you to watch these 3 dialogs, no matter what level you’re at! Use the PAUSE & REWIND technique 😉 These are based…
Cadê in Portuguese
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…
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Physical descriptions in Portuguese
It seemed so strange to me to first hear people being referred to as: the white guy, that fat girl, the tall one. Maybe we’re too socially correct in the US or just more sensitive (cautious?) — but we don’t casually call people by their physical attributes, especially if it’s potentially unflattering or offensive. But…
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to wish, in Portuguese
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…
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Chega in Portuguese
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…
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de vez em quando
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…
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Já é!
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…
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de férias – on Holiday
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…
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Once upon a time.
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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Ela estava de cabeça quente
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 >…
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What number are you?
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...Alma Gêmea
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…
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Rascunho.
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...a ficha caiu!
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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