Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica: Recent Episodes
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Have you noticed how many Brazilian Portuguese expressions are built on this format?... "X a Y" ➜ "nada a ver" (nothing to see 🙈) These are all great to use and EASY to learn! I'm pretty sure you can invent your own as long as you keep it simple 😎. Here are the most common/useful...
The post Expressions “X a Y” appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
In english we say, I wanted to this and that... all_the_time. To say the same thing in portuguese it's tempting to say something like, Eu estava querendo x & y.... But this is very clunky, isn't it? Brazilians will use the imperfect past form of QUERER to express this. Like this: Eu queria fazer uma...
The post Queria in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
There are three ways that Brazilians ask, "what happened?": (1) O que aconteceu?; (2) O que foi?; (3) O que houve? (verb HAVER). And they often mix these together! Ordered by popularity they are: O que aconteceu? You'll often hear it said like this: O que é que aconteceu. = literally: What is (it) that...
The post O que aconteceu? ➜ “What happened?” in Portuguese 😮 appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
It's confusing to say TO THINK in Portuguese. That's mostly because there are two verbs for it: PENSAR & ACHAR. Let's clear up the confusion with examples. ACHAR or PENSAR? :: TO THINK in Portuguese Most books will tell you that it's Ok to use either. That may be grammatically correct, but it does not...
The post TO THINK in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
» From our online Portuguese course. Por que que o garfo é no masculino se ele claramente é uma mulher? Seios cintura quadril. E por que é que a faca é no feminino se ela claramente é um homem? E eles são um casal! E diferente de quem acha que a colher... É a filha...
The post Talheres appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
My mom still gets mad when I get "I" and "me" mixed up. It still happens too often, giving her joy every time. It's the same thing in Portuguese. The big confusion is whether to say para mim or, para eu. Fortunately, there is a very simple trick to getting these right. Once you know...
The post PARA MIM versus PARA EU appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Years of study and practice and I finally know how to say "there", in Portuguese 🤠. I never thought that something so simple could become so complicated. I'm going to show you this with out the frustrating grammar-talk that most books will throw at you just to learn how to choose the right "there" !
The post lá, ali, aí – saying THERE in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The LH in the middle of a word is one of the trickiest pronunciations. Really though, it's not that hard. You just need to remember to half-pronounce the 'L'. So, it's not trabayar it's, trabaLHar. Feel yourself saying the L. But don't dwell on it. As soon as you feel the L, continue right into...
The post Portuguese Pronunciation – lh appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
One of the many curiosities about the Portuguese language is the fact that there are TWO ways to say "we." "A gente" can be used almost interchangeably with "nós." A gente (we) is a colloquial form and is usually used in the spoken language instead of nós (we). Even though it means we, it's a...
The post A gente » The conversational “we” appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
We've written about ACABAR de before -- because it's such a useful combination. When you place a de after acabar, it takes on the meaning of, to have just. ACABAR in Portuguese by itself means: to end, to end-up, to finish. Everyone gets these mixed-up (confundida) ~ That DE makes all the difference! Use ACABAR...
The post Acabar in Portuguese vs. Acabar + de appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The Preterit Indicative (often called the "simple past") is by-far, the most important past-tense to know. Let's look at the most common irregular verbs in this tense: fazer, ter, ir, ser, estar, querer & dizer. There are many more irregulars, but most of them will follow similar patterns to these common examples presented here.
The post the Preterit Indicative of irregular verbs appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
What's so special about the verbs PARAR & COMEÇAR? For starters you've probably noticed that you always have to treat these verbs a little differently. For example, you can't say "I stopped eating sugar" like this: eu parei comer açucar (NÃO!) -- you need to include a de like this: Eu parei de comer açucar....
The post COMEÇAR a / PARAR de appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The meaning of PODER in Portuguese is similar to other verbs CONSEGUIR, DAR, and TER. While PODER is most common, knowing how to use others will give you super-powers. This post will show you the best, most common ways all of these verbs are used to say that something is possible or, can be done.
The post the Meaning of PODER + better ways to say the same thing. appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
One of the first things you'll notice when you come to Brazil is the word mesmo floating around here and there, apparently with no concrete meaning. Well, it's not one of those words that can mean almost anything depending on the situation - mesmo in Portuguese has just a few common usages. Let's review: Isn't...
The post Mesmo in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Even I struggle to get this straight. The thing that makes this tricky: In Portuguese, we're constantly reminding you to get your gender straight. And I'm not talking about your sexual preference here não! It's a constant struggle to keep word gender correct, certo? Muito or Muita? Minha cerveja está gelada. Meu vinho está gelado....
The post Muito or Muita? appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
In English, it's pretty simple: something or nothing. The Portuguese options are (surprise) numerous and confusing. Let's break-these-down and make them more user-friendly. You've learned alguma coisa, right? And that's clear: alguma (some) coisa (thing) = something. But you rarely hear Brazilians say that. There are other options they favor - most depend on what...
The post alguma coisa – something in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
"Gringo" is not a bad word in Brazil. It's used as a kind word for any foreigner. DO NOT be offended when someone calls you a gringo! In these next two dialogs we'll learn some very useful new vocabulário. Whenever you're getting new vocab in a story with rich context, it's supremely memorable! Article: Contextual...
The post Brazilian Gringos (parte 1) appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The verb FALTAR in Portuguese is used to describe a lack or shortage of something. It's very commonly used with expressions "a falta" and "em falta". a falta, em falta Using Faltar It is pronounced as "fawlt-AH", similar to the English word "halt". It is often used to describe current or past shortages, with the...
The post Useful: FALTAR in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The first word that really tripped my up was, what. A learner's goal is to get people -on the street, in a store, wherever and whenever -- to repeat themselves. The more the better! The more you hear something spoken IN-CONTEXT (about something, some moment you are IN), the faster you'll be speaking it yourself....
The post What did you say? in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Why does it seem so hard to express say something so simple as each other? In English we include these two words all the time to mean you and I or, them. It's not that complicated. We say things like: We'll see each other later on. We love each other very much. one another ==...
The post Um ao outro in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The Portuguese verb TOMAR can be confusing. The problems comes from the fact that it can take the meaning of to take or to drink or to consume. It's almost the same thing as beber. In general, Brazilians use tomar when talking about taking something that will become part of their being - that will...
The post Tomar in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Mais (more) finds its way into many expressions, always playing 1 of 2 possible roles. It's not simply to say most or, more. It's always used to (1) compare one thing to another; or (2) to say simply most or, more. Examples of mais to express most can be found in this other post. Using mais...
The post mais in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Pay attention to the way that Brazilians use who, and which. They use these two a bit differently than we do. Quem é? Who is it? That's what you say before opening the door or when a stranger calls on the telephone. But quem also means whom. In Portuguese there is just, quem. ➾ Who's is...
The post Quem é? & Qual é? appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The Portuguese present indicative ("the present") gets boring fast. To liven things up a bit, let's take a look at the most common Present Tense irregular verbs. ✱Regular present tense verbs are here: ar-verbs, er-verbs, ir-verbs There are some patterns to these irregular conjugations, but not many. I think the best way to learn them...
The post Present tense irregular verbs appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Portuguese verb TER is the one you're going to use more than any other. TER To have. But it can also be used as: is there / are there any. PRONOUNCED: TER: the Present Tense to have ter I have eu t enho you/he/she have(has) você/ele/ela t em Portuguese verb TER is among the Brazilian...
The post Portuguese verb TER appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Dar para This is an extension of our post about the many uses of the verb DAR. DAR + para = A beautiful pair. There’s something deeply satisfying about using DAR together with para to say things like, Is he a good kisser? Is that restaurant decent? Is it fixable? ~ you just need to...
The post Dar para appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
As usual, there are just too many options! Detesto opções! ~ o Chatão (annoying person) Trying to say "about" in Portuguese can quickly turn into a grande confusão that has your reaching for your phone. As usual, the problem is the huge number of options. And como sempre (as always) the solution is: Relaxar... Respirar......
The post Saying “about” in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Pode ser : maybe, could be, possible You hear this quite a lot in Brazil! You're literally saying: to be able to be. Pode ser! And that seems a bit strange - at first. I'm sure that learning to say "maybe" feels strange to english learners as well. » Maybe. Could be. Possibly. » Maybe...
The post Pode ser appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
I've been writing about how de hooks-up with certain verbs to change meaning or say specific things. Coisa linda, não é? Now, let's look at what de does when coupled with with the words antes & depois. I'm going to avoid the grammar-talk and not even use the word adverb again EXCEPT for this excerpt...
The post antes & depois in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Are you getting sick of my posts that just deal with a verb? It's not for lack of other subjects, it's just that VERBS ARE KEY to building sentences and, fluency. Verbs are also handled very differently in Portuguese than in English. We use phrasal-verbs extensively: get-over, get-going, get-ahead, get-away and on, and on, and...
The post CONSEGUIR in Portuguese appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
This was going to be an intermediate level post, but this phrase is so popular that it's important for everyone to know how to use it. Right away! Pode deixar is one of those phrases that finds it's way into just about every conversation here. Pode deixar: PODER (to be able to,can) + DEIXAR (to...
The post Pode deixar appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The Present Tense of IR can be used to talk about the future! The fastest and easiest way to start talking about the future is with the verb IR. Forming the future with IR is just a matter of knowing its conjugation in the present tense. That sounds confusing. But it's not a big deal...
The post The future with IR appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
The Portuguese preposition de shows up everywhere. As you know, I DISLIKE digging into linguistics unless it's necessary to move forward / to understand something. *I don't actually dislike studying the nature, structure, and variation of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics (!!!). It's that it doesn't really help you get...
The post Portuguese Preposition de appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
In English we toss around phrases like nowhere to go, where from?, where to? In Portuguese it's a little different. For the most part, onde does all the heavy lifting. However, it's important to use it with the right prepositions and verbs to get the meaning you want. in Portuguese is used in several different...
The post Onde in Portuguese: ONDE, AONDE, DE ONDE, PARA ONDE appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese, by Semantica.
Use I find the Portuguese Imperative pretty confusing! The Imperative is a mood, not a verb tense, btw. Verb tenses are the individual conjugations within a mood: eu falo, você fala, nós falamos ETC. A mood has tenses. The Portugues Imperative is a MOOD. Mood indicates the attitude of the speaker toward a subject. In...
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