Brazilian Portuguese For Dummies E-Book

Karen Jacobson-Sive

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fremdsprachen
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 598

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Language learning is easy with Dummies Brazilian Portuguese For Dummies can help you achieve your goals of learning another language. Traveling to Brazil? Taking a class in school? Want to meet people and pick up a new hobby? Just curious about the sixth most spoken language in the world? We've got you covered, with easy-to-follow lessons on the basics, plus phrases and topics you need to know, like greetings, travel phrases, business phrases, numbers and measurements, and social media. Add speaking Portuguese to the long list of cool things you can do--with the help of Brazilian Portuguese For Dummies. * Start from the beginning and learn the very basics of Brazilian Portuguese * Practice authentic phrases for travel, business, and communicating online * Perfect your pronunciation with bonus audio tracks, and discover fun facts about Brazilian culture * Get recommendations for movies, travel tips, and more Whether you're studying Portuguese for business, school, or pleasure, Dummies is the best guide for getting started with this beautiful language.

Leseprobe

Brazilian Portuguese For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022939668

ISBN: 978-1-119-89465-0 (pbk); 978-1-119-89467-4 (ebk); 978-1-119-89466-7 (ebk)

Brazilian Portuguese For Dummies®

To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Brazilian Portuguese For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part 1: Getting Started with Brazilian Portuguese

Chapter 1: You Already Know Some Portuguese!

Exploring the Roots of Portuguese

Reciting Your ABCs

Conquering Consonants

Exercising Your Jowls with Vowels

Differentiating Regional Accents

Recognizing the Sound of Portugal’s Portuguese

Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Portuguese Grammar

Agreeing with Nouns and Adjectives

Looking at Articles

Introducing Pronouns

Examining Verbs and Building Simple Sentences

Delving into Verb Conjugations

Making Contractions: It’s a Cinch!

To Me, to You: Indirect Objects

Chapter 3: Oi! Hello! Greetings and Introductions

Saying Hello

Making Introductions

Using First Names, Last Names, and Nicknames — Brazilian-Style

Dividing the World between Formal and Informal

Describing Permanent Qualities: Ser

Describing Temporary Qualities: Estar

Speaking about Speaking: Falar

Saying Goodbye

Chapter 4: Getting Your Numbers, Times, and Measurements Straight

Counting to 100 and Beyond

Ordering Sequences: First, Second, Third …

Telling Time

Talking about Days of the Week

Specifying Times and Dates

Getting Familiar with the Metric System

Chapter 5: Speaking Portuguese at Home

Seeing What Makes Up a Home

Living in the Big City

Getting Some Sleep

Waking Up

Chatting about Food

Cleaning House

Going for a Walk Around the Neighborhood

Making a Phone Call

Being a Gracious Guest

Part 2: Brazilian Portuguese in Action

Chapter 6: Getting to Know You: Small Talk

Where Are You From?

Figuring Out Family Connections

Using Possessives: “My …”

Knowing Who, What, and Where

Talking in the Past Tense

Pulling It Together with Connector Words

Three “Save Me!” Phrases

Sharing Your Contact Information

Chapter 7: Dining Out and Going to the Market

Trying Brazilian Foods

Buying Drinks

Basking in Brazilian Barbeque

Mastering Eating and Drinking Verbs

Shopping at the Market

Chapter 8: Shopping

Scoping Out the Shopping Scene

Saying What You’re Looking For

Trying and Trying On: The Verb Experimentar

Taking It: The Verb Levar

Making Comparisons and Expressing Opinions

Exploring Brazilian Treasures

Negotiating Price in Outdoor Markets

Chapter 9: Going Out on the Town

Talking about Going Out

Taking in Brazil’s Musical Culture

Exploring Art

Going to the Movies

Falling in Love — in Portuguese

Chapter 10: Using Technology To Keep In Touch

Talking and Texting with a Digital Device

Telling Someone to Call You

Leaving a Message

Making Arrangements over the Phone

Texting to Check In

Digital Talk Know-How

Staying Informed through the Internet

Emailing

Socializing on Social Media

Keeping Your Tablet at Your Fingertips

Talking about Feelings Using Words and Emoji

Chapter 11: Chatting About Business

Qual a sua profissão? What Do You Do?

Mailing Things the Old-Fashioned Way

Placing a Business Call

Making Appointments and Conducting Meetings

Working from Home

Chapter 12: Recreation and the Outdoors

Finding Out What’s Really on a Brazilian Beach

Exploring the Amazon Rainforest

Talking about Biodiversity

Asking People What They Like to Do

Part 3: Brazilian Portuguese on the Go

Chapter 13: Planning a Trip

Picking the Best Time for Your Trip

Obtaining a Passport and Visa

Researching Public Health Concerns

Packing for Your Brazilian Getaway

Deciding Where to Go

Talking about Going: The Verb Ir

Going Through Customs

Choosing a Place to Sleep

Getting Possessive

Chapter 14: Money, Money, Money

Introducing Brazilian Reais and Centavos

Getting Ahold of Brazilian Currency

Using Brazilian Banks and ATMs

Checking Prices and Making Purchases

Chapter 15: Getting Around: Planes, Buses, Taxis, and More

Making a Plane Reservation

Taking Buses

Traveling by Taxi

Using Ride-Hailing Apps

Renting a Car

Talking About Coming and Going

Navigating Cityscapes

Chapter 16: Going to Sporting Events

Getting Hip to Soccer — Brazil’s National Pastime

Buying Tickets

Finding Your Seat

Ordering Brazilian Concessions

Making Sense of Yelling Fans

Talking about Sports

Searching the Place

Chapter 17: O Carnaval!

Exploring Carnaval in Brazil

Dancing the Samba!

Chapter 18: Socorro! Help! Handling Emergencies

Stick ’em Up: What to Say (and Do) if You’re Robbed

Handling Health Emergencies

Discussing Legal Problems

Part 4: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Pick Up Brazilian Portuguese Quickly

Go to Brazil!

Find Brazilians (Or Other Portuguese Speakers) Near You

Date a Brazilian

Read the News in Portuguese

Check Out Brazilian Websites

Listen to Brazilian Music

Watch a Brazilian Movie

Watch Globo

Take a Portuguese Language Class

“Say It Again, João!”

Chapter 20: Ten Common Brazilian Portuguese Slang Words

Brega/Cafona

Cara

Chato

Chique

Esperto

Gato and Gata

Grana

Legal

Pinga

Valeu

Chapter 21: Ten (Plus One) Brazilian Portuguese Terms That Make You Sound Fluent

Né?

Tá

Ah é?

Então

Sabe?

Meio

Ou seja

Cê Instead of Você

A gente

Pra

Tô

Part 5: Appendixes

Appendix A: Verb Tables

Portuguese Verbs

Regular Portuguese Verbs

Irregular Portuguese Verbs

Appendix B: Portuguese-English Mini-Dictionary

Portuguese-English Mini-Dictionary

English-Portuguese Mini-Dictionary

Appendix C: Answer Key

Index

About the Author

Advertisement Page

Connect with Dummies

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 2

TABLE 2-1 Verb Endings to Use with -ar Verbs

TABLE 2-2 Verb Endings to Use with Regular -er and -ir Verbs

Chapter 3

TABLE 3-1 Adjectives Describing Permanent States

TABLE 3-2 Some of the World’s Major Languages

Chapter 4

TABLE 4-1 Conversion of Measurements: Metric to Imperial

Chapter 5

TABLE 5-1 Living-Space Words

Chapter 6

TABLE 6-1 Relatives

TABLE 6-2 Phrases That Mean “My”

TABLE 6-3 Phrases That Mean “Your”

TABLE 6-4 Phrases That Mean “Our”

TABLE 6-5 Phrases that Mean “’s,” “Her,” “His,” and “Their”

TABLE 6-6 Possessive Words — My, Your, and Our

TABLE 6-7 Past Tense Time References

TABLE 6-8 Connector Words (Conjunctions and Prepositions)

Chapter 13

TABLE 13-1 Possessive Words — My, Your, and Our

Chapter 15

TABLE 15-1 Words That Describe Locations

List of Illustrations

Chapter 13

FIGURE 13-1: This map shows the five regions of Brazil and popular destinations...

FIGURE 13-2: The Christ the Redeemer statue is a hallmark of Rio de Janeiro.

Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Index

About the Author

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Introduction

Brazil’s diversity is immense, whether you consider the Indigenous, African, and European roots of the majority of its inhabitants or whether you put the staggering biodiversity of Brazil’s lush landscapes under a microscope. Latin America’s most populous and largest nation is also the region’s largest economy — and it just happens to be home to friendly people, stunning beaches, and great music.

Need I say more? (I can’t stop gushing — did you know that Brazil is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the biggest street carnival in the world, in Salvador, Bahia?). Yes, it’s time to learn Brazilian Portuguese.

Business or pleasure — the book in your hands is perfect as a solid crash course for learning Brazilian Portuguese, no matter your motive. I’ve stocked this book with cultural insights to complement the basics of the language. This third edition even has a chapter for businesspeople who are interested in speaking a bit of Portuguese to enhance their career. I’ve also updated the book to go over social media vocab, even including slang abbreviations you can use to react to posts online.

Portuguese is the sixth most-spoken language in the world, due in large part to Brazil’s huge population that hovers now around 213 million. Be sure to check out Chapter 1 to find out which other countries in the world, including Portugal, speak Portuguese. I point out differences between the Portuguese that’s spoken in Brazil and Portugal in Chapter 1, but this book focuses on Brazilian Portuguese.

A bonus to learning Brazilian Portuguese is that it can help you to understand a little French, Spanish, and Italian, too. They’re all Romance languages, so many words of these languages sound similar.

The sounds of Brazilian Portuguese can be difficult to make for non-native speakers, but stick with it and have fun. I’m not promising fluency here, but you can find out how to make small talk with a Brazilian, ask for directions in a city, and even make some plans. So go buy yourself some Brazilian music and fill your space with the sounds of Brazil. You’ll fall in love with this lyrical language.

About This Book

Here’s the good news: This isn’t a class you have to drag yourself to or a language book that’s weighed down with complicated grammar rules, like so many others you may find in a bookstore or online. It’s a reference book for learning to speak Brazilian Portuguese that you can pick up at your leisure. You’re the boss. You may choose to leaf through, glancing only at chapters and pages that grab your attention. Or you can read the whole thing from start to finish. (From finish to start is okay, too — no one’s looking.)

The first few chapters may be helpful to read first, though, because they offer basic information about pronunciation and point out words that appear throughout the book. Of course, if there’s a chapter you just have to read first, it’s okay. After all, if you’re heading to Brazil for Carnaval or for business, I’m guessing you’ll want to flip to those chapters right away.

Just keep in mind that more advanced instruction comes later in the book as your knowledge and ability progresses. However, all chapters contain background, grammar, and dialogues that reflect the information you need to know at a particular level and in the situation of focus.

Conventions Used in This Book

To make the book easy to follow, I’ve set up a few stylistic rules:

Portuguese terms are set in

boldface

to make them stand out.

Pronunciations and definitions, which are shown in parentheses, follow the terms the first time they appear in a section.

Within the pronunciation, the part of the word that’s stressed is shown in

italics

.

English translations appear in italics.

Verb conjugations (lists that show you the different forms of a verb) are given in tables in this order:

I, you

(singular),

he/she, we

,

they,

and

you

(plural). Pronunciations follow in a second column.

Here’s an example of a conjugation chart for the word ser (seh) (to be). Because the subjects always come in the same order, you can see that words in this chart mean I am, you are, he/she is, we are, they are, and you are.

Conjugation

Pronunciation

eu sou

eh-ooh soh

você é

voh-seh eh

ele/ela é

eh-lee/eh-la eh

nós somos

nohz soh-mooz

eles/elas são

eh-leez/eh-lahz sah-ooh

vocês são

voh-sehz sah-ooh

In each chapter, you can also find the following sections:

Talkin’ the Talk dialogues:

The best (and most fun) way to learn a language is to hear real-life dialogues, so I include little conversations throughout the book. The dialogues come under the heading “Talkin’ the Talk” and show you the Portuguese words, how to pronounce them, and their English translations. Most of these conversations exist as audio files you can find online on the website associated with this book (

www.dummies.com/go/brazilianportuguesefd3e

)

, so when you see an Audio Online icon, be sure to listen along.

Words to Know blackboards:

Knowing key words and phrases is also important in the quest to speak a new language. I collect important words that appear in the Talkin’ the Talk dialogues (and perhaps add a few related terms) and put them in a special blackboard-shaped box that follows the dialogues.

Fun & Games activities:

At the end of each chapter, find an activity designed to help you practice some of the words and concepts featured in that chapter. Don’t worry; the exercises cover the essentials of a topic — nothing too difficult. The answers to these exercises are in

Appendix C

so you can quickly find out whether you got the right answers!

Foolish Assumptions

To write this book, I had to imagine who my readers would be. Yes, you! I think if you’ve picked up this book, you’re probably an open-minded person who enjoys learning. That’s excellent. Here are some other things I imagine about you:

You’re interested in learning enough conversational Brazilian Portuguese to get by in most social situations, not fluency.

You don’t want to memorize long lists of vocabulary to learn Portuguese.

You have little or no experience with the Portuguese language.

You’re interested in learning about Brazilian culture as well as its language.

The only thing I ask of you is to leave any foolish assumptions behind that might prevent you from getting the most out of this book. For example, it’s nonsense that only younger people can learn languages. The desire to learn is all you need. And it doesn’t matter how well you did in high school French or German, or whichever language classes you’ve taken before. This book is designed to take a fresh approach to learning languages, and I won’t grade you.

How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided by topic into parts and then into chapters. Chapters are further divided into sections. The following sections tell you what types of information you can find in each part.

Part 1: Getting Started with Brazilian Portuguese

This part covers the basics of Portuguese — how to pronounce words, construct sentences, and so on. I also point out Portuguese words that are so close to English that you already know their meanings.

Part 2: Brazilian Portuguese in Action

Discover everyday words and phrases in Portuguese and practice speaking this language. Instead of focusing on grammar points and philosophizing about why the language is structured the way it is, I jump right in to show you how it works. This section highlights how to talk to new Brazilian friends and business associates.

Part 3: Brazilian Portuguese on the Go

Here are the tools you need to take your Portuguese on the road, whether you’re trying to figure out which part of Brazil you want to visit or talking with a Brazilian about the bus schedule. These chapters are devoted to the traveler in you, the one who checks into hotels, hails a cab, and attends sporting events or Carnaval in Brazil.

Part 4: The Part of Tens

If you’re looking for quick advice about Portuguese, this part is for you. Here, you can find ten ways to pick up Portuguese quickly, ten common slang expressions, and ten expressions to help you sound fluent (even if you’re faking it).

Part 5: Appendixes

This part of the book is a straightforward reference — conjugation tables for the most common verbs and two mini-dictionaries: one translates common words from English to Portuguese; the other defines Portuguese words in English. Here, too, is where you find answers to the Fun & Games activities.

Icons Used in This Book

Drawings and symbols always liven things up a bit, don’t they? Here are some icons that point you to important information:

This icon shows you where you can find some fascinating tidbits that highlight either a linguistic aspect or give travel tips. Tips can save you time and frustration.

This handy icon pops up whenever you run across a bit of information that you really should remember after you close the book. These tidbits may tell you something important about the Portuguese language or Brazil in general.

When you see this icon, you can find insider pronunciation and vocab tips that go beyond basic Portuguese and can help you impress your Brazilian friends.

These snippets provide insight into Brazilian culture.

The online audio files contain conversations between native Brazilians. This icon marks the “Talkin’ the Talk” sections that are included online at www.dummies.com/go/brazilianportuguesefd3e and reminds you that you can listen to the dialogue while you read it.

Beyond the Book

In addition to what you’re reading right now, this book comes with a free, access-anywhere Cheat Sheet containing tips and techniques for learning Brazilian Portuguese faster. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Brazilian Portuguese For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the search box.

Where to Go from Here

When you have a spare moment, pop open the book to find out about Brazil and Brazilian Portuguese. Also, try to complement the information in this book with other activities that enhance your knowledge of Portuguese, such as reading the news in Portuguese or listening to Brazilian music. Have fun! Oh, and boa sorte (boh-ah soh-chee) (good luck)!

Part 1

Getting Started with Brazilian Portuguese

IN THIS PART …

See the links between Portuguese and English.

Master the basics of Portuguese grammar.

Say “Hello” — and “Goodbye.”

Work with numbers, time, and measurements.

Be a homebody — in Portuguese.

Chapter 1

You Already Know Some Portuguese!

IN THIS CHAPTER

Recognizing what English and Portuguese have in common

Spell it out: Saying the alphabet

Looking at vowels and consonants: Basic Portuguese sounds

Listening for regional variations in accent

Much like English, the Portuguese language comes in several different versions. The accent you hear in Brazil is pretty different from the Portuguese that’s spoken in Portugal. In fact, some Brazilian tourists in Portugal say they can’t understand a word that’s spoken there! The situation is similar to a conversation among English speakers from Texas, South Africa, and Ireland: It would probably sound like they were speaking three different languages. No doubt they’d struggle to understand each other.

Within Brazil, there are also regional differences in the way people speak — just as accents differ in various regions of the United States. Think about the accents of people in Alabama, Minnesota, and New York. So it is in Brazil. People in São Paulo (sah-ooh pah-ooh-loh), Rio de Janeiro (hee-ooh dee zhah-nay-roh), and the touristy city of Salvador (sahl-vah-doh) have different twangs to their speech, but it’s still pretty easy to understand all of them if you know Portuguese.

Written Portuguese, however, is pretty standard, especially the writing you find in a newspaper or other type of publication. A Brazilian can understand a Portuguese newspaper or read the works of Portugal’s Nobel Prize–winning author José Saramago (zhoh-zeh sah-rah-mah-goh), no problem.

The Portuguese in this book is Brazilian Portuguese, as opposed to the Portuguese spoken in Portugal and countries in Africa, including Cabo Verde (kah-boh veh-jee) (Cape Verde; islands off northwestern Africa), Moçambique (moh-sahm-bee-kee) (Mozambique; on the coast of southeast Africa), Guiné-Bissau (gwee-neh bee-sah-ooh) (Guinea Bissau; in western Africa), Angola (ahn-goh-lah) (in southwestern Africa), and São Tomé e Príncipe (sah-ooh toh-meh ee preen-see-pee) (Sao Tome and Principe; islands off western Africa).

Exploring the Roots of Portuguese

The beautiful Portuguese language belongs to a linguistic family known as the Romance languages. Back when the Roman Empire was around, Rome was the center of a wide swath of Europe, northern Africa, and parts of Asia. With Rome’s influence came its language — Latin.

The closer a place was to Rome, the more likely it was to absorb Latin into its language. This was the case with Portugal — where the Portuguese language originates — as well as the language of places like France, Spain, and even Romania.

So how did Portuguese get all the way to Brazil? A Portuguese conquistador named Pedro Álvares Cabral (peh-droh ahl-vah-reez kah-brah-ooh) landed in modern-day Brazil on April 22, 1500, and is the person credited for having “discovered” Brazil. Many indigenous people were already living in the area, of course, many of whom spoke languages that are part of a linguistic family today called Tupi-Guarani (too-pee gwah-rah-nee).

Brazilian Portuguese uses some Tupi-Guarani words, which commonly appear as names of towns in Brazil — Ubatuba (ooh-bah-too-bah), for example, is a pretty beach town in São Paulo (sah-ooh pah-ooh-loh) state. The town is nicknamed Uba-Chuva because chuva (shoo-vah) means rain and it rains there a lot! Tupi-Guarani words also name native plants and animals. Armadillo, for example, is tatu (tah-too). After you get used to speaking Portuguese, figuring out whether a word is Latin-based or Tupi-Guarani–based is pretty easy.

Still other words in Brazilian Portuguese are based on African languages, a result of the vast influence that Africans had on creating modern-day Brazil and its culture.

While the development of the modern-day English language wasn’t influenced by Tupi-Guarani or African languages, what you may not realize is that it has a lot of Latin influence. Linguists consider English to be a Germanic language, and it technically is. But due to the on-and-off French occupations of the British Isles, many of those French (Latin-based) words rubbed off on English. Some people say as much as 60 to 70 percent of English is Latin-based.

That’s great news for you. It means that many Portuguese words have the same root as English words. The root of a word is usually the middle of the word — those few sounds that really define the meaning of a word. Some examples of Portuguese words that resemble English words and have the same meaning include experimento (eh-speh-ree-men-toh) (experiment), presidente (preh-zee-dang-chee) (president), economia (eh-koh-noh-mee-ah) (economy), decisão (deh-see-zah-ooh) (decision), computador (kom-poo-tah-doh) (computer), liberdade (lee-beh-dah-jee) (liberty), and banana (bah-nah-nah) (banana). And that’s only to name a few!

Another benefit: O português (ooh poh-too-gehz) (Portuguese), like all Latin languages, uses the Roman alphabet. Accent marks that you don’t find in English appear over some of the vowels, but they add to the charm of Portuguese. Learning Portuguese is much easier for English-speaking people than learning Japanese or Arabic, which use totally different alphabets.

Finally, due to the modern influence of the United States throughout the world — which, in many ways, is much greater than Rome’s ancient influence — English words are used in Portuguese, with no adaptation in the way they’re written. Examples include email (ee-may-oh), shopping (shoh-ping) (in Brazil, shopping is a noun that means “shopping mall”), and show (shoh) (show/performance).

Reciting Your ABCs

A few of the sounds in Brazilian Portuguese can be difficult to imitate at first, because the sounds aren’t used in English. But most Brazilians can understand what you’re saying, even if you don’t say every palavra (pah-lahv-rah) (word) perfectly. Many Brazilians think a foreign sotaque (soh-tah-kee) (accent) is charming, so don’t worry about it.

On the upside, the way that phonetic sounds correspond to letters in Brazilian Portuguese is very systematic — much more so than in English. This means that after you get used to the way a letter or combination of letters sounds in Brazilian Portuguese, you can get the hang of the language pretty quickly. There are few surprises in the pronúncia (proh-noon-see-ah) (pronunciation) of this beautiful language.

The set of online audio files that accompany this book contains a pronunciation guide to give you a better feel for Portuguese sounds.

At the beginning of this chapter, did you notice that the pronunciation is shown in parentheses after the Portuguese word? That’s how this book shares the pronunciation of all new words. The italicized part is where you put the emphasis on the word as you speak it.

Are you ready to discover the basics of português (poh-too-gehz) (Portuguese)? You can start with the alphabet. Practice spelling your name:

a

(ah)

b

(beh)

c

(seh)

d

(deh)

e

(eh)

f

(

eh

-fee)

g

(zheh)

h

(ah-

gah

)

i

(ee)

j

(

zhoh

-tah)

k

(kah)

l

(

eh

-lee)

m

(

eh

-mee)

n

(

eh

-nee)

o

(awe)

p

(peh)

q

(keh)

r

(

eh

-hee)

s

(

eh

-

see)

t

(teh)

u

(ooh)

v

(veh)

w

(

dah

-bli yoo)

x

(sheez)

y

(

eep

-see-lohn)

z

(zeh)

When I refer to the sound zh as part of a phonetic transcription (the pronunciation guide in parenthesis), think of the s sound in the word treasure. That’s the zh sound I’m talking about.

Conquering Consonants

Getting through this book should be a cinch after you go through the basic pronunciation guide in this section. Skipping the guide is okay, too — you can get the gist by listening to the online audio files and reading the pronunciations of words in other chapters aloud. But if you want to get a general idea of how to pronounce words that don’t show up in this book, this is a great place to begin. I start with the consonants — you know, all those letters in the alphabet that aren’t vowels.

Here’s a fun aspect of Brazilian Portuguese. When a word ends in a consonant — most of these words are foreign (and mostly English) terms that Brazilians have adopted — it’s pronounced with an added ee sound. Some examples are club (kloo-bee), laptop (lahp-ee-top-ee), hip-hop (heep-ee-hoh-pee), rap (hah-pee), and rock (hoh-kee).

That said, most consonants in Brazilian Portuguese have the same sound as in English. I point out the exceptions in the following sections.

Ready? Here we go!

The letter C

A c that begins a word usually sounds like a k:

café

(kah-

feh

) (

coffee

)

casa

(

kah

-zah) (

house

)

If the c has a hook-shaped mark under it, like this —ç— it makes an s sound:

França

(

frahn

-sah) (

France

)

serviço

(seh-

vee

-soo) (

service

)

The most common use of this type of c, called the cedilha (seh-deel-yah) (cedilla), is when a c comes at the end of a word that’s followed by -ão. It’s the Brazilian equivalent of the English -tion ending.

evolução

(eh-voh-loo-

sah

-ooh) (

evolution

)

promoção

(proh-moh-

sah

-ooh) (

sale/discount/sales promotion

)

The letter D

If a word begins with a d, the sound is a hard d, like in English:

dançar

(dahn-

sah

) (

to dance

)

data

(

dah

-tah) (

date

— as in calendar date)

The word de (jee), which means of, is an exception.

If the d comes in the middle of a word, it can have either a hard d sound or a j sound — as in the English word jelly.

advogado

(ahj-voh-

gah

-doh) (

lawyer

)

estado

(eh-

stah

-doh) (

state

— as in a state in a nation)

liberdade

(lee-beh-

dah

-jee) (

freedom

)

modelo

(moh-

deh

-loo) (

model

)

pedir

(peh-

jee

) (

to ask for

)

The letter G

The g in Portuguese usually is a hard g, like in the English word go:

gato

(

gah

-too) (

cat

)

governo

(goh-

veh

-noo) (

government

)

segundo

(seh-

goon

-doh) (

second

)

But g takes a zh sound, like the s in treasure, when followed by an e or i:

biologia

(bee-oh-loh-

zhee

-ah) (

biology

)

gente

(

zhang

-chee) (

people

)

The letter H

The Brazilian Portuguese h is a pretty versatile consonant. If the word begins with an h, the letter is silent:

honesto

(oh-

neh

-stoh) (

honest

)

hora

(

oh

-rah) (

hour

)

In the cases of words that contain lh or nh, the h sounds like a y:

companhia

(kohm-pahn-

yee

-ah) (

company

)

Espanha

(eh-

spahn

-yah) (

Spain

)

maravilhoso

(mah-rah-veel-

yoh

-zoo) (

marvelous/amazing

)

palhaço

(pahl-

yah

-soh) (

clown

)

The letter J

The j in Portuguese always sounds like the zh sound an s makes in the English word treasure:

joelho

(zhoh-

el

-yoh) (

knee

)

Jorge

(

zhoh

-zhee) (

George

)

julho

(

zhool

-yoh) (

July

)

loja

(

loh

-zhah) (

store

)

The letter L

The l in Portuguese normally sounds like the l in English:

gelo

(

zheh

-loo) (

ice

)

líder

(

lee

-deh) (

leader

)

But if it comes at the end of a word, the l sounds like ooh:

mil

(mee-

ooh

) (

one thousand

)

Natal

(nah-

tah

-ooh) (

Christmas

)

The letters M and N

The m and n in Portuguese generally sound like m and n in English:

janela

(zhah-

neh

-lah) (

window

)

medo

(

meh

-doo) (

fear

)

mel

(

meh

-ooh) (

honey

)

não

(

nah-

ooh) (

no

)

But at the end of a word, an m or n takes on an ng sound:

cem

(sang) (

one hundred

)

homem

(

oh

-mang) (

man

)

The letter R

If the word begins or ends with an r, the r sounds like an h:

Roberto

(hoh-

beh

-too) (

Robert

)

rosa

(

hoh

-zah) (

pink

)

If r comes in the middle of a word, on the accented syllable, it sounds like an even stronger h. In the words porta and carta that follow, use your belly to push air out of your mouth as you say the h. It’s a breathy h, not a guttural sound.

carta

(

kah

-tah) (

letter

)

porta

(

poh

-tah) (

door

)

If a word has two r’s (rr), they make an h sound, as in burro (boo-hoh) (dumb). If the r comes at the end of a word, it also makes an h sound like in burro:

caminhar

(kah-ming-

yah

) (

to walk

)

gostar

(goh-

stah

) (

to like

)

The letter S

The Portuguese s is generally pronounced the same as the English s, except it often becomes a z sound at the end of a word:

dedos

(

deh

-doos) (

fingers

)

olhos

(

ohl

-yooz) (

eyes

)

An s between two vowels also makes a z sound:

casa

(

kah

-zah) (

house

)

coisa

(

koh-

ee-zah) (

thing

)

The letter T

The t in Portuguese has a soft t sound in general. In English, you don’t use the soft t sound very often.

Say ta, ta, ta in a quiet voice, without making a soft ‘h’ as if you’re marking a rhythm. That’s the soft t of Portuguese.

atuar

(ah-too-

ah

) (

to act

)

motocicleta

(moh-too-see-

kleh

-tah) (

motorcycle

)

Tailândia

(tah-ee-

lahn

-jee-ah) (

Thailand

)

But t sounds like ch when followed by an e or an i:

forte

(

foh

-chee) (

strong

)

notícia

(noh-

chee

-see-ah) (

news

)

passaporte

(pah-sah-

poh

-chee) (

passport

)

time

(

chee

-mee) (

team

)

The letter W

The letter w doesn’t naturally occur in Portuguese, but when it does, it sounds like a v. The only places you really see a w is in a person’s name.

Wanderlei

(

vahn

-deh-lay)

Wanessa

(vah-

neh

-sah)

The letter X

The x generally has a sh sound in Portuguese:

axé

(ah-

sheh

), a popular Brazilian musical and dance genre

bruxa

(

broo

-shah) (

witch

)

lixo

(

lee

-shoo) (

garbage

)

taxa

(

tah

-shah) (

rate

)

The letter x can also have a ks sound, as in English: tóxico (tohk-see-koh) (toxic).

And the x can also sound like a z in some cases, such as exame (eh-zahm-ee) (exam).

Exercising Your Jowls with Vowels

In this section, I go over all five vowels in Portuguese, including the ones with accent marks.

The letters A and Ã

The letter a normally has an ah sound:

ajuda

(ah-

zhoo

-dah) (

help

)

amigo

(ah-

mee

-goo) (

friend

)

Tatiana

(tah-chee-

ah

-nah), a woman’s name

If the a has a squiggly mark, or til (chee-ooh) (tilde), on top of it (ã), then the letter makes a nasal sound. Instead of opening your mouth to say a, as in the English word at, try closing your mouth almost completely while you make the same sound. Do you hear that? It becomes more of an uh than an ah. Then try to open your mouth (making the same sound) without bringing your lips farther apart. Yes, that’s the ã sound!

The ã is very common in Brazilian Portuguese, but it took me more than a year to say it like a Brazilian. If you’re in the same boat, don’t sweat it; most Brazilians can understand what a person’s trying to say even if the ã is pronounced wrong.

The ã occasionally comes at the end of a word:

maçã

(mah-

sah

) (

apple

)

Maracanã

(mah-rah-kah-

nah

), a soccer stadium in Rio

Most often, ã is followed by an o (ão). Together, these letters make an ah-ooh sound. But say it fast — Ow! — like you’ve hurt yourself and with the nasal sound you just practiced.

informação

(een-foh-mah-

sah

-ooh) (

information

)

não

(

nah

-ooh) (

no

)

The letters E and Ê

In general, the letter e sounds like eh, as in egg or ten:

dedo

(

deh

-doo) (

finger

)

elefante

(eh-leh-

fahn

-chee) (

elephant

)

If it comes at the end of a word, though, e usually has an ee sound:

boate

(boh-

ah

-chee) (

nightclub

)

dificuldade

(jee-fee-kool-

dah

-jee) (

difficulty

)

If the e has a hat on it (ê), don’t worry; it’s still the eh sound:

gêmeo

(

zhem

-ee-oh) (

twin

)

três

(trehz) (

three

)

The letter I

The letter i has an ee sound, pretty much without exception:

inglês

(eeng-

glehz

) (

English

)

livro

(

leev

-roh) (

book

)

The letters O and Ô

The letter o by itself has an easy-to-make oh sound.

onda

(

ohn

-dah) (

wave

)

ontem

(

ohn

-tang) (

yesterday

)

At the end of a word, though, it usually sounds like oo:

Gramado

(grah-

mah

-doo), a city in Rio Grande do Sul state that’s famous for its film festival

tudo

(

too

-doo) (

everything/all

)

The o also comes with a hat (the circumflex) on it (ô), which makes an oh sound. The accent mark doesn’t change the pronunciation of the letter.

Alô?

(ah-

loh?

) (

Hello?

)

ônibus

(

oh

-nee-boos) (

bus

)

The letter U

The u has an ooh sound:

ou

(ooh) (

or

)

urso

(

ooh

-soo) (

bear

)

útil

(

ooh

-chee-ooh) (

useful

)

Differentiating Regional Accents

The Portuguese pronunciation I describe in this book works for most of Brazil, and it’s certainly understandable to any Brazilian. But there are some minor differences in accent by region. Usually the difference is how people of a region say a certain sound and the intonation or musicality. In this section, I point out a few hallmarks of certain regional accents so you can tell which part of Brazil your conversation partner is from.

Rio de Janeiro

Cariocas (kah-ree-oh-kahs), people from the city of Rio, are famous for saying sh instead of s.

Word

Rio Pronunciation

Standard Pronunciation

Meaning

esquina

eh-shkee-nah

eh-skee-nah

corner

mulheres

mool-yeh-reesh

mool-yeh-reez

women

Interior of São Paulo state

People from inland São Paulo state (not the city of São Paulo, which is close-ish to the coast, compared with the rest of the state) — along with people in rural parts of the bordering state of Minas Gerais — are famous for sounding like Americans speaking bad Portuguese because they pronounce the Portuguese r in an accented syllable like a hard English r instead of a strong h.

Word

Interior of São Paulo Pronunciation

Standard Pronunciation

interior

een-teh-ree-or

een-teh-ree-oh

porta

por-tah

poh-tah

Northeastern Brazil

In this part of the country, which includes the big cities of Natal and Fortaleza, most people (Bahia state is an exception) say a hard d for d instead of j as in jelly. And their t is similar to a snappy English t instead of the ch sound made in the rest of Brazil.

Word

Northeastern Pronunciation

Standard Pronunciation

Meaning

bom dia

boh-oong dee-ah

boh-oong jee-ah

good morning

forte

foh-tee

foh-chee

strong

Rio Grande do Sul

Gaúchos (gah-ooh-shohz), people from Rio Grande do Sul state, are known for talking in a sing-song voice that goes up and down a lot. These people live near the borders of Argentina and Uruguay, so their accents sound more Spanish and Italian (many Italian immigrants settled in Argentina/Uruguay, as well as Spaniards) than Brazilian.

Recognizing the Sound of Portugal’s Portuguese

The Portuguese tend to use the sh sound for the letter s, as people from Rio do. European Portuguese speakers also often drop the e from the end of words; especialmente (especially) becomes eh-speh-see-ah-ooh-ment in Portugal. In Brazil you hear eh-speh-see-ah-ooh-men-chee.

Slang is different in Portugal, too. For example, the Portuguese say fixe (feesh) instead of legal (lay-gow) to say cool, as in That’s cool, dude. See Chapter 20 for more Portuguese slang.

FUN & GAMES

Try to match these Portuguese letters with the sound they generally make in English.

1. a

a. s

2. u

b. ch

3. t

c. ooh

4. ç

d. v

5. w

e. ah

See Appendix C for the answer key.

Chapter 2

The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Portuguese Grammar

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using nouns, adjectives, articles, and pronouns

Understanding verbs in their various forms

Checking out Portuguese contractions

Talking about what happens to you and me

Ick. Grammar. Remember that word from high school? Most people teach grammar as if words were complicated math symbols to be arranged just so. I think learning a language should be more about exploring fun cultural stuff. So I’m putting my foot down. In this chapter, grammar isn’t presented as a set of rules to memorize. Instead, I describe Portuguese sentence-building by showing you how to assemble your ideas in everyday situations. (If you’re disappointed about this because you really want to do some math, maybe you can get your fix in Chapter 4, where I show you how to say numbers in Portuguese.)

Figuring out how to categorize types of words and knowing where they go in a sentence is like putting together a puzzle. And here’s some good news: Portuguese and English use the same pieces! When I say “pieces,” I’m talking about categories of words that are used to construct sentences — parts of speech. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means, we’ll do a little review!

Agreeing with Nouns and Adjectives

Just like in English, nouns in Portuguese are a main feature of speech — the most important pieces of the puzzle. They’re used to name people, places, and things, such as casa (kah-zah) (house), amigo (ah-mee-goo) (friend), Maria (mah-ree-ah), (the name of a woman), caneta (kah-neh-tah) (pen), and Brasil (brah-zee-ooh) (Brazil).

Portuguese nouns come in two types: masculine and feminine. Masculine nouns usually end in -o, and feminine nouns usually end in -a. If a noun ends in a different letter, you can look up the word’s gender in a Portuguese-English dictionary. To an English speaker, assigning a gender to a door, a key, a chair, and other things may seem unfamiliar; but many non-English languages include this gender coding.

The gender of a noun is important because related adjectives need to match the noun they’re describing. In other words, every time you describe a noun with an adjective in Portuguese — such as bonita (boo-nee-tah) (pretty) or simpático (seem-pah-chee-koo) (nice) — you change the last letter of the adjective to make it either masculine or feminine, depending on what or who you’re describing. Like nouns, masculine adjectives normally end in -o, and feminine adjectives end in -a.

In Portuguese, the adjective normally comes after the noun. This word order is opposite of the English construction, where you first say the adjective and then the noun (red dress, for example, or beautiful sunset). The noun-adjective switcharoo is one of the few differences in word order between Portuguese and English.

So here’s how nouns and adjectives get paired off in Portuguese. In the first two examples, notice that the ending of lindo (leen-doo) (good-looking) changes, depending on the gender of the noun it follows. In the other examples, see how the adjective (the second word) changes its ending to match the ending of the noun before it:

homem lindo

(

oh

-mang

leen

-doo) (

good-looking/handsome man

)

mulher linda

(mool-

yeh leen

-dah) (

good-looking/beautiful woman

)

quarto limpo

(

kwah

-too

leem

-poo) (

clean room

)

casa suja

(

kah

-zah

soo

-zhah) (

dirty house

)

comida gostosa

(koh-

mee

-dah goh-

stoh

-zah) (

delicious food

)

Some adjectives are neutral and stay the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. These adjectives often end in -e rather than -o or -a. Adjectives in this group include grande (grahn-jee) (big) and inteligente (een-teh-lee-zhang-chee) (intelligent):

Ela é muito inteligente.

(

eh

-lah

eh

moh-

ee

-toh een-

teh

-lee-

zhang

-chee.) (

She is very intelligent.

)

Ele é muito inteligente.

(

eh

-lee

eh

moh-

ee

-toh een-

teh

-lee-

zhang

-chee.) (

He is very intelligent.

)

If a noun is plural, just add an -s to the end of the noun (just as you do in English) and add an -s to the end of the adjective too: cachorros pequenos (kah-shoh-hooz peh-keh-nooz) (small dogs).

When you’re talking about a group of men and women, if there’s just one male in the group, then you refer to the whole group using masculine pronouns and adjectives. For example, use eles (eh-lees) (them, masculine) to talk about a group of three women and one man. Say Eles são simpáticos (eh-lees sah-ooh seem-pah-chee-koos) to mean They are nice, whether you’re referring to a group of five guys, or a woman and a man. Use the plural, feminine form elas (eh-lahs) (them, feminine), only when all members of the group are female. In that case, you’d say Elas são simpáticas (eh-lahs sah-ooh seem-pah-chee-kahs) (They are nice – a group of females).

Looking at Articles

As with Portuguese nouns and adjectives, the gender game is also at play when it comes to articles — words like the, a, an, and some. Now’s the time to ooh and ah over grammar; o (ooh) means the for masculine nouns, and a (ah) means the for feminine nouns.

In the following phrases, see how the first and last letters match:

o homem lindo

(ooh

oh

-mang

leen

-doo) (

the handsome man

)

a mulher linda

(ah mool-

yeh leen

-dah) (

the beautiful woman

)

o quarto limpo

(ooh

kwah

-too

leem

-poo) (

the clean room

)

a casa suja

(ah

kah

-zah

soo

-zhah) (

the dirty house

)

Brazilians use the word the in front of nouns much more often than people do in English. Whereas you say Books are fun, they say Os livros são divertidos (oohz leev-rooz sah-ooh jee-veh-chee-dooz) (Literally: The books are fun). Brazil is big in Portuguese is O Brasil é grande (ooh brah-zee-ooh eh grahn-jee) (Literally: The Brazil is big).

If a noun is plural and masculine, use os (ooz); use as (ahz) if the noun is plural and feminine:

os barcos grandes

(ooz

bah

-kooz

grahn

-jeez) (

the big boats

)

as flores amarelas

(ahz

floh

-reez ah-mah-

reh

-lahz) (

the yellow flowers

)

To say a, as in a hat or a table, say um (oong) for masculine nouns and uma (ooh-mah) for feminine nouns:

um banheiro

(oong bahn-

yay

-roh) (

a bathroom

)

um livro

(oong

leev

-roh) (

a book

)

uma mesa

(

ooh

-mah

meh

-zah) (

a table

)

uma pessoa

(

ooh

-mah peh-

soh

-ah) (

a person

)

To say some, use uns (oonz) if the noun’s masculine or umas (ooh-mahz) if it’s feminine:

uns sapatos

(

oonz

sah-

pah

-tooz) (

some shoes

)

umas garotas

(

ooh

-mahz gah-

roh

-tahz) (

some girls

)

umas praias

(

ooh

-mahz

prah

-ee-ahz) (

some beaches

)

When you make the plural of a word ending in -m, such as um, the m always changes to an n: Um homem (oong oh-mang) (a man) becomes uns homens (oonz oh-mangz) (some men).

Introducing Pronouns

You use pronouns to refer to people when you don’t say their names. Here’s the way Brazilians do it:

eu

(

eh

-ooh) (

I

)

você

(voh-

seh

) (

you

— singular)

ele

(

eh

-lee) (

he/him

)

ela

(

eh

-lah) (

she/her

)

nós

(nohz) (

we/us

)

eles

(

eh

-leez) (

they/them

— all males or males and females)

elas

(

eh

-lahz) (

they/them

— all females)

vocês

(voh-

sehz

) (

you

— plural)

Brazilians don’t have an equivalent of the English word it. Because things are either masculine or feminine in Portuguese, Brazilians refer generally to this type of noun as ele/ela/eles/elas. You don’t hear this too often, because Brazilians tend to use the name of what they’re talking about. But a mala (ah mah-lah) (the suitcase) can become ela (Literally: she) if both speakers understand the context. Eu perdi ela (eh-ooh peh-jee eh-lah) (I lost it) can mean I lost the suitcase.

If you’re talking to a person who’s a lot older than you or to an important person, like your boss or a politician, instead of using você, use o senhor (ooh seen-yoh) (Literally: the gentleman) or a senhora (ah seen-yoh-rah) (Literally: the lady) to show respect.

NEUTRAL PRONOUNS

If you’re non-binary, you can say, Eu sou não binário (eh-ooh soh nah-ooh bee-nah-ree-ooh) (I’m non-binary). If you want to ask someone what their pronouns are, say Quais pronomes você prefere? (kwah-ees proh-noh-mees voh-seh preh-feh-ree?) (What are your preferred pronouns?) In English, the common way to refer to a non-binary person is them. In Brazilian Portuguese, as of press time, there was no widely accepted non-binary pronoun. People have come up with different neutral pronoun possibilities, such as ile (ee-leh) and elu (eh-loo). The lack of accepted neutral pronoun terms in no way reflects on Brazilian society — there are plenty of opinions out there and support of gender equity awareness in general. But the concept of a neutral pronoun is far trickier in Portuguese, because the grammar is trickier. You have to change every adjective to match the pronoun. Instead of o/a endings reflecting a masculine or feminine pronoun, some Brazilians want adjectives to take on an –e ending to go with a neutral pronoun. Instead of alto (ah-ooh-toh) (tall – male) and alta (ah-ooh-tah) (tall – female) some Brazilians are now saying alte (ah-ooh-teh) (tall, non-binary person). Nouns such as filho/a (feel-yoh/yah) (son/daughter) are transforming into filhe (feel-yeh) (neutral expression of child). I’m personally fascinated to follow this movement in Brazil and find out what becomes common parlance to refer to non-binary people in Brazil. This is real evolution of language, in real time! It’s always a good idea to be respectful of others. Stay tuned.

Here are some sentences using pronouns:

Eu falo português.

(

eh

-ooh

fah

-loh poh-too-

gez.

) (

I speak Portuguese.

)

Você escreve.

(voh-

seh

ehs-

kreh

-vee.) (

You write.

)

A senhora é brasileira?

(ah seen-

yoh

-rah eh brah-zee-

lay

-rah?) (

Are you Brazilian?

— to an older woman)

As is the case in Spanish, speakers of Portuguese don’t always use subject pronouns in cases where everyone involved already knows who’s being referred to.

Examining Verbs and Building Simple Sentences

To really make a sentence come alive, you need verbs. Along with nouns, verbs make up the main parts of a sentence. Verbs can link describing words to what they describe. The most basic linking-verb words in Portuguese are é (eh) (is) and são (sah-ooh) (are).

The following sentences simply use nouns, verbs, and adjectives in the same order you’d use them in English:

A casa é bonita.

(ah

kah

-zah

eh

boo-

nee

-tah.) (

The house is pretty.

)

O amigo é simpático.

(ooh ah-

mee

-goo

eh

seem-

pah

-chee-koo.) (

The friend is nice.

)

As rosas são vermelhas.

(ahz

hoh

-zahz

sah

-ooh veh-

mel

-yahz.) (

The roses are red.

)

All you need to create a sentence are a noun and a verb. When the person, place, or thing is doing something, a verb signals the action. Action verbs include estuda (eh-stoo-dah) (studies), vai (vah-ee) (goes), and canta (kahn-tah) (sings). Here are some complete sentences:

Os amigos falam.

(oohz ah-

mee

-gooz

fah

-lah-ooh.) (

The friends talk.

)

O gato dorme.

(ooh

gah

-too

doh

-mee.) (

The cat sleeps.

)

A mãe cozinha.

(ah

mah

-ee koh-

zeen

-yah.) (

The mom cooks.

)

When you want to ask a question in Portuguese, you don’t have to change the order of the words. Just say the same thing, but raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the sentence, as you do in English.

A casa é bonita?

(ah

kah

-zah

eh

boo-

nee

-tah?) (

Is the house pretty?

)

As rosas são vermelhas?

(ahz

hoh

-zahz

sah

-ooh veh-

mel

-yahz?) (

Are roses red?

)