Home
Pronunciation
Brazilian Singers
Free Lessons
Port. Articles
What's New?
Free eBooks
Easy Words
Common Words
Port. Phrases
Basic Verbs
Vocabulary
Brazilian Recipes
Contact
Links
Sitemap

XML RSS
What is this?
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Add to Google


Portuguese Tips
What to Say, What NOT to Say



Take advantage of these Portuguese Tips.
According to Nicolas Boileau (1636 - 1711)
"Sometimes a fool makes a good suggestion." :)

Portuguese Tips: ALWAYS...


  • Always use a double negative in Portuguese: ‘Não fiz nada’, ‘Não sei de nada’...

  • Always use the preposition 'de' after 'gostar'. The only time you can omit 'de' is when you answer simply ‘Gosto, sim’.

  • Always use 'a' with the phrase ‘Daqui a pouco’, not ‘Daqui em pouco’.

  • Always use 'um' with 'milhão' - um milhão de dólares.

  • Always remember that 'vez', 'lei', 'pele' and 'luz' are feminine in gender.

  • Always distinguish between 'estranho' and 'estrangeiro'. ‘Uma língua estranha’ means ‘a weird language’. ‘Uma língua estrangeira’ means ‘a foreign language’.

  • Always distinguish between 'calor' (a noun) and 'quente' (an adjective).

  • Always use 'no' or 'na' after the verb 'entrar'. In English we say ‘they entered the room’, but in Portuguese it must be ‘eles entraram na sala’.

  • Always use 'cinto' for 'belt', and 'bolso' for 'pocket'.

  • Always use great care with the past participles of 'matar' and 'morrer'. He was killed - Ele foi morto. He died - Ele morreu. He has killed a lot of people - Ele matou muita gente. He was dead - Ele estava morto.

  • Always use the imperfect subjuntive after 'pensei' when you admit your previous idea was wrong: Pensei que ele estivesse aqui ontem, mas me enganei. (I thought he was here yesterday, but I was wrong.)

  • Always say ‘de manhã cedinho’, or ‘de manhãzinha’, when you mean ‘early in the morning’.

    Portuguese Tips: NEVER...


  • Never use a preposition between 'tentar' and the following infinitive. Likewise for 'dever'. (Eu vou tentar fazer isso. Ele deve estudar mais.)

  • Never use 'cada dia' to mean 'every day'. The correct form is 'todos os dias', or 'todo dia'.

  • Never use the verb 'ser' with 'contente'. Correct forms: 'Estou contente', 'sou feliz' or 'estou feliz'.

  • Never use 'um' with 'mil'.(1000)

  • Never ask what time something happened with 'AS' que horas. The expresison is 'À que horas'.

  • Never forget that prepositions are not always the same for Portuguese and English. 'On foot' is not ‘em pé.’ Rather, it means ‘a pé’. 'Em pé' means 'standing up', as does 'de pé'.

  • Never pronounce 'falaram' and 'falarem' the same way. A final 'am' is pronounced just like 'ão'. The 'am', however, is not stressed.

  • Never say ‘fui nascido’. I was born is simply ‘nasci’.

  • Never translate ‘not always’ as ‘não sempre’. It is ‘nem sempre’.

  • Never use 'mais grande' or 'mais pequeno'. Instead, use 'maior' and 'menor'.

  • Never assume that a word is feminine just because it ends in ‘a’. There are many exceptions: o mapa, o sistema, o programa, o problema, o poema, o telefonema.

  • Never translate ‘She is getting more and more beautiful’ as ‘Ela está ficando mais e mais bonita’. The idiom is ‘cada vez mais’.

  • Never say ‘Vamos ir’, but simply ‘Vamos’; ‘Ele vai vir’, but ‘Ele vem’.

    Portuguese Tips: Right X Wrong

    The first sentence is written in English. The second is the wrong way of saying it in Portuguese. The third is how to say it in a proper way.

    I ordered a suit.
    Eu ordenei um terno.
    Eu encomendei (mandei fazer) um terno.

    I called John up.
    Chamei o John.
    Telefonei ao John.

    I enrolled (or registered) at the college.
    Eu me registrei na faculdade.
    Eu me matriculei na faculdade.

    I turned in an application yesterday.
    Entreguei a aplicação ontem.
    Entreguei o pedido (a solicitação) ontem.

    I wrote a paper about the war.
    Escrevi um papel sobre a guerra.
    Fiz um trabalho sobre a guerra.

    I wrote a check.
    Escrevi um cheque.
    Fiz (assinei, preenchi, emiti) um cheque.

    I attend the University.
    Eu assisto a Universidade.
    Eu frequento a Universidade.

    It’s not possible.
    É não possível.
    Não é possível.

    Try to speak.
    Tentar de falar.
    Tentar falar.

    He wrote you a letter.
    Ele escreveu você uma carta.
    Ele escreveu uma carta para você .

    They were here last night.
    Eles estiverem aqui noite passada.
    Eles estiveram aqui noite passada.

    Now I realized.
    Agora eu realizei.
    Agora entendi (percebi, me dei conta).

    Phone extension
    Extensão
    Ramal

    Have you got any question? Send me it through a form, and it may be include in our next Portuguese Tips!

    From Portuguese Tips to Home


    footer for Portuguese tips page

    		•