1/27/2014

My (Brazilian) Portuguese Cheat Sheet - Maverick Traveler

My (Brazilian) Portuguese Cheat Sheet

By Maverick So youre in Brazil trying to get a better grasp on the language in order to better express yourself and experience the culture. After ~ 2 yrs in Brazil, heres my brain dump. Nouns: male/female Nouns ending in -o are usually male; endings in -a are female. Exceptions: o mapa, a foto, etc -o are female (promoo, declarao, fico) / -o turns into plural like es (promoes, declaraes) -de are female (felicidade, cidade, responsabilidade) -m are female (viagem, garagem) / -m turns into plugar like -ns (viagens, garagens) Names of companies = female (Empresa) A Microsoft, A Petrobras. Names of sites = male (Site) O Google, O Twitter. Pronouns (meu, minha, seu, sua) Pronouns gender follow the nouns gender This took me a while to understandjust think of it as two words tied into one. sua casa (feminine) seu lugar (masculine) Possession: Este(a), Esse(a), Aquele(a) / Isto, Isso, Aquilo If Im having a conversation with a someone, then: Este: object closer to me Esse: object closer to other person Aquele: some object far away from either of us. Isto: this but without mentioning an object in question.
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1/27/2014

My (Brazilian) Portuguese Cheat Sheet - Maverick Traveler

For ex, Correct: Que isso (What is this), Incorrect: Que e isso pessoa. Isso: that same as above Aquilo: that same as above Posession: De(o/a/os/as) + este/esse/aquele + ele/ela/eles/elas A casa dele (de ele) A casa do Roberto (de o Roberto) A casa da mulher (A womans house [specific woman]) Preposition: Em(no/na/nos/nas) + este/esse/aquele De: possesion of object De+este = deste De+esse = desse De+aquele = daquele Definite Article: O / A / Os / As In English, we use this to signify an important object. e.g., I love this house, instead of I love a house. This house is referred to a specific house, instead of being just any random house. O = Masculine, A = Feminine, Os = Plural Masculine, As = Plural Feminine For people, use O Roberto, A Marina, etc. Para vs Por/Pelo(a/os/as): this has haunted me for a long time, since in English both signify for Para: literally for as in direction or purpose (Onibus para Sao Paulo, O quarto para duas pessoas, Presente para voce) Por: As in via, by more of an indirect meaning (Obrigado por tudo, Estou andando por Ipanema) Pelo(a/os/as): Por + a/os/as: Same as por but with a definate article (Obrigado por a comida = Obrigada pela comida) Im not thanking the food itself, but Im thanking someone else, a 3rd party, for making this food. Preposition: in / on top of Em + a/o/as/os = Na/No/Nas/Nos
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1/27/2014

My (Brazilian) Portuguese Cheat Sheet - Maverick Traveler

Signifies to be on top of something or in something Estou no (em o) Brasil / Bota isso na (em + a) mesa / Estou na (em+a) praia Prepositions for places Neighborhoods by tradition Ipanema (no prep), Copacabana (no prep), Leblon (O leblon/no leblon), Leme (o leme/no leme) Places that signify an object (river, reef, etc) contain a definite article (o, a) O Rio de Janeiro (no Rio de Janeiro), Sao Paulo (em Sao Paulo) Countries (definite article not used for Portugal, and ex-Portuguese colonies minus Brazil; Brazil and all other countries use it) O Brasil, (no Brasil), Portugal (em Portugal), Angola (em Angola), A Russia (na Russia), A Espanha (na Espanha) When to use definate article? Possession: A casa do (de + o) meu amigo / My friends house By tradition: see prepositions for places above If a sentence has an important word you prefix it with definite article. Frances de mentira (French person who is lying in general) Frances da mentira (French person who told some big and intricate lie, also becomes like a possession, e.g., A lies french person) A(o) vs Em/No(a) A means destination (but Im not there yet), e.g., Estou chegando ao ponto, Estou chegando ao Brasil, Estou de volta ao Rio Em means that Im there already. e.g., Estou no (em + o) Brasil, A caneta esta na (em + a) mesa A gente = Ns In Brazil, a gente can signify us. It follows the voc conjugation form. For regular people (as in they, not including yourself and your company) you can use as pessoas Verb forms Brazilian Portuguese has only 3-4 forms (unlike 6 in Portugals) I, you, us (can be a gente which follows you form conjugation), they
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1/27/2014

My (Brazilian) Portuguese Cheat Sheet - Maverick Traveler

Eu, voc(s), ns (or a gente), eles(as) Verb tenses (past done, past continuos, present, present continuous, future) Falar = to speak Past done = I did something in the past and its done, over with. (Falei I spoke) Past continuous = I used to do something in the past (for an extended time). (Falava I used to speak) Present = I do this now / Im doing this now (Falo I speak / Falando I am speaking) Future = I will do this / Im going to do this (Falare Ill speak / Im going to speak Eu vou falar) Verbs: complex constructs (past, [past + past] cond, [present + future] conditional) Past = I would/should have brought this (Eu teria/devia trazido isso). Using the combination of ter (teria) or dever (devia) + trazer (trazido) Past + past = If I knew that, I would have brought this (Se eu soubesse isso, eu o trazia). Using saber (soubesse) + trazer (trazia) Present + future = If you were me, what would you do (Se voce fosse eu, o que faria?). Using ser (fosse) + fazer (faria) Verbs: Request / Negative Request: I want you to see this Eu quero que voce veja isso Negative statement: Dont be like this No seja assim After the word que the verb changes forms. (e.g., ver = veja, ser = seja, pedir = pede, vir = venha, etc) Because/Due to : To explain that something happen in response to something else Por que Because A escola esta fechada por que esta chovendo (The school is closed because its raining) Por cause de(o/a) Because of A Escola esta fechada por causa da chuva (The school is closed because of the rain) Pelo(a/os/as) - Responsible party - O Brasil foi discobrido pelos portugueses
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1/27/2014

My (Brazilian) Portuguese Cheat Sheet - Maverick Traveler

(Brazil was discovered by Portuguese) Devido Due to O tempo refrescou, devido chuva (Weather refreshed due to the rain). Phonetics: This took me a while to get. What really helped was reading Irish Polyglots post [1] and his explanation on the pronunciation. Closed vowel: denoted by a little hat above the letter: , , A perfect example is the word al (hello) when used in foreign countries. Another example roll (of paper, etc) Open vowel: , , You say openly, like ( in the word call) Nasal: o The in this case pronounced with their 50% of the air coming out of the mouth, and 50% from the nose. Thats a quick overview to help to compartmentalize my thoughts. Didnt expect this post to be this long (over 1000 words), but its a nice outline of my language thinking process.

1. http://www.fluentin3months.com/sound-like-a-carioca/

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