Brazilian Portuguese Subjunctive Present

In Brazilian Portuguese, the present subjunctive it is used when there is present expression of hope, uncertainty, desire, emotion, wish or a demand. The easiest cue to know when you should employ the subjunctive form of a verb in Brazilian Portuguese, is when you encounter a “que” phrase. Some examples of que phrases are: quero que (I want that…), desejo que (I wish that…), é importante que (it’s important that…), é melhor que (it’s best that…), assim que (as soon as…), logo que (as soon as…).

Yes, this picture has nothing to do with learning the Portuguese Subjunctive. Since the subjunctive is so awful to learn, I’ve selected this picture to serve as a reminder of why you are learning Brazilian Portuguese…to go to Brazil obviously.

The subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers to understand and use correctly. The best way to understand how or when to use the subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese is to look at examples:

Duvido que você acorde cedo – I doubt that you wake up early.

Não acredito que faça sol amanhã – I don’t believe that it will be sunny tomorrow.

Que pena que não tenha um computador em sua casa – What a shame that you don’t have a computer at home.

Sinto que há muitas coisas a resolver – I feel that there are a lot of things to resolve.

Receio que ele abandone a escola – I am afraid that she will leave school.

Espero que você tehna um ótimo dia – I hope that you have a great day.

Desejo que você aproveite bastante sua viagem – I hope that you really enjoy your trip.

Aconselho que deixe de fumar – I advise that you stop smoking.

Prefiro que ela vá amanhã ao médico – I prefer that she goes to the doctor tomorrow.

Sugiro que nós estudemos juntos – I suggest that we study together.

Tomara que eu acerte todas as questões da prova – I hope that you get all of the test questions right.

Faço questão (de) que você almoce comigo – I insist that you have lunch with me.

Peço que me ajudem – I ask that you help me.

Quero que feche a porta – I want that you close the door (I want you to close the door).

Forming the Brazilian Portuguese Subjunctive Present:

The subjunctive mood in Portuguese is formed differently for each of the three kinds of Portuguese verbs: those where the infinitive form ends in “-ar” (such as “falar”) “-er” (such as “vender”) or “ir” (such as “partir.”)

Portuguese Blog

Yes = Sim.

Yes in Portuguese is “Sim,” but since Brazilians pronounce the m’s at the end of words as n’s, Sim is pronounces as a nasally “si.” Yes = Sim, No = Não…wow, does it get more basic than this post? I don’t think so.

Something Odd About Yes in Portuguese

However, there is one thing about saying yes in Portuguese in Brazil that you should know about:

Brazilians rarely say yes.

Instead of responding “sim” to yes/no questions, Brazilians prefer to respond by affirming the verb that was asked. For example, when asking questions such as “você vai ao cinema?” (“are you going the the movies”) a Brazilian would respond: “vou” (I’m going). Another example: “você quer conversar?” (“do you want to talk”), the appropriate response would be “quero” (I want). One more example. In response to the question “você podia lavar a vasilia” (“could you wash the dishes?”) a Brazilian Portuguese speaker would respond “posso” (I can) to mean yes.

It would not be incorrect to respond “sim” in Portuguese to answer any of the above questions. However, excessively saying “yes” in Portuguese just doesn’t have a Brazilian ring to it. The same way that Americans say “sorry,” all the time, and other cultures, such as the French find this to be an odd ritual, one that serves to diminish the meaning of the word “sorry.” Americans also say “yes” quite a lot. This habit won’t serve you well if you are trying to speak Portuguese like a Brazilian

Portuguese Blog

Dia dos Pais

Today, on the second Sunday of August, it is Father’s day in Brazil, known as Dia dos Pais (Day of Fathers).

Pai is the Brazilian Portuguese word for dad, and Pais is the plural of pai. However, pais, in Portuguese is also the word for “parents,” as in, “meus pais” (my parents). And, things get more confusing, because there is also the word país (with an accent on the i, so it is pronounced ”pa-yis”) which means “country,” as in, “eu amo meu país” (I love my country) not to be confused with “eu amo meus pais” (I love my parents).

So, happy Dia dos Pais everyone! Even though it is only Father’s Day in Brazil, and not elsewhere, today is still a good day to tell your dad that you love him and that you appreciate everything that he has done for you.

Feliz Dia Dos Pais!

Portuguese Blog

Good Morning in Portuguese

To say good morning in Portuguese, Brazilians actually say “good day” – “bom dia.” This can be very confusing, because the actual word for morning in Portuguese is manhã, but Brazilians never ever say “boa manhã.”

In Brazilian Portuguese, you can say “de manhã” (in the morning), “na manhã” (during the morning), “8h da manhã” (8 o’clock in the morning) and even “café da manhã” (which means “breakfast” in Brazilian Portuguese. But once again you will notice that Brazilians avoid saying the word for morning, because in Brazilian Portuguese, to say “to eat breakfast” Brazilians usually say “tomar café” instead of “tomar café da manhã.”  Now this is extremely confusing because “tomar café” literally translates to “to drink coffee,” so if you ask a Brazilian ”vamos tomar café?” in the afternoon, he will think that you are inviting him to have a light, breakfast-like snack. So if you want to invite someone to have a coffee, you would have to clarify: “vamos tomar um café,” or  “vamos tomar um cafézinho,” (let’s have a little coffee) for example, would get the message across.

Vamos tomar café!?

Also, Amanhã de manhã means “tomorrow morning” and Amanhã de dia means “tomorrow during the day.”

The phrase for good morning in Portuguese – “bom dia” – also means “good day.” So you could say to someone “tenha um bom dia” and it would mean “have a good day” not “have a good morning.”

One thing that Brazilians like to say when they tell you good morning in Portuguese is “Bom dia flor do dia!” I don’t know where this comes from, it is just one of those silly phrases that people say. It means: “Good morning flower of the day!” You could also ask someone “dormiu bem?” – “slept well?”

Portuguese Blog

To say good night in Portuguese, Brazilians say “boa noite.” If you are interested in expanding your Portuguese vocabulary, there are a few other things that you can say when telling someone good night in Portuguese:

• Dorme com deus – Sleep with God (Brazilians have a tendency to mention God in common phrases, you will notice this especially when saying goodbye in Portuguese)
• Sonhe/durma com os anjos – Dream with the angels (“sonhar” means to dream in Brazilian Portuguese)
• Dorme bem – Sleep well (dormir is the verb for to sleep in Brazilian Portuguese)
• Dar um beijo de boa noite – To give a kiss good night
• Tenha uma ótima noite! – Have a great night!

If you’re looking to say good night in Portuguese to a child with some Brazilian lullabys, here is a post I’ve written about those.

Boa noite gente!

Portuguese Blog

Happy Birthday in Brazilian Portuguese

Happy Birthday in Brazilian Portuguese is “feliz aniversário“. Click here for the lyrics to the song for Happy Birthday in Brazilian Portuguese. In Brazil, you can also wish someone Parabéns (congratulations) or felicidades (happiness) on their Birthday.

Brazilians love birthday parties, even children’s birthday parties in Brazil are a big deal. Besides the bolo de aniversário (birthday cake), presentes de aniversário (birthday presents) and cartões de aniversário (birthday cards) Brazilians decorate and go all out with their birthday celebrations.

Wishing Someone A Happy Birthday in Brazilian Portuguese

Here is a list of some more cumprimentos (greetings) and other sayings that you could write on a birthday card to someone in Brazil:

• Parabéns!
• Feliz Aniversário!
• Muitos anos de vida! (Many years of life!)
• Desejando-lhe muita felicidade no seu dia especial. (Wishing you lots of happiness on your special day.)
• Que todos os seus desejos se tornem realidade. (May all of your wishes come true.)
• Tenha um aniversário maravilhoso! (Have a wonderful birthday!)

Portuguese Blog

A Gíria Brasileira

I have talked a lot about Brazilian Slang on this site, but I’m not sure if I have mentioned the Portuguese word for slang! The word for slang in Portuguese is gíria, as in “Ele fala muita gíria.” – “He uses a lot of slang.”

In general, Brazilians use a lot of slang, mostly between friends. Brazilian Portuguese is an extremely creative and quickly evolving language. Regional slang varies greatly in Brazil, more than in any other country that I have visited. On this blog I have made posts for the commonly used slang in every region of Brazil, but slang in Brazil varies even between neighboring towns!

If you have anything else to say about slang in Portuguese or Slang in Brazil, I invite you to comment below. Thanks!

Portuguese Blog

I have been writing this blog for a while now, and I have realized that I pretty much skipped the Brazilian Portuguese basics. So for those of you who are in the beginning stages of your Brazilian Portuguese mastery, the next few posts that I will write will be geared towards learning some easy Portuguese. In this post, I will tell you how to say I miss you in Portuguese.

“I was here not doing anything and I started to think about you…I miss you ” – “The video game broke, right?” – “yes ” – “I knew it…”

I Miss You In Portuguese

There is a unique way to say I miss you in Portuguese. “Missing” in Portuguese is described as a state of being. “Estou com saudade” literally translates to “I am with longing.” It is used to describe the feeling of wanting to be close to someone or something or some place, but not being able to. It is also used to describe the state of being nostalgic. The word saudade is commonly pluralized to “saudades,” which means the same thing.

Brazilians are shocked to learn that in English there is not a compatible translation for “saudades” – it further confirms their suspicions that American culture is cold, inexpressive and unromantic.

Brazilians have a very warm culture, and thus they will often tell you “que saudades!” “how I missed you!” or they will say “saudades de você!” “I miss you!”

Other common phrases using Saudades:

“Estou morrendo de saudades” – I am dying of missing/longing

“Ficar com saudades” – To start to miss something, to come into a state of missing or longing

“Matar saudades” – Literally means “to kill the longing” – you would say this to a friend who you haven’t seen for a while “Vamos matar saudades!?” – “let’s get together?”

There is one more way to say I miss you in Portuguese which is “Eu sinto sua falta.” This translates to: “I feel your absence.”

Tanta Saudade

In Brazilian music (especially nostalgic Samba) musicians talk a lot about Saudades. For example, here is a song by Djavan and Chico Buarque called ” Tanta Saudade” (So Much Missing). It goes:

Era tanta saudade – It was so much missing
É pra matar – It could kill
Eu fiquei até doente – I even became sick
Eu fiquei até doente, menina – I even became sick, girl
Se eu não mato a saudade – If I don’t get rid of this longing
É, deixa estar – And, let it be
A saudade mata a gente – The missing will kill us
A saudade mata a gente – The missing will kill us

Click here to view the embedded video.

Portuguese Blog

I first arrived in Rio de Janeiro seven years ago and I didn’t speak a word of Portuguese.

I’d been listening to Vinicius de Moraes a lot at home in England, and really wanted to work out what was being said in all those old songs. I never took a class and instead sat on Ipanema beach trying to translate the newspaper and frequenting dive bars to practice.

Unfortunately, the Portuguese Blog wasn’t around back then as it would have been a neat resource. After a few months the little phrase book I carried could finally be left at home. The next few years of my life were spent split between Brazil and England, with Brazil always on my mind. Learning Portuguese has its difficulties, as readers of this blog will already know, but the doors it opens are infinite.

In early September 2012 I am returning to Brazil with my friend Aaron Chervenak and attempting to become the first people ever to complete a ‘human-powered’ voyage from north to south across the nation. We will walk, paddle and pedal from the country’s most northern point at Caburaí, to its southern extreme at Chuí, covering a distance of over 9000km (5500miles). It will take us around 15 months. It’s an expedition that has never been attempted, not even with the use of motorized transport.

Our aim is to create an unprecedented portrait of Brazil and the Brazilians, through photography and film – sharing our stories with you all along the way, mixing the drama of our personal endurance challenge with this unique insight into Brazil’s people, cultures and natural environments.

We’ll be visiting indigenous territories, luxury penthouses, deforested ranch lands, pristine rainforest, industrial ports, deserted beaches, fishing villages and huge metropolises.

The hike begins from the state of Roraima in the frontier region with Venezuela and Guyana. Then we canoe down the Rio Branco, Rio Negro and on to the main body of the Amazon river, paddling it all the way to Belém at the Atlantic Ocean.

The journey then continues on foot with a push south along the coast. This coastal route is far longer than cutting a direct southern path but more rewarding. There will be detours inland as and when the site of coconut palm beaches becomes monotonous! This includes travelling inland across the barren Caatinga scrubland before meeting the coast again at Recife. From there the march continues along the tropical coastline to Rio de Janeiro. The final phase will be cycled across southern Brazil to the Uruguayan border.

Brazil 9000 Route Map

Here are a selection of photos past journeys in Brazil and you can check out our previous adventures  in the Brazilian Amazonian in our short film South at the 28th Spring.

We’ll be posting video, photos and stories and we’d love for you to follow our progress.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Follow Gareth and Aaron on Facebook, Twitter and Check out their Website to learn more.

Portuguese Blog

Dialect of Brazil

Before I begin, for those who are not familiar with the term “Dialect,” let me start off by explaining a little in detail exactly what are dialects when referring to a language. I’m sure you know someone who lives in the South of the US or know someone who knows someone that lives there. You know? like in “The Dukes of Hazard”? Boss Hog & Roscoe P. Coltrane – “Them Dukes, them Dukes, them Dukes. Luke and Bo Duke and Daisy too.” Or from the famous hit TV show Flo? Or how about Larry the Cable Guy? “Git er done!”. Yeah, they all speak with that Southern Drawl, if “ya’ll from the South.” And then, let us not forget about the TV show “cheers” with Cliffy and his Boston accent.

These are known as dialects. And much like the US, other countries too have different dialects depending on where you happen to be in the country. People in different parts of the US have a different brand of speech. The same holds true for the rest of the world. People speak a different tongue depending on which part of a country they might be in. Now I will talk about a particular dialect of Brazil – Amazonico.

Amazonico

Map of Amapá

I live in the Northern Brazil state of Amapá. Here, the dialect is called Amazonico. From what I know, there are at least 6 different dialectal zones in Brazil. They are: Amazonico, Nordestino, Baiano, Sulista, Mineiro, and Fluminense (the Dialect of Rio de Janeiro).

The biggest difference here in Amapá is that Brazilians pronounce the S a little stronger on consonant endings than in other regions of Brazil. For example; the word mais (more) is pronounced like “maish.”

Brazilians in Amapá also tend to open their mouths more for certain vowels. However, they don’t strongly pronounce the R when followed by another consonant. For example; in porta (door). In other dialects of Brazil, people tend to emphasize the R a little stronger – like a strong H sound.

Speaking in Amazonico, Brazilians also have a different taste for the combinations of DE and TE. The word, Te (you), is pronounced like “Chi.”

How about the consonant Z on final endings? Like the Amazonico S, the Z is also strongly pronounced. The Z ending often sounds like “sh.” For example, the number 10 or dez is pronounced “desh” and faz (you do) is “faish.” For some people here, there is a preference for the vowel E. For example, I have heard people say the word peru (turkey) pronounced like “piru.”

It is interesting hearing the different sounds in the Amazonico dialect. I have been to Belem as well as the city of Fortaleza. They are relatively close to one another, the latter being on the coast. I have also been down South to Sau Paulo. So I have had the chance to hear a little mixture of the different dialects of Brazil. I go into a little more detail with the Brazilian Portuguese language on my website. Until next time…I’m out of here.

Curiaú – Macapá – Amapá, Brasil. Photo by Aaron and Gareth of Brazil 9000

Portuguese Blog