Portuguese Phrases For Dummies®
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006936747
ISBN: 978-0-470-03750-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Karen Keller is a journalist who lived and worked in São Paulo, Brazil, for three years. Before moving to Brazil, the California native taught Spanish at a New York City–based foreign-language-education Web site. Keller is also a published travel-guide writer. She currently lives in New Jersey, where she is a local newspaper reporter.
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Composition
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Title
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Chapter 1: Say It How? Speaking Portuguese
Exploring the Roots of Portuguese
Reciting Your ABCs
Conquering Consonants
Exercising Your Jowls with Vowels
Chapter 2: Grammar on a Diet: Just the Basics
Constructing Simple Sentences
The Simple Tenses: Present, Past, and Future
Connecting It All Together
Making Contractions: It’s a Cinch!
To Me, to You: Indirect Objects
Commanding an Audience
Getting Possessive
Chapter 3: Numerical Gumbo: Counting of All Kinds
Numbers to Know: When Everything Counts
The Big Countdown: Ordinal Numbers
Telling Time
Monday, Tuesday: Weekdays
Tracking the Calendar: Months and Dates
Money, Money, Money
Measuring Distances and Other Stuff
Chapter 4: Making New Friends and Enjoying Small Talk
A Few Ways to Say Hello and Goodbye
Introducing Yourself
First Names, Last Names, and Nicknames
Knowing Who, What, and Where
“Where Are You From?”
Describing the World around You
Speaking about Speaking
The Good, the Bad, and the Humid: Weather
Figuring Out Family Connections
Giving Out Your Contact Information
Chapter 5: Enjoying a Drink and a Snack (or Meal!)
Bom Apetite! Enjoy Your Meal!
At the Restaurant: Trying Local Foods
Chapter 6: Shop ’Til You Drop
Finding Places to Shop
Out for the Perfect Outfit
Exploring Brazilian Treasures
Shopping for Food and Necessities at the Market
Making Comparisons and Expressing Opinions
Paying for Your Purchases
Chapter 7: Making Leisure a Top Priority
Talking about Going Out
Asking People What They Like to Do
Taking in Brazil’s Musical Culture
Exploring Carnaval in Brazil
Exploring Art Galleries and Museums
Going to the Movies
Hanging Out at the Beach
Getting Out for a Walk (or a Hike)
Playing Soccer — Brazil’s National Pastime
Falling in Love — in Portuguese
Chapter 8: When You Gotta Work
Picking Up the Phone
Talking about Work
Dealing with Computers
Chapter 9: I Get Around: Transportation
On the Move: Transportation
Onde? Where? The Question for Going Places
Understanding Spatial Directions
Navigating Cityscapes
Over Here, Over There
How Far? Perto ou longe?
Chapter 10: Finding a Place to Lay Your Weary Head
Finding a Place to Live
Checking Out the Hotel or Pousada
Talking about Sleep
Chapter 11: Dealing with Emergencies
Stick ’em Up: What to Say If You’re Robbed
Handling Health Emergencies
Discussing Legal Problems
Chapter 12: Ten Favorite Brazilian Portuguese Expressions
Que saudade!
Fala sério!
. . . pra caramba!
Lindo maravilhoso!
É mesmo?
Um beijo! or Um abraço!
Imagina!
Pois não?
Com certeza!
Fique tranqüilo
Chapter 13: Ten Phrases That Make You Sound Like a Local
Né?
Tá
Ah é?
Então
Sabe?
Meio
Ou seja/E tal
Cê Instead of Você
Pra Instead of Para a
Tô instead of Estou
T he world is shrinking. Communication technology is getting faster and faster, making it easier to contact people in what used to be exotic, faraway lands. Air travel has gotten a lot cheaper, too, so visiting these places has never been simpler. Experiencing um pouco (oong poh-koo; a little) of a new language is a great way to familiarize yourself with a region of the world or specific country. Not only does it allow you to communicate verbally, but knowing new words opens the door to understanding the specific culture itself.
If you’re curious about language and want to know how to ask someone’s name, ask for directions in a city, or talk about what your interests are, you’ve come to the right place. I’m not promising fluency here, but this book provides a great start.
This book tells you about the language spoken in Brazil. Thanks to Brazil’s huge population — around 170 million or so — Portuguese is the fifth-most-spoken language in the world. (Flip ahead to Chap- ter 1 to read about which other countries in the world speak Portuguese.)
Brazilian Portuguese is specific because the accent and some basic words are unique to Brazil. And the country itself is a pretty popular destination these days, with its earned reputation as a land of fun-loving, generous people.
A bonus to knowing Brazilian Portuguese is that it can help you to understand a little French, Spanish, and Italian, too. They’re all Romance languages, which means many words among these languages sound similar.
Brazilian Portuguese is very lyrical. The sounds can be difficult to make for nonnative speakers, but speaking Portuguese is fun after you get into it. I advise you to treat yourself while you’re reading the book: Buy some Brazilian music. You’ll fall in love with the sounds, and the background music adds great ambience.
Here’s the good news: This book isn’t a class you have to drag yourself to. It’s a reference book, so use it at your leisure. You’re the boss. You may choose to just 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 explain some basic information about pronunciation and explain words that appear throughout the book.
To make the book easy to read and understand, I’ve set up a few stylistic rules:
Web addresses appear in monofont.
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.
Knowing key words and phrases is important in the quest to speak a new language. I collect important words and put them in a special blackboard-shaped “Words to Know” box.
Verb conjugations (lists that show you the forms of a verb) are given in tables in this order: the I form, the you form, the he/she form, the we form, and the they form. 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, and they are.
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 a pretty open-minded person who enjoys learning. That’s excellent. Because the first step to absorbing new information is wanting to absorb it.
Here are some other things I’m imagining about you:
You don’t want to memorize long lists of vocabulary to know Portuguese.
You want to get your feet wet in Portuguese while having fun at the same time.
You’re interested in learning about Brazilian culture as well as its language.
You’re not looking for a book to make you fluent in Portuguese but one that instead gives you bite-size information that provides a solid base to understanding the language.
Drawings and symbols always liven things up a bit, don’t they? Here are some icons that point you to important information:
When you have a spare moment, pop open the book. All you need is a curious mind and the openness to learn about Brazil. Above all, don’t think of reading the book as a chore. It’s meant to be relaxing and enjoyable.
Feel free to complement this book with other activities that enhance your knowledge of Portuguese, like entering a Portuguese-language chat room on the Internet or having Brazilian music on in the background so you can hear the sounds of the language.
Oh, and boa sorte (boh-ah soh-chee; good luck)!