ConvBra 1-12 Flashcards
(98 cards)
how cute
Ai, que amor!
Notice that the translation we have given is “how cute”, but the phrase is literally “what love.” In Portuguese exclamations with que can be said with nouns or adjectives. In English speakers can only add adjectives: e.g., how nice, how pretty, how interesting. In English nobody says things like: how house, how book, how elephant. In Portuguese there is no problem with que casa, que livro, que elefante. Instead English speakers would say something like “what a house, what a book, what an elephant.”
“stay as long as you like” “make yourself at home”
Fica à vontade!
The word vontade is roughly equivalent to “your will.” So in fica à vontade you are saying, in essence “stay as you are willing.” English speakers would similarly say
something like “stay as long as you would like to.”
colloquial: Where is/onde esta?
E cadê o Júnior?
The phrase onde está? in Portuguese is informally rendered as cadê?, which some think originated came from o que é de…, “what ever happened to…” It works as a singular or a plural form. Cadê o livro? “Where is the book?” Cadê os livros? “Where are the books?” Notice also that there really is no verb in these sentences. Usually cadê is simply followed by a noun.
aí elas /que/ escolheram o nome
Notice how Brazilians emphasize items in Portuguese. The phrase elas escolheram o nome would be the standard rendition for “they chose the name.” However, by putting the word que in between, it is like saying, “they are the ones that chose the name.”
feminine augmentative -ona
…uma boa garotona
Brazilians often add diminutive or augmentative endings to words to give them an endearing quality. In this case that noun garota (young girl) is given an endearing
quality with the feminine augmentative –ona: garotona. These forms are especially common among female speakers and listeners will note that Denise and Michelle
have several other examples in this clip.
Future tense, x+x
… não vai /te carregando/ assim…
The future tense in Portuguese is formed by a conjugated form of the verb ir followed by the infinitive of a verb, e.g., vai carregar (going to carry). However in
this sentence Denise says carregando, which gives the sentence an ongoing feel, a sense of movement and motion. Notice also how the direct pronoun te (you) is
placed between the two verb forms, rendering something akin to “she isn’t going to go on carrying you off.”
how to add negative emphasis
… ele nem teve muito trabalho não.
Brazilians often emphasize negative phrases by adding an extra não at the end of the sentence. In this example Denise, speaking of the dog trainer, is saying ,“he really
didn’t even have to work hard at all.” The word nem makes the sentence negative, but the word não at the end adds the emphasis.
… tem um cachorro parecido com ela
vs.
parecido como ela
… tem um cachorro parecido com ela
Here’s a good example of a phrase that uses a preposition that is very different from English. Michelle is saying that her brother has a dog that looks a lot like
Denise’s dog. However in Portuguese she uses the phrase parecido com ela, using the preposition com (with) which literally means something like “seems with her.”
What generally happens is that native speakers of English want to say *parecido como
ela, because they think that como means “like.”
“but after having lived with his dog, I
began losing my fear and I was getting used to it…”
… mas depois convivendo com o cachorro dele, eu
fui perdendo o medo, me acostumando …
One of the differences between Spanish and Portuguese is seen in how much more Brazilians use the “–ing” ending -ndo. This is actually more similar to English and in
this example Michelle is saying something like “but after having lived with the dog I began losing my fear and I was getting used to it…” Notice how this give a more
ongoing and developing feel to her speech.
gender is based on the /x/
É seu, é minha, é sua
Notice that possessive pronouns have to agree in number and gender, but the important part is that it’s the “thing possessed not the possessor” meaning that the
gender is based on the things possessed, which in this case is a female dog. In English one would just say, “Is the dog yours?” When Simone asks “é seu?” she is
supposing that the dog is male. When Sandra responds with “é minha” she is clarifying that the dog is female. And that is why Simone follows up with “é sua?”
“Eu posso pegar?”
Eu posso pegar?
Brazilians often eliminate pronouns. In this case a possible English translation would be something like, “Can I pet her?” or “Can I touch her?” Both would
sound a little strange in English as simply “Can I pet?” or “Can I touch?” In Portuguese however, the normal tendency is to speak without the pronouns.
Tone of: “Ah, não fala assim porque ela é tão boa…”
This is actually a very difficult sentence to translate because the English version sounds extremely harsh, almost mean. In Portuguese however it just doesn’t carry
that bold of a meaning, in fact it is rather playful.
Qual é a raça dela?
vs
Qual a raça dela?
The English speaking brain wants to see a verb in this sentence, but Brazilians often use qual without a verb. One could say “qual é a raça dela?” but people are just as likely to say “qual a raça dela?”
Olha, é meio vira-lata, viu?
“well she´s sort of a mutt”
What a great phrase in Portuguese. First of all Sandra starts with “olha” which is her way of saying, “well, look, um I’m thinking about what to say…” Then we hear
the word meio which literally means “half” and it is used to show that something is half way there. And that is why the translation of “kind of” or “sort of” ends up
being the modifier of nouns and adjectives. Finally we see the word vira-lata for mutt, literally being a dog that knocks over (virar) cans (latas). The dog’s a can knocker over!
A gente é carinhosa do mesmo jeito, né Belinha?
Here’s another phrase that is really hard to translate directly into English. A gente of course stands for “we”, but “we are affectionate of the same style” just doesn’t
work. What Simone is really saying is that even if Belinha doesn’t have a lofty pedigree, even as a mutt we all love her just the same.
A gente castra também pra eles não /terem/ mais filhos
Brazilians use the personalized infinitive a lot, even though grammatically you can say the sentence without it. Here we don’t see a gente castra também pra não ter mais filhos. It’s not even an issue of being ambiguous because we are sure that it’s the dogs that are being fixed! The phrase pra eles não terem just clarifies and emphasizes who the subject of ter is, i.e., the dogs of course
Todos de rua?
vs
Todos da rua?
Notice that if Sandra and Simone had said todos da rua they would have been speaking of a specific street. While in English it might make more sense to say “from
the street” – da rua, in Portuguese the idea of any street or from the streets in general is expressed by saying de rua without the definite article “the”.
Gato é bom pra dormir junto…
vs
juntos
The question is why Simone said junto and not juntos. And the answer is because in this junto is an adverb, modifying the verb dormir. Adjectives have to agree with the noun they modify (homens juntos – mulheres juntas), but adverbs only have one form.
Tá /desencorajando/ as pessoas /a/ viajarem pro Rio
Certain verbs in Portuguese require the use of a given preposition. In this case note that the preposition a that goes with the verb desencorajar even though that would not necessarily be logical in English. This is similar to gostar de and pensar em. Learners simply need to learn the prepositions that go with a given verb.
“what a drag” and “all the time”
Que droga… toda hora!
The Brazilian version of “what a drag” is literally rendered “what a drug” even though it doesn’t have anything to do with drugs per se. Notice also that toda hora, which would literally be “every hour” takes on the meaning of “all the time.”
Essa é uma grande confusão
Notice that in this case the word confusão “confusion” actually takes on a meaning something more like “misconception” or “mistake.” English speakers do not use the word “confusion” for a mistake or a misconception, but it has more of a meaning of being bewildered or unclear.
you can walk “calmly” or “tranquilly” there at night
/-ly/
Você pode andar tranquilamente por lá à noite.
Here the word tranquilamente (tranquilly, calmly) really takes on the meaning of being without any problem, or safely. It is a good example of a Portuguese word that has a similar equivalent in English, the difference being that it is a common word in Portuguese, but not really a daily word in the speech of native speakers of English.
Notice also the use of por lá meaning “along there.” Many times the word por takes on the meaning of “along” or “through.”
Lembra da última vez a gente foi?
verb lembrar.
The verb lembrar can have a confusing mix of reflexive endings and prepositions. Generally the verb “to remember” is lembrar-se and takes the preposition de, e.g., Ele se lembrou da canção. “He remembered the music.” without the se the nonreflexive version of lembrar means “to remind” and it doesn’t have the preposition
de, e.g., Lembra-me o que ele disse. “Remind me what he said.” However, in everyday usage it is common to drop se even when lembrar means to remember. This is what Denise said in this sentence.
violência/crime - Que Campinas tá na frente
Here Denise is talking about the statistics regarding violence in Brazil, stating that per capita Campinas is actually ahead of Rio. In Portuguese this is rendered with Campinas está na frente. “Campinas is in the front” might be said more naturally as “ahead.”
