Learn all about Portuguese word order
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| INTRODUCTION | |
Braden: |
Hi everyone, welcome to Basic Boot Camp. |
Thássia-: |
This five-part series will help you ease your way into Brazilian Portuguese. |
Braden: |
We'll go over all the basics that will really help you understand Brazilian in a quick and easy way. |
Thássia-: |
In this lesson, you'll learn basic word order and how to talk about nationality. |
Braden: |
Our conversation takes place in an airport. |
Thássia-: |
And the conversation is between Alexander and Carol. |
Braden: |
They've just met so the speakers will be speaking formal Brazilian Portuguese. |
Thássia-: |
Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE | |
Carol: |
Oi. Meu nome é Carol. Sou brasileira. |
Alexander: |
Prazer em conhecê-la. Meu nome é Alexander. Eu sou dos Estados Unidos. Sou americano. |
English Host: |
Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
Carol: |
Oi. Meu nome é Carol. Sou brasileira. |
Alexander: |
Prazer em conhecê-la. Meu nome é Alexander. Eu sou dos Estados Unidos. Sou americano. |
English Host: |
Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
Carol: |
Oi. Meu nome é Carol. Sou brasileira. |
Braden: |
Hi. My name is Carol. I'm Brazilian. |
| Braden | |
Alexander: |
Prazer em conhecê-la. Meu nome é Alexander. Eu sou dos Estados Unidos. Sou americano. |
Braden: |
Nice to meet you. My name is Alexander. I am from the United States. I'm American. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER | |
Thássia-: |
So, in English, word order determines the meaning of a sentence, right? |
Braden: |
Right. For example, "Sarah loves John" means something different from "John loves Sarah." |
Thássia-: |
And the words are exactly the same. Just in a different order. |
Braden: |
Exactly. How does word order work in Portuguese? |
Thássia-: |
Well, Brazilian Portuguese is a Latin-based language, which means word order is very flexible. But, now that you mention it, it seems like in simple sentences, like in the example you gave, word order is the same. "João ama Sara" means something different than "Sara ama João." |
Braden: |
Yeah, I noticed this when I started learning Portuguese. I realized that if I just used shorter, simpler sentences, then people would magically understand me. After I studied the grammar better, I realized it was the similar word order that made it "magically" understandable. |
Thássia-: |
Interesting. |
| VOCAB LIST | |
Braden: |
Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: | |
Thássia: |
americano [natural native speed] |
Braden: |
American |
Thássia: |
americano [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Thássia: |
americano [natural native speed] |
| Next: | |
Thássia: |
meu [natural native speed] |
Braden: |
my, mine |
Thássia: |
meu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Thássia: |
meu [natural native speed] |
| Next: | |
Thássia: |
brasileiro [natural native speed] |
Braden: |
Brazilian |
Thássia: |
brasileiro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Thássia: |
brasileiro [natural native speed] |
| Next: | |
Thássia: |
Estados Unidos [natural native speed] |
Braden: |
United States |
Thássia: |
Estados Unidos [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Thássia: |
Estados Unidos [natural native speed] |
| Next: | |
Thássia: |
é [natural native speed] |
Braden: |
is |
Thássia: |
é [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Thássia: |
é [natural native speed] |
| Next: | |
Thássia: |
nome [natural native speed] |
Braden: |
name |
Thássia: |
nome [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Thássia: |
nome [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE | |
Braden: |
Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
Thássia: |
The first word/phrase we’ll look at is.... |
Braden: |
Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
Thássia-: |
The first phrase we'll look at is "Meu nome é," which means… |
Braden: |
"My name is." Once again, the word order is exactly the same as English. |
Thássia-: |
"Meu"… |
Braden: |
Means "My." |
Thássia-: |
"Nome"… |
Braden: |
Means "name," and… |
Thássia-: |
"é"… |
Braden: |
Means "is." Isn't that awesome! |
Thássia-: |
It certainly makes things easier. |
Braden: |
Now the grammar here is surprisingly complicated for just three words and we’ll cover it in later lessons, but I just wanted to reinforce that simple sentence-simple grammar concept. Okay? |
Thássia-: |
What's next? |
Braden: |
"Pro-drop." |
Thássia-: |
What's that? |
Braden: |
It's a linguistic term that means you can "drop pronouns when they're not needed." |
Thássia-: |
Oh, you mean "pronoun drop." Like in "Eu sou brasileira," I can drop the pronoun "eu" and just say "Sou brasileira." |
Braden: |
Exactly. The same goes for "Sou Americano" or "Sou Tom Jones." In English, you can't say "Am American" and expect people to understand you. |
Thássia-: |
But you can in Brazilian Portuguese. |
Braden: |
So what if I want to say "I am Australian." How do I say "Australian?" |
Thássia-: |
"Australiano" (fast) |
| "Australiano" (slowly) | |
| "Australiano" (fast) | |
Braden: |
Cool. How about "Canadian?" |
Thássia-: |
"Canadense" (fast) |
| "Canadense" (slowly) | |
| "Canadense" (fast) | |
Braden: |
Wow, those are very different from each other. |
Thássia-: |
Yes in Brazilian Portuguese, you need to learn each nationality by country. We don't have a set pattern for naming people of other countries. |
Braden: |
That's okay. Neither does English. |
| LESSON FOCUS | |
Braden: |
Is the verb "ser" used very often in Brazilian Portuguese? |
Thássia-: |
Only every other sentence. |
Braden: |
Ha ha! So, how do you use it? |
Thássia-: |
Well, the verb "ser" is used in equative sentences. |
Braden: |
What's an "equative sentence"? |
Thássia-: |
Equative sentences describe what something is. |
Braden: |
Like "I am American." ("Sou American.") |
Thássia-: |
Exactly! That is a description of you. American is a word that describes you in the same way that being a professor describes me. "Eu sou professora." ("I am a professor.") |
Braden: |
Interesting. So you use the verb "ser" in descriptive, I mean, equative sentences. |
Thássia-: |
Right. |
Braden: |
Okay! We hope that this lesson has helped you get a grasp on basic Brazilian sentence structure! |
Thássia-: |
Stick with us as we get into more of the basics in this Basic Boot Camp Series. |
Braden: |
See you next time! |
| OUTRO | |
Braden: |
That just about does it for today. |
Braden: |
Até logo! |
Thássia: |
Até mais! |
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14 Comments
HideAnybody up to introducing themselves in Portuguese? (Don’t worry if you don’t know how to do the accents.)
Hi Vladimir,
Thank you for your question.
Here in São Paulo we really say tá-pê-chi 😉
Tá-pê-tê sounds a bit unnatural.
It may be a little difficult at first, but the pronunciation gets better with practice 😉
If you have any doubts, please let us know
Cristiane
Team Portuguesepod101.com
Bom dia. Meu nome é Vladimir.
There is a phrase in this lesson under Vocabulary LIst -> Expansion:
“O tapete é roxo.”
There “tapete”, the “te” is pronounced like (t), but it is usually pronounced like ( chi ) in Brazil as I know
https://forvo.com/word/tapete/#pt
I was trying to practice this phrase with microphone, but I was confused with the ending “te” according to the “right Brazilian pronunciation” in this phrase. How is the ending “te” really pronounced in this phrase in Brazil?
Obrigado,
Vladimir
Oi Almo,
“Thai language” would be “tailandês”, and “Thailand” is “Tailândia”.
Similar to English, right?
By the way, to say “Thai (adjective)” is “tailandês” (masculine) and “tailandesa” (feminine).
I hope it helps!
Paloma
Team PortuguesePod101.com
Excuse me,
what is the word “Thai language” and “Thailand” in Portuguese.
I tried to find the words in the dictionary. but I couldn’t find.
Hi Lisa
Thank you for your feedback, we are looking forward for your comments and questions.
Regards,
Laura
Team PortuguesePod101.com
I like the teachers on this program. Braden and Thássia are very good! Thank you for the good instruction, learning portuguese has become much easier for me.
Great lesson!
Muito obrigado 😀
Bom dia Jacek!
Thanks and great question!
You are very right about the “sh”s, especially the Lisboa (Lisbon) dialect. But don’t worry, pronouncing “sh” instead of “s” (or vice versa) is just a dialect preference, so it shouldn’t cause any misunderstandings. Some dialects use the “sh” and some don’t, even within the different regions of Portugal and Brazil, so people are used to hearing it change from person to person. For now though, to keep things simple, PortuguesePod101 only focuses on standard Brazilian Portuguese which doesn’t use the “sh.”
At tip though, if you want to use the “sh” to sound more European, is that when an “s” comes before a “t” (like in “estados”) or at the end of a word (like unidos) then the “s” is pronounced “sh”. So,
“estados unidos” - “united states”
becomes
“e(sh)tado(sh) unido(sh)”
Beyond that, it depends heavily on the specific dialect. 😉
The pronunciation lessons (5 of them) will start in April so I hope you like those! 😀
Bom dia. Meu nome é Jacek.
Great lessons - thank you. But I have question, because there are no pronunciation lessons. Earlier portugues has sounded to me very “Shshsh”. I’ve got some audio files from oryginal portugues course (european), were for example Unidos Estatos sounds like “unidosh eshtadosh”:???:. Is there any complication?