Learn the key pattern to ask for clarification
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Adriano introduces himself? |
| "Hi! I'm Adriano. Nice to meet you." |
| Oi! Eu sou Adriano. Prazer. |
| First is Oi, "hi." Oi. Oi. |
| Note: Oi is an informal greeting in Portuguese. |
| Next is Eu sou Adriano. "I'm Adriano." |
| First is eu sou, "I'm." Eu sou. Eu sou. |
| Note: Sou is from the verb ser, "to be." Ser. |
| Next is the name, Adriano. Adriano. Adriano. |
| Note: Adriano only uses his given name. Sasha and Adriano are young adults in an informal situation, so he only uses his given name. |
| Finally is prazer, meaning "a pleasure." Prazer. Prazer. |
| This version can be used in many contexts and is appropriate for both informal and formal situations. |
| All together, it's Oi! Eu sou Adriano. Prazer. "Hi! I'm Adriano. Nice to meet you." |
| Oi! Eu sou Adriano. Prazer. |
| Sasha can't catch his name. |
| Do you remember how she asks, |
| "Can you repeat that, please?" |
| Você pode repetir, por favor? |
| First is você, meaning "you," in this context. Você. Você. |
| Note: in Brazilian Portuguese você is used when addressing someone in a casual conversation. In this conversation, Adriano and Sasha are of similar age, so the informal você is more natural. |
| Next is pode, meaning "can," as in you are able. Pode. Pode. |
| Pode is from the verb poder, "to be able to." Poder. |
| Next is repetir, "repeat." Repetir. Repetir. |
| Repetir is a verb, meaning "to repeat," in its infinitive form. |
| Together, você pode repetir literally means, "you can repeat," but in this context, it translates as, "can you repeat [that]?" Você pode repetir. |
| Note: [that] is added to the translation so that the English sounds more natural, but there is no corresponding word in the Portuguese question. |
| Last is por favor, "please." Por favor. Por favor. |
| All together, Você pode repetir, por favor? Literally, "You can repeat, please," but translates as "Can you repeat that, please?" |
| Você pode repetir, por favor? |
| Finally, do you remember how Adriano says, |
| "I'm Adriano." |
| Hint, you've heard it before. |
| Eu sou Adriano. "I'm Adriano." |
| Eu sou Adriano. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to ask for clarification in an informal situation: |
| Você pode repetir, por favor? |
| "Can you repeat that, please?" |
| To ask for clarification in a formal situation: |
| Poderia repetir, por favor? |
| "Could you repeat that, please?" |
| Poderia repetir, por favor? |
| Note the following changes in the formal form. |
| First, we omit você as it's an informal way of addressing someone. |
| Second, poderia, replaces pode. |
| Poderia, "could." Poderia. Poderia. |
| Poderia is from the verb poder, "to be able to." Poder. |
| All together, Poderia repetir, por favor? |
| "Could [you] repeat [that], please?" |
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