Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Alex Andrade asks,
"Where are you from?"
De onde você é?
Let's start with onde, meaning "where." Onde . Onde.
Before this is de, meaning "from" in this context. De . De.
Together, De onde, literally, "from where…"
Last is você é, "you are." Você é.
First is você, meaning "you," in this context. Você . Você.
Note: in Brazilian Portuguese você is used when addressing someone in a casual conversation.
After this is é, literally "is," but translates as "are," in this context. É . É.
É is from the verb ser, meaning "to be." Ser . Ser.
Together você é literally means "you is," but translates as "you are." Você é.
Note: você, "you," is always followed by a verb in the third person singular, as in Você é, literally, "You is," but translates as "You are."
This is because você derives from vossa mercê, a form of address meaning "your mercy," similar to other honorifics like "Your excellency" or "Your honor." Thus, você began its life as a third person singular pronoun and therefore requires a verb in the third person singular to agree with it.
All together, De onde você é? literally "from where you is," but translates as "Where are you from?"
De onde você é?
Remember this question. You'll hear it again later in this lesson.
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Mark Lee says,
"I'm from New York."
Eu sou de Nova Iorque.
Let's start with Nova Iorque, "New York." Nova Iorque . Nova Iorque.
In Portuguese, all nouns have grammatical gender and therefore often appear with an article.
However, city names, like Nova Iorque, are almost always used without articles — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.
Before Nova Iorque is de, "from," is this context. De . De.
Together, De Nova Iorque, "from New York."
Moving to the front of the sentence, first is eu, "I." Eu . Eu.
Next is sou, "am." Sou . Sou.
Sou is from the verb ser, meaning "to be." Ser.
All together, Eu sou de Nova Iorque. "I'm from New York."
Eu sou de Nova Iorque.
The pattern is
Eu sou de CITY NAME.
"I am from CITY NAME."
Eu sou de CITY NAME.
To use this pattern, simply replace the CITY NAME placeholder with the name of your hometown.
Note: this sentence pattern works with most city names, as most city names don't appear with an article.
Imagine you're from Sydney. In Portuguese, Sydney. Sydney . Sydney.
Say
"I'm from Sydney."
Ready?
Eu sou de Sydney.
"I'm from Sydney."
Eu sou de Sydney.
The key pattern works with cities, as most cities don't appear with an article; however, this is not the case for cities named after common nouns.
For cities named after common nouns, the corresponding article will change depending on the gender of the common noun.
For example, Rio de Janeiro is named after the masculine noun rio, meaning "river."
In Portuguese, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Rio is masculine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.
The corresponding definite article for masculine singular nouns is o, as in o rio, "the river."
When de precedes o, de plus o becomes do.
Therefore, "I'm from Rio de Janeiro" is Eu sou do Rio de Janeiro.
Eu sou do Rio de Janeiro.
Guarda, a city in Portugal, is named after the feminine noun guarda, meaning "guard."
For feminine singular nouns, the corresponding definite article is a, as in a guarda, "the guard."
When de precedes a, de plus a becomes da.
Therefore, "I'm from Guarda" is Eu sou da Guarda.
Eu sou da Guarda.
You should be aware of this, but you won't need it for this lesson.
For this lesson, recall, city names, like Nova Iorque, are almost always used without articles, and therefore, the pattern is
Eu sou de CITY NAME.

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