Learn about formal Portuguese
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Intro |
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| Michael: How does formal Portuguese work? |
| Ana Clara: And when is it used? |
| Michael: At PortuguesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Adriano Araujo, a high-school student, meets the mother of his neighbor, Karen Lee. He says, |
| "Hi, Mrs. Lee, how are you?" |
| Adriano Araújo: Olá Sra. Lee, tudo bem com a senhora? |
| Dialogue |
| Adriano Araújo: Olá Sra. Lee, tudo bem com a senhora? |
| Karen Lee: Tudo bem, obrigada. E você? |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Adriano Araújo: Olá Sra. Lee, tudo bem com a senhora? |
| Michael: "Hi, Mrs. Lee, how are you?" |
| Karen Lee: Tudo bem, obrigada. E você? |
| Michael: "All good, thanks. And you?" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Today, you'll learn about how to address people respectfully in Portuguese. It's recommended to use the formal titles we'll study when speaking to a new acquaintance, an older person, or someone in a formal business setting, for example. These formal titles can be used as subject pronouns too, replacing "he," "she," "they," and "you." Let's check them out. |
| To address a male speaker, you can use: |
| Ana Clara: senhor |
| Michael: meaning "sir" or "Mr.". For example: |
| Ana Clara: Boa tarde, Sr. Antônio. Como vai? |
| Michael: "Good afternoon, Mr. Antônio. How are you?" Here, the greeting: |
| Ana Clara: Como vai? |
| Michael: literally means "How are you doing?" but is used as "How are you?" and is common in formal settings. |
| Let's take a look at an example of the formal title being used as a subject pronoun, replacing "you". Let's say your department manager wishes you a good weekend. To reply to him formally, you can say: |
| Ana Clara: Para o senhor também. Bom final de semana! |
| Michael: literally: "To you as well. Good weekend!", but understood with the formal address as "To you as well, sir. Good weekend!" Here, the formal title replaced the subject pronoun "you." If it were an informal situation, instead, for example, when talking to a friend, you'd use "you" normally: |
| Ana Clara: Pra você também. Bom final de semana! |
| Michael: "To you as well. Good weekend!" In this informal example, there's one more point we'd like to comment on: the word: |
| Ana Clara: pra |
| Michael: "to", is the colloquial contraction of the full word: |
| Ana Clara: para |
| Michael: It's very common in informal conversations, but not used in written text, when you should use the full word, without contraction. Now, the female counterpart of "sir" or "Mr." will be "madam" or "Mrs.", or, in Portuguese: |
| Ana Clara: senhora |
| Michael: For example: |
| Ana Clara: A Sra. Helena chegará mais tarde hoje ao escritório. Gostaria de deixar um recado? |
| Michael: "Mrs. Helena will arrive at the office later today. Would you like to leave a message?" |
| Let's hear another example: |
| Ana Clara: Posso ajudá-la, senhora? |
| Michael: "Can I help you, madam?" |
| This formal title can replace subject pronouns as well. For example, replacing "you": |
| Ana Clara: A senhora precisa de ajuda? |
| Michael: literally: "Do you need help?" but understood with the formal address as "Do you need help, madam?" |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Adriano says "Hi, Mrs. Lee, how are you?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Ana Clara: Olá Sra. Lee, tudo bem com a senhora? |
| Michael: Here, the formal title was used as "Mrs.", as in: |
| Ana Clara: Sra. Lee |
| Michael: "Mrs. Lee," and also to replace the subject pronoun "you" in: |
| Ana Clara: (...) tudo bem com a senhora? |
| Michael: "(...) how are you?" |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Karen Lee says "All good, thanks. And you?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Ana Clara: Tudo bem, obrigada. E você? |
| Michael: In this example, Karen Lee replies informally to Adriano using the informal "you", or: |
| Ana Clara: você |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you've learned how to use formal titles to address people in a respectful way in Portuguese, for either a male or female person. |
| Now, let’s look at some examples. Our first example is: |
| Ana Clara: O Sr. Marcelo agendou a reunião para o dia 12. |
| Michael: "Mr. Marcelo scheduled the meeting for the 12th." |
| As you've learned, the formal title can also replace subject pronouns, for example: |
| Ana Clara: O senhor gostaria de aguardar na sala de reunião? |
| Michael: literally "Would you like to wait in the meeting room?" but understood with the formal address as "Would you like to wait in the meeting room, sir?" Here, the formal title replaced the subject pronoun "you". |
| The next example is the formal address to a female person: |
| Ana Clara: A Sra. Camila pediu para entregarmos o relatório hoje. |
| Michael: "Mrs. Camila asked us to deliver the report today.". As you've learned: |
| Ana Clara: senhora |
| Michael: is used as "madam" or "Mrs." Just a note: |
| Michael: The abbreviation S R |
| Ana Clara: Sr. |
| Michael: which means "Mr.", is short for: |
| Ana Clara: senhor |
| Michael: and The abbreviation S R A |
| Ana Clara: Sra. |
| Michael: Which means "Mrs.", is short for: |
| Ana Clara: senhora |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at the plural form of each formal title we've studied. For "sirs," we'll use: |
| Ana Clara: senhores |
| Michael: For example: |
| Ana Clara: Os senhores podem aguardar nesta sala, por gentileza. |
| Michael: "You can wait in this room, (sirs), if you please." And, for the counterpart "madams", we'll use: |
| Ana Clara: senhoras |
| Michael: For example: |
| Ana Clara: As senhoras gostariam de reagendar a reunião? |
| Michael: "Would you like to reschedule the meeting, (madams)?" |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Ana Clara, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Adriano says "Hi, Mrs. Lee, how are you?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Olá Sra. Lee, tudo bem com a senhora? |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Olá Sra. Lee, tudo bem com a senhora? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Olá Sra. Lee, tudo bem com a senhora? |
| Michael: And do you remember how Karen Lee says "All good, thanks. And you?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Tudo bem, obrigada. E você? |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Tudo bem, obrigada. E você? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Tudo bem, obrigada. E você? |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: In colloquial speech, you may hear someone using two words that are equivalent to "Mr." and to "Mrs.". For "Mr.", it will be: |
| Ana Clara: Seu |
| Michael: which is literally translated as "your", but is used as a respectful title meaning "Mr." or "sir". For example: |
| Ana Clara: Bom dia, Seu João! Tudo bem? |
| Michael: "Good morning, Mr. João! How are you?" |
| And for "Mrs." or "madam", it will be: |
| Ana Clara: Dona |
| Michael: Let's hear an example: |
| Ana Clara: Já avisei a Dona Cláudia que vou ter que sair mais cedo hoje para uma consulta. |
| Michael: "I already told Mrs. Cláudia that I'm going to have to leave earlier today for an appointment." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Ana Clara: Até a próxima! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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