Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Hello and welcome to Portuguese Survival Phrases brought to you by PortuguesePod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Brazil. You will be surprised at how far a little Portuguese will go.
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by PortuguesePod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

Lesson focus

In today's lesson, we continue with basic etiquette. The Brazilians are a kind, friendly, and hospitable people, and expressions of gratitude are frequent and often lavishly applied. In Brazil, "Thank you" and "You're welcome" are phrases you will hear and should say each and every day.
In Portuguese, "You're welcome" is de nada.
Let’s break it down by syllable: de nada.
The first word, de, means "of" or "from" and is one of the most frequently used words in Portuguese. And yes, the pronunciation is exactly like the English letter G. This is followed by nada, which in English is "nothing."
Nada
Nada
So to recap here, we have two words, de and nada, which you say together as de nada.
Another way of saying "You're welcome" is não há de que.
Não há de que.
The first word, não, means "no." This is followed by há, which means "exist." Next, we have de, which we have already talked about. And then quê, which basically means "that."
Using this phrase will absolutely delight your listener because it sounds much more considerate. Literally, the phrase translates to "no existence of that," or a little bit clearer, "There is no reason for that." The "that" being the obligation you gave when you said obrigado. But the feeling behind this phrase is very kind, something to the effect of "Don't worry about it."
So to recap here, we have de nada, which basically means "You're welcome," and não há de quê, which also means "You're welcome" but in a kinder more educated way. They are both right, but you'll hear de nada much more often.
Cultural Insights
Now I had been living in Brazil for nearly two years and I was at a friend's house in a little city called Gurupi in the state of Tocantins: it's in the northern part of Brazil. This friend, Raimunda was her name, knew I liked açaí and had purchased one kilo of pure açaí fruit for me. Most of you are probably familiar with it, so I won't really explain it very much. It was fantastic and I was very grateful. I told her muito obrigado, and she responded with não há de quê, which I had not heard before. De nada was what I was expecting, so I had no idea what she had just said. I could tell it was a good thing because she said it so kindly, but the meaning completely escaped me. This led to a wonderful conversation where she taught me what I just taught you.

Outro

Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so boa sorte!
"You're welcome." - De nada.
De nada.
De nada.
"You're welcome." - Não há de que.
Não há de que.
Não há de que.
Alright, that's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by PortuguesePod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

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