Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Paloma:Olá! Bem-vindos ao PortuguesePod101.com! I’m Paloma.
Gina:Gina here! This is Upper Beginner Season 2 Lesson 1 - Tell Me What's Wrong in Portuguese. In this lesson you’ll learn how to make yes-no questions in Portuguese.
Paloma:The conversation takes place in the morning, at work.
Gina:It’s between Marcos and Sara.
Paloma:The speakers are co-workers, so they’ll be using informal Portuguese.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Paloma:Computers can be so frustrating sometimes! But, in most of Brazil, it's often much easier than it seems.
Gina:That’s right. For example, many of the programs you use daily are also used daily by Brazilians.
Paloma:And software programs in Brazil are probably in English.
Gina:Yes, exactly! Many programs on Brazilian computers are in English because, for many years, major software programs like Microsoft Office were not translated into Brazilian Portuguese. So, Brazilians often have English versions of these software products.
Paloma:Yep! Also, many Brazilians learned how to use computers when everything was in English. So they use the word “deletar” rather than the word apagar, which is the Portuguese equivalent.
Gina:And as you can see, “delete” has become Brazilianized.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Gina:Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Paloma:Our first phrase is dar problema. This is used a lot in Brazil.
Gina:It’s literally translated as “to give problem” but it means “to have problems” or “to cause problems.” Paloma, can you give us an example?
Paloma:Sure! Esse carro vai te dar problema demais.
Gina:"That car will cause you many problems."
Paloma:Perfect. And, our next phrase is toda vez.
Gina:It means “every time.”
Paloma:Right. It’s also usually followed by the word que which translates to “that.”
Gina:The tip here is to remember that both words are in their feminine forms.
Paloma:Right, Gina. Toda and vez are both feminine. So, to say todo vez is incorrect.
Gina:Okay, and what’s our last phrase?
Paloma:It’s bem difícil, which is a great phrase to learn in order to speak Portuguese naturally.
Gina:That’s right. It means “very difficult” or “quite hard.”
Paloma:In Portuguese we use bem to mean “very” or “quite”. It can be used with other adjectives as well, as bem fácil or bem gostoso.
Gina:“Very easy” or “quite tasty”. Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Gina:In this lesson you’ll learn how to make yes-no questions in Portuguese.
Paloma:Right. Like English, Portuguese also has a category of questions called “yes-no questions.”
Gina:In English, these are usually questions that start with verbs. For example, from the dialogue we have the yes-no question, “Are you working on the spreadsheet with the addresses?”
Paloma:That's right, and the natural response to this kind of question is “yes” or “no”.
Gina:The good news is that, in Portuguese, using yes-no questions is even easier than in English.
Paloma:You’re right about that! Instead of changing the order of the sentence to put the verb first as in English, in Portuguese the word order is the same.
Gina:Right, all you have to do is add a rising tone at the end of the sentence. Paloma, can you give us an example?
Paloma:Ok. First we have the sentence Você fala português. And next we the question Você fala português?
Gina:Listeners, did you hear the difference? In the first sentence, the tone falls at the end making the meaning “You speak Portuguese”. But since the tone rises at the end of the second phrase, the meaning changes to “Do you speak Portuguese?”
Paloma:Exactly. Now, what’s next?
Gina:Well, let’s talk about how to answer those questions. The answer differs from English to Portuguese, doesn’t it?
Paloma:It does. Brazilians are pretty creative and can say "Yes" or "No" in many different ways.
Gina:Can you give some examples of this?
Paloma:Sure. One example would be Falo sim. which translates to "Yes, I speak."
Gina:See how they say “yes” but add additional words as well.
Paloma:Another example would be Não pode não. which translates to "No, you can’t."
Gina:Perfect. The general rule is to use or reuse the verb from the question in your answer. So, if someone asks you…
Paloma:Você tá trabalhando?
Gina:“Are you working?” You can respond with...
Paloma:...Tô sim, which is “I am, yes.”
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Outro

Gina:Well, that’s all for this lesson. To reinforce what you’ve learned, please check the lesson notes that accompany this lesson. And if you have any comments or questions, leave us a post on the lesson page. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Paloma:Até mais!

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