Chapter Two - Important Little Words
You may have noticed already that all nouns in Portuguese are assigned one of
two genders. The definite article, "the" in English, is translated "o" or
"a" in Portuguese. The masculine form, "o," is used when the word
(noun)is masculine. The feminine form "a," is used when the word is
feminine. Most nouns that end with the letter "a" in Portuguese are
feminine. Though there is no hard and fast rule, most others are
masculine. Here are some examples. Notice the patterns and the
exceptions. Memorize these useful words and their genders.
|
a academia
|
the studio |
| a ginga |
the ginga |
| a capoeira |
the capoeira |
| a roda |
the wheel |
| a criança |
the child |
| a música |
the song (music) |
|
a camisa
|
the shirt |
| a beleza |
the beauty |
| a bandeira |
the flag |
| a comida |
the food |
| a esquiva |
the dodge |
| a aula |
the class (lesson) |
| a caneta |
the pen |
| a casa |
the house |
| o jogador |
the player |
| o berimbau |
the berimbau |
| o pandeiro |
the tambourine |
| o homem |
the man |
| o sapato |
the shoe |
| o golpe |
the strike (hit) |
| o problema |
the problem |
| o movimento |
the movement |
| o au |
the cartwheel |
In English the indefinite articles are "a" and "an," and which one we use is
dependant on whether or not the first letter of the word it modifies is a
consonant or a vowel. In Portuguese they are "um" and "uma" and are
gender specific. For example we say "uma mulher" for "a woman" and "um
homen" for "a man." You might have noticed that the indefinite article in
Portuguese is just the word for "one." It might help you to think that in
Portuguese we don't really say "a woman" or "a man," what we're really saying
is "one woman" or "one man."
Go through the vocabulary list again, and practice using both forms of the
indefinite article. Repeat the words out loud as you review them so that
you can also practice your pronunciation. Here is an example of a few of
each kind.
| uma academia |
a studio |
| uma ginga |
a ginga |
| um jogador |
a player |
| um berimbau |
a berimbau |
The words we'll be using in this chapter are some of the most difficult to
translate directly. Here we list their most common usages. As you listen to
others speak Portuguese you will become more familiar with how they are
commonly used.
| para |
to, in order to |
| por |
for, by |
| a |
at, to |
| em |
in
|
| de |
of |
| esse/essa
|
that* |
| este/esta
|
this |
| aquele/aquela
|
that (farther away) |
| sobre
|
about
|
| se |
if
|
| ou
|
or
|
| e
|
and
|
| mas
|
but
|
| entre
|
among
|
| antes de
|
before |
| depois de
|
after |
| dentro de
|
inside |
| fora de
|
outside |
| que |
that*
|
*Notice that in English the word "that" actually has two different meanings.
Here is an example of each and the Portuguese word that would be used in each
case:
Did you know "that" I speak Portuguese? (que)
Look at "that" house! (esta/aquela)
Often, when these smaller important words occur together in a sentence, they are
contracted into one word.
In order to increase your ability to understand what others are saying in
Portuguese it is very important to be able to recognize these contractions as
well.
| em + a = na
|
in the |
| em + o = no |
in the |
| de + a = da |
of or from the |
| de + o = do |
of or from the |
| em + essa = nessa |
in that |
| em + esse = nesse |
in that |
| em + esta = nesta |
in this |
| em + este = neste |
in this |
| de + essa = dessa |
of that |
| de + esse = desse |
of that |
| de + esta= desta |
of this |
| de + este = deste |
of this |
| de + aquela = daquela |
of that |
| de + aquele = daquele |
of that |
| em + aquela = naquela |
in that |
| em + aquele = naquele |
in that |
| a + a = à |
at the |
In Portuguese you never hear anyone say "em o." Instead you hear
"no." Likewise, no one ever says "de essa." You'll hear "dessa"
instead. These contractions are important, spend some extra time
memorizing them and putting them to use.
Click here is you're ready to move on to the workbook
section of this chapter.