As mentioned before these lessons will focus on speaking; grammar is important but it doesn’t have to be at this phase. In the beginning it is best to learn phrases, parrot fashion, like children do (or parrots).
We will give some outlines regarding grammar but not in too much detail, many people can get put of by the grammar and give up before they even start. Don’t give up!
Listen to the audio and repeat all you hear, make sure that you get into a rhythm and try to revise between lessons as much as you can (it will sink in, eventually) Writing out each lesson in longhand and speaking out loud is also very good practice. (so you will need an excercise book and a pen handy)
Vamos começar!
Stress without accents will generally fall on the second to last syllable.
obrigado – thank you
semana – week
dia – day
noite – night
Words with accents are stressed where the accent falls.
está – you are
farmácia – chemist
The letter ‘h’ is silent at the beginning of a word, but sounds like a ‘y’ in the middle of a word.
senhor – sir
The letter ‘m’ at the end of a word is nasal. Like the ‘n’ in ‘song’.
bem – well
bom – good
Definite articles are used before a noun whose identity is known and correspond to the English word ‘the’. In Portuguese these need to match the gender of the noun.
a noite – the night
o senhor – the gentleman (you sir)
In Portuguese the word ‘the’ also becomes Plural
as noites – the nights
os senhores – the gentlemen
Nouns are the words we use to name things, such as objects, living creatures, feelings, emotions and professions.
There are 2 genders in Portuguese: masculine and feminine. As a rule, nouns ending in -o are masculine and nouns ending in -a are feminine. However, this rule does not apply to every noun, so we will learn them as we go. This is why when we learn a new noun we have to learn the article too. (a & o = the)
Feminine | Masculine |
a tarde – the afternoon | o dia – the day |
a noite – the night | o amigo – the friend |
a senhora – the lady | o senhor – the gentleman |
a mulher – the woman / the wife | o marido – the husband |
a filha – the daughter | o filho – the son / the child |
a casa – the house | o jardim – the garden |
a cidade – the city | o país – the country |
a cama – the bed | o quarto – the bedroom |
a mala – the bag / the suitcase | o carro – the car |
Feminine | Masculine | Neutral | |
sing. | boa – good | bom – good | bem – well |
pl. | boas – good | bons – good |
bom dia – good day, good morning
boa tarde – good afternoon
boa noite – good evening / good night
como está? – how are you? / how is he / she/ it?
estou bem – I am well
muito bem – very well
obrigado – thank you (men say this)
obrigada – thank you (women say this)
e – and
a senhora – you madam
o senhor – you sir
muito – very
estou muito bem – I am very well
vou trabalhar – I am going to work
vou para casa – I am going home
adeus – goodbye
até a próxima – until next (time)
até logo – see you later (until later)
Greeting 1 | Greeting 2 |
1. Bom dia. Como está? | 1. Boa tarde. Como está? |
2. Estou bem, obrigado. E a senhora? | 2. Estou bem, obrigada. E o senhor? |
1. Estou muito bem, obrigada. | 1. Estou muito bem. Obrigado. |
2. Vai trabalhar? | 2. Vai para casa? |
1. Não. Vou para casa. Até amanhã! | 1. Não. Vou trabalhar. Até logo |
2. Até amanhã! | 2. Até logo |
There are other forms of greetings:
Question: (Está) tudo bem? – Is all well?
Response 1: Está. E consigo? – it is. And with you?
Response 2: Tudo. E consigo?– all (everything). And with you?
Amanhã – tomorrow
Como? = how?
Como está? – how are you?
Como está a sua mulher / filha ? – how is your wife / daughter?
Como está o seu marido / filho? – how is your husband / son?
Como vai? – how is it going?/how are you doing?
Como se chama? – What is your name? (Lit. how do you call yourself?)
Como se chama isto? – what is this called?
Como disse? – how did you say? What did you say?
Como se diz isto? – how do you say this?
De onde é? – where are you from?
‘Onde?’ means ‘where?’
Onde é Paris – Where is Paris?
Onde é Londres – Where is London?
When we want to ask somebody where they are from we use the preposition de before the interrogative and the verb ser after:
De onde é? – Where are you from /From where are you?
country | nationality |
a Inglaterra – England
a França – France a Irlanda – Ireland a Holanda – Holland a Itália – Italy o Canadá – Canada a Alemanha – Germany |
inglês / inglesa
francês / francesa irlandês / irlandesa holandês / holandesa italiano / italiana canadiano / canadiana alemão / alemã |
Now you try it!
De onde é?
Sou de…
sou – I am
sou de… – I am from
sou inglesa – I am English
muito prazer – pleased to meet you
mas – but
vivo no Algarve – I live in the Algarve
há muito tempo – for a long time
igualmente – likewise
Dialogue 1
Miguel: Bom dia. Sou o Miguel Nogueira. Como se chama a senhora?
Joanna: Bom dia Miguel. Chamo-me Joanna Smith.
Miguel: Muito prazer, Joanna.
Joanna: Igualmente. De onde é o Miguel?
Miguel: Sou de Lisboa, mas vivo no Algarve há muito tempo. De onde é a Joanna?
Joanna: Sou inglesa. Sou de Manchester.
Miguel: Bem-vinda a Portugal!
Joanna: Obrigada.
Joanna and Miguel exchange numbers….to be continued…
Notice how some of these nouns end in the letter -e. This is why we need to learn the noun with the article.
Feminine | Masculine |
a meia de leite – the coffee with milk | o rissol – the pasty |
a bica – the espresso | o bolo – the cake |
a fatia – the slice | o camarão – the shrimp |
a coisa – the thing | o leite – the milk |
1. um / uma – The number one can be masculine or feminine, depending on the noun.
2. dois / duas – The same applies to number two.
um carro – one car
uma casa – one house
dois filhos – two children
duas casas – two houses.
Nouns ending in a vowel we just add an ‘s’
Feminine | Masculine |
as tardes – the afternoons | os cafés – the coffees |
as casas – the houses | os filhos – the children /sons |
as chaves – the keys | os bolos – the cakes |
Nouns ending in -l
hospital > hospitais; rissol > rissóis
Nouns ending in -r
professor > professores
e – and
você – you
quer – you want
beber – to drink
alguma coisa – something
eu – I
(eu) queria – I would like / you would like
com – with
sem – without
um café com leite – a coffee with milk
não – no
(eu) Não quero – I don’t want
(eu) Não gosto – I don’t like
(eu) como – I eat
(eu) quero – I want
(eu) gosto – I like
Dialogue 2
Miguel telefona a Joanna e convida-a para beber um café com ele. Ela diz que sim!
Miguel phones Joanna and invites her to drink a coffee with him. She says yes!
Encontram-se no café
They meet at the café
Miguel: Bom dia Joanna, como está?
Joanna: Estou bem obrigada, Miguel. E você?
Miguel: Estou muito bem. Quer beber alguma coisa?
Joanna: Eu queria um café com leite, por favor.
Miguel: Quer um bolo?
Joanna: Não quero, obrigada. Não gosto de bolos. Mas como um rissol de camarão.
Miguel gives the waiter his order
Miguel: Bom dia. Queremos uma bica, uma água com gás, uma meia de leite, uma fatia de bolo de cenoura e um rissol de camarão, se faz favor.
Good morning. We would like an espresso, a fizzy water, a white coffee, a slice of carrot cake and a Prawn Pastry, please
Try it yourself!
Using the key phrases, try arranging them so that you can give your order in a café or restaurant. You only need to change the nouns. Use either ‘queremos‘ – we want, or ‘quero‘ – I want.
The first lesson is always a little longer, don’t forget to revise and to listen & repeat, as much as you can! Don’t worry you do not have to ‘learn it by heart’ – just yet 😉
Até a próxima aula!
First impression: very useful and not tedious at all.
Glad you like it!