Post: #1

I wanted to start a thread for Portuguese. I know there are some Brazilians and some others including myself that can speak Portuguese here (Though my skills are slowly fading away). Post any Portuguese questions here, I'm sure we'd be happy to help. Portuguese pronunciation can get pretty tricky, I'll go over a little bit...

I'll throw down some basic words that might help you on your trip....

First pronunciation:

This should go for most places in the South East such as Rio, Sao Paulo, Espirito Santo, though they all have their basic accents, I found pronounciation like this fit best....

"r" at the begining of the word is always pronounced similar to an H. For example, the word "resaca", which means hung over, is pronounced "Hesaca." When there are two "r"s together, it always makes sort of an "H" sound as well. For example, the word dog = "cachorro" and pronounced "cashoho." An R is always the same at the end of a word (except sao paulo and a couple other places in the south) which is going to be the H sound as well. But in the word "prazer" (pleasure) the first R sounds similar to a spanish R and the last one sounds more like a "H".

NH- For anyone who speaks spanish, it's like the same as the "n" in maNana. I don't know how to do the symbol. It's like the N in oNion

lh- is going to make the sound of the "lio" in the word milLIOn.

g's, t's, and d's- this is what really threw me off when I first arrived in brazil. Sometimes the D's sound like english ds and other times it sounds almost like a 'J'. For example... Bom Dia is pronounced more like "Bom Jia". It usually happens when you have an I or E after the d. When it would sound like an english d would be for example "Eu gosto das garotas" (I like those girls). It's pretty much the same rules with G's and T's but a little different pronounciation. For example... Good night= Boa Noite. But noite is pronounced like "Noyche". With Gs the word for people is "gente," same as spanish, but the pronounciation is totally different. It sounds more like "Jenche."

They also have a C with a little tale under it, same with in french. I don't know how to make the symbol on my laptop. It just makes an S sound

When an S is used between two vowels it sounds like a z. For example the word "casa" doesn't sound like it does in spanish, it sounds more like "caza."



It can be a tough language, but once you get the pronounciation down and start getting a vocab, you start to pick it up fast.

I'm going _____= Vou para _______

How much? = Quanto custa?

Beer = Cerveja

Nao entendi (entenjee) = I don't understand

Falo muito pouco = I speak very little


Weed = maconha

Girl/women = Mulher, garota, menina, moca (like mosa)

Pretty girl or a girl you like = Gata, Gatinha, gostosa, querida, girlfriend = nomorada

Ask for ciggarette = Um maco (Like maso) de Marlborol vermelho (red).

bathroom = banheiro

Street= Rua

ass= bunda

tits= peitos

Fun cuss words/ phrases....

Vai tomar no cu= More or less "go fuck yourself"

Vai se fudeu= More or less the same as above

Caralho= cock, but they say it like we would say "Holy shit!" or something like that. Or you can also use it like this... "Esta frio pa caralho!!!" which basically means, "It's cold as shit!" The "pa" would actually be "para" but you sound dumb if you say it like that. To sound more native you will usually cut "esta" down to "ta" as well.

Porra (Poha)= could kind of be used as the same above.

Chupa meu pau = Suck my dick

Post: #2

Very useful words...ahahahah

Gostosa = Something to say to your bros about a girl. hahahah not for her... Sounds like sexy bitch to our ears.

B'girls will be very offended if you call them bitch (puta). I mean, to us this is a very harsh and dirty word to call someone... So think about it first if you really mean it.

As you saw above, Brazilians can be extensionally creative when it comes to bad words and cursing. No fucking this and that.
Correction

Vai se FODER (OR FUDER, DEPENDS ON YOUR ACCENT - this guy may have learnt with a paulista... like me) = go fuck yourself

Vagina = vagina.
pussy = boceta (hate this word)
penis = pênis (the e is closed, like in the word enhance)

In the restaurant:

Eu quero comer um (uma) ___________ : I want to eat a/an ______________
(waiter) E para beber?: And what will want for drinking?
Um suco de ___________ : a ________ juice
Um guaraná, por favor: A guaraná please
Uma cerveja (or you can say the brand only e.g Bohemia/Original/Skol): One beer
A conta por favor: Check, please

Note for tourists: the 10% tip in most of the restaurants is already added on the bill (with the observation):

Example:

água sem gás (a non gas water): 1.50
Original: 6.00
Coxinha (portion of snacks): 15.00

Serviço (service) 2.50

Total: 24.50

so don't worry to calculate the tip or how much is adequate. Not paying the 10% fee is considered rude, means that you are not well treated in the restaurant, so watch out.

Post: #3

From what I understand you can call a girl gostosa, but I would never say it. One of my friends in Espirito Santo said girls like it but the other said not to say it unless you've known the girl a long time. Reguardless, I would always just say "linda" or "querida", and that was only with my girl. I typically don't compliment girls unless I've already had sex with them.

And yes, NEVER call a girl a "puta" in Brazil. It's a good way to get your ass kicked. For some reason, Americans and Portuguese/Spanish speakers alike think that puta means bitch. THIS IS NOT TRUE! Puta means whore. And I'm sure you probably think the same thing Chocolatinha, but a bitch (The real definition is a female dog in heat) typically means a women with a bad attitude, not a whore, or prostitute.

Some more useful words/phrases:

kiss= beijo

Butterface= Camerao (Camerao means shrimp). The logistics behind it is you have to cut the head off to eat it. I thought it was pretty cleaver.

Vamos la para (minha) casa= Let's go back to the (my) house.

Vamos pegar um taxi= Let's get a taxi

Vou pagar= I'll pay

Pode pagar a proxima vez= You can pay next time Make sure when you say pode (can) you are pronouncing it POJEE. When I first got to Brazil I studied it in a book and would pronounce it like you would think it sounds, and everyone would look at me weird and have no idea what I was talking about. I caught on fast though.

Vai pagar?= Are you gonna pay?

Eu sou Americano, voce gosta dos gringos? = I'm American, do you like gringos?

And, if you get guarana, I would highly recomend getting it without orange (Which it is commonly served with). My friend was telling me about how the oranges get to the restaurants and it makes sense. They get shiped and they don't really give a shit if they fall on the ground or whatever because they have the outside peal. To say this: "Uma guarana, sem laranja por favor"

If you want it with ice: Com gelo

Menu= cardapio- You can say Menu (But with a portuguese sound MENOO more or less) but you will definitely look like you don't know what you are talking about. A lot of times me and my girl would go to eat out my girl would always mess around with me and make me do all the talking so I could improve my portuguese. For the longest time I didn't remember cardapio and she would always quiz me. I would just say menu to make her mad, even when I remembered cardapio.

Pao= bread

Peru= turkey

frango= chicken

presunto= ham

carne= beef

arroz (Ahoz)= rice

feijao= beans

salad= salada

cheese= queijo

lettuce= alface

tomato= tomate (Tomache)

Onion= cebola

Apple= Maca (Masa)

Orange= Laranja

Lime= Limao (It's almost impossible to find lemons, but I believe they are called limao sicilia, is that right Chocolatinha?)

grape= uva

banana= banana

Grilled cheese with ham= Misto quente

salt= sal

oil= azeite (Azeyche more or less)

molho= sauce

napkin= Guardanapo (Tough to pronounce)

straw= canudo (Funny word)

breakfast= cafe

lunch= almoco (Almoso)

Dinner= Jantar

Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Brazil. When I got to Brazil the most frusterating thing was not being able to order. I would look at a menu and never know what the hell it said. I would just order whatever I could understand and usually I wasn't satisfied with the food. It took me a while to be able to order what I actually wanted to eat.

Best juice IMO is passion fruit = suco de maracuja. Pineapple is very good as well= abacaxi

Come on Chocolatinha, you think Americans aren't creative with our cuss words? I think you just don't realize it. That is one of the hardest things to get in a foreign lanuage is the slangs. When I'm hanging out with foreigners and American friends at the same time in Colorado, the foreigners are always lost in our conversations because we use so much slang. I've never heard as many weird slang words in my life as in Colorado, especially because there is all sorts of snowboard slang we use for riding, but then we incorporate that into real life. I love it! haha!

Post: #4

Good thread. I'll have to put together one on language resources.

Post: #5

Are you guys good with listening comprehension/pronunciations in Portuguese? I am certainly not!! This Brazilian girl told me her name, which sounded like "Gianni" (as in Gianni Versace). I am thinking... WTF? Now how do you spell that? Is it like a guys name, "Johnny"? Hmmm... what's the deal here?! It took me forever to figure out that her name was Diane!!! Doh! Lots of examples like that.

Post: #6

InternationalPlayboy,

I forgot... how did you learn Portuguese? I know you have had some Brazilian friends. Did you also have a Portuguese book or something like that? If so, what was it?

I found a pretty good resource. It is a DVD called Semantica, Brazilian Portuguese -- Level 1. They have some YouTube videos up, too. And a good website.

What else is good out there?

Post: #7

Dude, it totally depends on the person. Some people I could understand super easy, others hardly anything. I couldn't understand either of my girlfriends parents for the life of me. It was real frusterating. Her mom would say something to me and I would look at my girl like "WTF did she just say?" She would repeat the same words back in Portuguese and I would understand everything. I think I just have to get used to the way and tone the person talks. I could understand basically everything my girl said because I spent more time with her than anyone. I understood most of my friends I spent a lot of time with as well. It got tougher understanding conversation amongst brazilians though as they would speak much faster than they would when talking with me. I've been told I am pretty good with pronunciation, probably because also I learned from natives and I have a good ear for pronunciation. There are certain words though that got tough for me, like cirurgia.

Post: #8

(11-12-2010 06:38 PM)Chaz Wrote:  InternationalPlayboy,

I forgot... how did you learn Portuguese? I know you have had some Brazilian friends. Did you also have a Portuguese book or something like that? If so, what was it?

I found a pretty good resource. It is a DVD called Semantica, Brazilian Portuguese -- Level 1. They have some YouTube videos up, too. And a good website.

What else is good out there?

I tried learning from books before I went, but I just don't learn that way, I get too bored. I learned by just arriving and trying to communicate with people. I learned a decent amount. Then I met the girl I was dating who didn't speak english and I started to learn real fast. She was a very good teacher and very pacient. One thing that helped me a lot was talking with her on the internet when I left her town. Even when I was in her town at first we would use the internet instead of the phone because it was much easier for me. I just used google translator, and before I knew it I was speaking well. The translator isn't close to correct, but it will teach you words. I would learn the words and she would correct me when I was putting phrases together wrong and teach me how to speak. I still have a little trouble with it though. The best way to learn for me was finding a hottie, because if you wanna keep tappin that, you better learn to communicate. But also, just surround yourself in it. Try and hang out with locals as much as possible and stay away from hanging out with gringos. I only hung out with maybe 4 Americans the whole time I was there for maybe a total of a week or two.

Post: #9

IP, that is interesting. Listening comprehension is definitely the hardest part of learning a language, at least for me.

Here is a good example, where I can only understand a few words, like "Oi" and "Tudo":

http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?vi...1115029197

Can you understand any of this conversation? I realize the sound quality is pretty mediocre, but I would think I should be able to understand more of it than I actually can...

Post: #10

A few more basics...

Good morning- bom dia

good afternoon- boa tarde (Pronounced kinda like boa taHJE) or if you are chocolatinha, boa taRje- muita caipira, mais e fofo

good night- boa noite

today- hoje

tomorrow- amanha

yesterday- ontem

Hot- Quente (Kenche)

Cold- Frio

good- boa, bom, bem

bad- Mal, mau, ruim

pretty- bonita, linda

Ugly- feia/o

cute- fofo, bonitinha

fast- rapido

quickly- rapidinho

slow- devagar

for smokers:

ciggarette- cigarro

lighter- esqueiro

ashtray- cinzeiro

can i smoke here? Posso fumar aqui?

Do I have to smoke outside? Tenho que fumar la fora?

Oh duh, can't believe I forgot this one..
What's your name? Qual e o seu nome?

Post: #11

Hey thanks for reminding me about Google Translate. This Brazilian girl sends me emails in English where she uses Google Translate. (She doesn't speak English.) This English "translation" that I receive is very weak. I was thinking well, I guess it is better than nothing... but actually it would be better for me to put it back into Google Translate, to translate it back into Portuguese, and then try to understand what she actually wrote, instead of the shitty English translation.

Post: #12

(11-12-2010 06:54 PM)Chaz Wrote:  IP, that is interesting. Listening comprehension is definitely the hardest part of learning a language, at least for me.

Here is a good example, where I can only understand a few words, like "Oi" and "Tudo":

http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?vi...1115029197

Can you understand any of this conversation? I realize the sound quality is pretty mediocre, but I would think I should be able to understand more of it than I actually can...

Yeah, I can understand some, but definitely not all. The sound quality is pretty bad and I find it very hard to undrstand movies/tv in portuguese.

Post: #13

It makes me cringe everytime I hear someone using that line "sou americano, vc gosta dos gringos?" To me that only attracts the gold digger and other similar types. Best thing to do is learn the lingo, don't be lazy, invest 1 hour a day into learning the lingo and it'll be the best thing you could ever do when it comes to Brasil and your chances with the girls there. The way I learned it is all by myself, never took a single class. I love Brasilian music and I listen at 90% of time only to Brasilian music so that helps with getting familiar with the sounds and all. I initially used the Pimsleur Brazilian portuguese course, listen to it everyday at the gym or wherever I was going; chatting online with Brasilian friends via MSN/Skype; reading to Brasilian sites, have friends in Brasil send me books from Brasil (this was before I went there) and do that every day. Doing this has allowed me to get to almost near fluency. My case may be an exception than the norm as I love languages and am good at learning them and I speak already French and Italian and that helped me a lot in learning Portuguese. And more importantly, I do have a geniune and very deep interest if not passion in Brasil and Brasilian culture (music, futebol, literature etc...) so that definitely has been a big factor in me getting this far this fast. The amazing girls are just the icing on the cake, mind you a very tasty one at that...

And speaking of accents, the ugliest is the one from SP (desculpe Chocolatinha, mas nao tem nenhuma graca no sotaque Paulista e vc ja deve saber disso hein mocinha?... ) followed by the one from the south specially Parana. Sexiest portuguese is the carioca accent specially if spoken by a sexy girl.

Post: #14

VP, come on, my accent is a red neck kind but I'm still cool...hahahahaha

@ Chazz: Your girl name can be Geane or Jane...

IP: When you go to a Sanduicheria (snacks and sandwichs) ask for Cagaita, Seriguela, Cupuaçu (I just luv it) juices. In SP there are: Qualyfruit, Bolados Sucos, Madureira Sucos, places that you also find acai.

More quotes:

Você quer sobremesa? : Do you like a dessert? (women don't say no for that)


Breakfast (café da manhã)
Café: coffee
Leite: milk
média: café com leite (coffee and milk)
chocolate quente: hot chocolat
suco: juice
chá: tea
pão: bread
cereal: cereal
aveia: oak
manteiga: butter
mel: honey
geleia: jam
queijo: cheese
presunto: ham
ovo: egg
faca: knive
garfo: fork
prato: plate
copo: glass

Frases:

Na minha casa ou na sua?: Your place or mine?
Vamos para o motel? SHall we go to the motel?
Pelada/Pelado : naked
Como se diz______: How do you say_______?
calcinha: panties
sutiã: wonder bra/ soutien
cueca: male underwear
tanga/fio dental: tong
camisinha: condom
gorda: fat
magra: skinny

Post: #15

I know this is asking A LOT, but please, please for the love of god put the english pronunciation in parenthesis next to it please, please?

I started Pimsleur's free first lesson in portuguese. I already speak pretty good spanish and took 4 years in high school, hopefully i can learn portuguese quickly, but the pronunciation is just so different and the rules as named above on pronunciation are just too complex for someone who is no longer in college!!

Post: #16

I tried to lay out how pronounciation works. I'll give you some more examples....

The word rapidinho would sound kinda like this.. "hapyjeenyo". This word is a good example of the difference between spanish and portuguese pronunciation.

Once you get the idea of how things should be pronounced, you just catch on. For example, when I read spanish to myself in my head, I pronounce it quit often with a Portuguese accent just out of habbit.

Here's another one... "sorrir" means smile. It is pronounced more or less "Sohih." Whenever you have 2 r's together it's always going to make sort of an H sound.


Cidade (Cidaje) entendi (Entenjee) Dirigir (Jirijih) Gente (Jenche) saude (sauje)... Are you starting to get it?

Post: #17

(11-13-2010 12:56 PM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  camisinha: condom

Good one. I remember walking into a pharmacy before going to meet up with this girl to get condoms and my portuguese was pretty bad at the time. The girl working asked if she could help and I couldn't find the condoms for the life of me, so I say in shitty portuguese, "Sim, preciso de alguma coisa, mais nao sei o nome." (I need something but I don't know the name). I said, "Sabe, condom?" (Do you know condom?) She shakes her head, nope.... I say, "E algo para fazer sexo," (It's something to make sex) and give the little hump motion as I'm holding the imaginary girls ass in front of me doggy style. She says, "ahhhhh simmmm camisinha (crackin up). Tenho aqui!" (Condoms, yeah I have them here)..... Classic shit...

Post: #18

(11-13-2010 05:35 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  "sou americano, vc gosta dos gringos?"

And speaking of accents, the ugliest is the one from SP (desculpe Chocolatinha, mas nao tem nenhuma graca no sotaque Paulista e vc ja deve saber disso hein mocinha?... ) followed by the one from the south specially Parana. Sexiest portuguese is the carioca accent specially if spoken by a sexy girl.

The only time I've ever said "gosta dos gringos" was when I was driving by a girl walking down the street. Some of them even thought it was cute.

E verdade, o sutaque Paulista e horrivel. Eu gosto mais do sotaque de Espirito Santo, a pronuncia e muito claro.

Post: #19

Most of the foreigners have issues with male and female words (nominal concord - I guess in English). It is a bit tricky, but when you figure how it works makes easier.

Example:

IP: "é verdade, o SOTAQUE paulista é horrível. Eu gosto mais do sotaque de or (do = de + o - article) Espírito Santo, a pronúncia é muito CLARA

The word Clara = should concord with pronúncia (a female word). The adjective concours with the subjective.

More:

O café está morno
A chaleira está MORNA.

Other quotes:

Sick in Brazil - Doente no Brasil

Gripe:Flu
Minha garganta dói (Miña garganta doe) = My throat is hurting.
estou com tosse: (estol con tose) I'm coffin
Farmácia: Drug store
preciso de um remédio para: I need a pill for... (whatever)
Diarreia: Diarrhea
Vômito: puke
enjôo/náusea: nausea
dor de cabeça (kabesa): headache
dor de estômago: stomachache
corpo: body
cólica: cramps (period)
ouvido: ear
analgésico (anaujeziko) (difficult, I know): pain killer
anti - alérgico: anti allergic
alergia: allergic
coceira: itches

Post: #20

(11-17-2010 01:43 PM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  Most of the foreigners have issues with male and female words (nominal concord - I guess in English). It is a bit tricky, but when you figure how it works makes easier.

Example:

IP: "é verdade, o SOTAQUE paulista é horrível. Eu gosto mais do sotaque de or (do = de + o - article) Espírito Santo, a pronúncia é muito CLARA

Yeah you are right, it can be hard. That one I knew, I just fucked up on. But the words I have trouble with are words that don't end with an "a" or "o." For example, O sotaquE. I would normally have no idea unless someone corrected me. Rarely is a a word that ends with an O going to have the "a" nominal concord. But there are exceptions. O diA, A fotO. Do you see what I'm saying? it is easy to tell.. O carrO, O banheirO. A baladA A musicA. But O sotaque, A noite, those are the ones that are really hard to get.

Post: #21

I see what you mean. I have no idea how this can be because I born with those words and rarely Im in doubt... But now that Dilma will be our president it was hard to figure if will she be a presidenta or a presidente. Both are correct. In case of the articles:

Male words (O, os)

O ônibus
O lápis
O tempo


Female words
A venda
A foto
A saia

Common for both genders - More rare, but possible. More used in jobs positions and professions... You will only know if it is a she/he by the article.
O/A jornalista
O/A presidente
o/a colega

More in this page: http://www.juliobattisti.com.br/tutoriai...ivo001.asp

What kind of vocabulary do you want to know?

Post: #22

(11-18-2010 08:43 AM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  What kind of vocabulary do you want to know?

It's not really vocabulary I need practice with, it's actually speaking. I have a huge vocabulary. I know ridiculous that intermediate (I would probably consider myself intermediate) speakers whouldn't even know. But my problem is forming sentences correctly. I just feel like I put a lot of words in the wrong places and it's hard to tell when I'm doing it. Luckily the girls I've been learning with correct me sometimes. I just met a girl last month whos Portuguese is about the same level as my English so we switch it up. About half our convos are in English and the other half Portuguese. It's been helping me a lot and she's a good teacher. But at the same time we don't talk enough for me to learn real effectively. She lives north 4 hours from me and I feel like if we were to talk every day, 1) It would get old and we would get sick of each other. 2) I can't talk on the internet with a girl every single day.

Post: #23

When I say vocabulary I mean life situations. As you see above, I put some tourist situations like being sick, restaurant scene...

Post: #24

Hi Mrs. Chocolate,
Thanks for the Portuguese lessons, and for suggesting those other spellings for Diane ("Jee-AHN-ee"). I confirmed on Orkut that she spells it Diane, which was confusing at first, since we pronounce it so differently here (Diane = "die ANN")

How did you learn English, Ms. C.? You studied it in school? At university? How long have you been at it?

For vocabulary, how about more food? What are your favorite foods, in Portuguese/English? Personally, I like those salgados; they are sure tasty! (But maybe not so healthy?) Do you like those?

Post: #25

I have learned English at the high school, like you learn spanish in the begining, then I turned 19 I entered in a language school...

I love snacks! (salgados)... But I don't eat them often, because they are not healthy. Im a complete meal person. (rice, beans, salad, fruit)

More about food... hun... Seems that above there is the main ingredients to our food.

french fries - batata frita
fried egg - ovo frito
salada de tomate - tomato salad
frango grelhado - grilled chicken
bife - steak
costela - ribbs
linguiça (lingüisa) - sausage
porco - pork
peixe (peyche) - fish
lula - octopus
rice - arroz
feijão (preto/ carioquinha/ de corda) - beans (black / carioca)
farofa - mandioc floor mix with egg, bacon...

I rather you send the list and I put here.