Language Notes. How are you? (Lit: All well?) Things are fine. (Lit: All well.)

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1 Lesson 1 Notes Tudo bem? Asking How are you? Welcome to Fun With Brazilian Portuguese Podcast, the podcast that will take you from beginner to intermediate in short, easy steps. These notes will help you make the most of the lessons by listing and explaining all the phrases taught during each podcast, plus extra vocabulary, grammatical points and exercises to test yourself. If you have any questions you can contact us at funwithbrazilianportuguese@gmail.com. Enjoy the lessons! Language Notes Tudo bem? Tudo bem. How are you? (Lit: All well?) Things are fine. (Lit: All well.) In Brazil this is the most common way to ask How are you? The em in bem is nasalised. You can answer the question Tudo bem? by simply saying Tudo bem. The difference is that with the question you raise your voice towards the end of the sentence, and with the answer you use the intonation of a statement. Obrigado. Thank you. (masculine) The masculine form of thank you has an o at the end. If you re a man you should you should always say obrigado. Obrigada. Thank you. (feminine) The feminine form of thank you has an a at the end. As a woman you should always say obrigada. Tudo bem, obrigado (a). Things are well, thanks. (Lit: All well, thanks.) E você? And you? Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 1

2 Tudo ótimo. Things are great. (Lit: All great.) Tudo legal. Things are cool. Como você está? Como você tá? (colloquial/conversational) Eu estou bem, obrigado/a. Eu to bem, obrigado/a. (colloquial/conversational) (Lit: All cool.) How are you? I am well, thank you. Como você está? literally means How you are? Eu estou = I am bem = well Eu estou muito bem, obrigado/a. I am very well, thank you. muito = very Eu estou cansado (a). I am tired. Cansado means tired. The feminine form has an a at the end, instead of o. Language Focus Verb estar The verb to be has two different equivalents in Portuguese: ser and estar. The general rule is that the verb ser is used for conditions or characteristics that are permanent and the verb estar is used for transitory or not permanent conditions or characteristics. Compare: Eu sou brasileiro. (I am Brazilian). Eu estou cansado (I am tired). Eu (I) Você / Ele / Ela (You / He / She) Nós (We) Vocês / Eles / Elas estou está estamos estão (You plural / They masc. and fem.) In colloquial conversation Brazilians often shorten the verb estar, omitting the es part. For example, you might hear people saying Eu to bem., instead of Eu estou bem. Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 2

3 Subject Pronouns Subject pronouns are used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. In Portuguese they are: Eu I Tu You Portugal: Used when addressing friends, family and children. Brazil: Regional, used mainly in the Rio Grande do Sul State (Southern Brazil). Você You Portugal: More formal than tu. Brazil: Informal, used throughout most of Brazil. Ele He Ela She Nós We Vós You ( plural) Old fashioned way of addressing more than one person. Not used in Brazil anymore Vocês You (plural) Used when addressing more than one person. Eles They (Plural: Male/Mixed gender) Used when referring to a group of male persons or a mixed gender group. Elas They (Plural: Female) Used when referring to a group of female persons. Conjugation charts, as used in this course, will look like this: Subject Pronoun Verb to be conjugated (in this example we are conjugating the verb estar) Eu Você / Ele / Ela Nós Vocês / Eles / Elas estou está estamos estão Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 3

4 We do not include tu in the conjugation chart because it s only used in certain regions of Brazil. Vós is not in use in Brazil anymore, therefore it s not added to the conjugation chart. We group você/ele/ela together because they have the same conjugation. The phrase A gente is extremely popular in Brazil and it s used as a substitute for nós. It takes the same conjugation as você/ele/ela. Ex: A gente está bem. (We are well.) Generally speaking Brazilians are very informal and most of the time will use você as you. However, in more formal situations; when addressing an older person or hierarchical superiors it s common to use the expressions o senhor (literally translating: the sir) or a senhora (the lady). It also takes the same conjugation as você/ele/ela. Even though, as we ve seen above, a gente and o senhor / a senhora are very popular in Brazil, they are not included in the conjugation chart because, grammatically speaking, they are not pronouns. Subject pronouns can sometimes be omitted in Portuguese, because the verb already contains the information about the person and number. Ex: Eu estou bem. can be said just Estou bem. because estou can only refer to eu. However, the subject pronoun must be specified when there might be some ambiguity as to whom the verb is referring: Você está bem? (You are well?) / Ele está bem? (He is well?) Other ways of asking How are you? Como vai você? Como vai o senhor/a senhora? Como vai? This literally means How do you go? It s the equivalent of How is it going? You can also leave você out when there is no ambiguity as to whom you re referring to (the person you re asking directly). These questions uses the verb ir, which means to go. Here s the conjugation: Eu vou Você/Ele/Ela vai Nós vamos Vocês/Eles/Elas vão Eu vou vem, obrigado. I m well, thanks. / It s going well thanks. It literally means: I go well, thanks. Tudo legal? Tudo bom? Tudo jóia? Tudo em ordem? Tudo beleza? All cool? All good? All great? jóia = jewel (literal) All in order? All cool? beleza = beauty (literal) These questions are not open-ended, like How are you? You re asking for a confirmation: Ex: Tudo legal? (All cool?) Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 4

5 Some other words to describe how you are Eu estou mais ou menos so so joia / ótimo fantástico cansado triste alegre feliz preocupado doente great fantastic tired sad happy happy worried/preoccupied sick The difference between bem and bom Bem (well) is an adverb, it follows a verb: Você está bem? (You are well?) In the question Tudo bem? it looks like there is no verb there, but in fact it s been omitted. The full question is really Está tudo bem? (Is everything well?). It does not vary according to the gender, number or person of the word they refer to. Bom (good) is an adjective and it follows a noun: Tudo bom? (Everything good?) Like all adjectives, it varies according to gender and number of the noun it refers to: There not much difference if you ask Tudo bem? or Tudo bom? Brazilians will alternate between them. Tudo bem? is slightly more common than Tudo bom? variation in gender masculine feminine variation in number singular plural bom Ex: Este chocolate é bom. (This chocolate is good.) bons Ex: Estes chocolates são bons. (These chocolates are good.) boa Ex: Esta cerveja é boa. This beer is good. boas Ex: Estas cervejas são boas. These beers are good. Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 5

6 muito / muitos / muita / muitas Muito (very) is an adverb, therefore it is invariable. Ex: Eu estou muito cansado. (I m very tired) / Ela está muito cansada. (She is very tired). Nós estamos muito cansados. (We are very tired). Muito (many/much) is an indefinite pronoun, therefore it is variable. Ex: Há muitos livros nesta biblioteca. (There are many books in this library.) Há muitas pessoas nesta festa. (There are many people in this party.) variation in gender masculine feminine muito muita singular Ex: Eu tenho muito dinheiro. Ex: Há muita gente aqui. (much/a lot of) (I have a lot of money) (There are a lot of people here) variation in number uncountable nouns money (dinheiro) is an uncountable noun in Portuguese. gente (people) is an uncountable noun in Portuguese. plural (many/a lot) countable nouns muitos Ex: Eu tenho muitos amigos. (I have many friends.) muitas Ex: Este livro tem muitas informações. (This book has a lot of information). Informação (information) is a countable noun in Portuguese. Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 6

7 Exercises 1. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate word. a) Paulo: - Oi Maria! bem? Maria: - Oi, Paulo! Tudo, ótimo! E? Paulo: - Tudo legal. b) Pedro: - Oi, Paula! Como você? Paula: - Oi, Pedro! Eu bem. E você? Pedro: - Eu mais ou menos. doente. 2. Complete with the verb estar. a) Nós ótimos, obrigado. (We re great, thanks.) b) A gente cansado. (We re tired.) c) Você bem? (Are you well?) d) O senhor bem? (Are you well?) - formal e) Eu doente. (I m ill.) f) Vocês bem? (Are you well?) - plural 3. Link the columns: a) ótimo ( ) happy b) cansado ( ) great c) triste ( ) worried d) feliz ( ) tired e) preocupado ( ) sad f) doente ( ) sick 4. Complete with bem / bom / bons / boa / boas: a) Você está? (Are you well?) b) Este livro é. (This book is good.) c) A sua ideia é. (Your idea is good.) d) Estes exercícios são. (These exercises are good) e) As minhas aulas de português são. (My Portuguese classes are good.) 5. Complete with muito / muitos / muita / muitas: a) Eu estou cansado. (I m very tired.) b) Nós temos dinheiro. (We have a lot of money.) c) Eu tenho amigos. (I have a lot of friends.) d) Estes exercícios são fáceis. (These exercises are very easy.) e) Ela está alegre. (She is happy.) f) Você tem ideias boas. (You have a lot of good ideas.) g) Tem gente nesta festa. (There are a lot of people in this party.) Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 7

8 Answers 1. a) Tudo / você b) está / estou / Estou 2. a) Tudo / você b) está / estou / Estou 3. a) great b) tired c) sad d) happy e) worried f) sick 4. a) bem b) bom c) boa d) bons e) boas 5. a) muito b) muito c) muitos d) muito e) muito f) muitas g) muita Series 1 - Lesson 1 Page 8