Portuguese Phrases For Dummies

About This Book 2

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Chapter 1: Say It How? Speaking Portuguese 5

Exploring the Roots of Portuguese 6

Reciting Your ABCs 8

Conquering Consonants 9

The letter C 10

The letter D 10

The letter G 11

The letter H 11

The letter J 12

The letter L 12

The letters M and N 12

The letter Q 13

The letter R 13

The letter S 14

The letter T 14

The letter W 14

The letter X 15

Exercising Your Jowls with Vowels 15

The letters A and à 15

The letters E and Ê 16

The letter I 16

The letters O and Ô 17

The letter U 17

Chapter 2: Grammar on a Diet: Just the Basics 19

Constructing Simple Sentences 19

Nouns 20

Adjectives 20

Articles 21

Pronouns 22

Verbs 23

The Simple Tenses: Present, Past, and Future 24

Present tense 25

Past tense 27

Future tense 28

Conjugating the tenses 29

Connecting It All Together 32

Making Contractions: It’s a Cinch! 33

To Me, to You: Indirect Objects 34

Commanding an Audience 35

Getting Possessive 35

Chapter 3: Numerical Gumbo: Counting of All Kinds 39

Numbers to Know: When Everything Counts 39

The Big Countdown: Ordinal Numbers 41

Telling Time 42

Monday, Tuesday: Weekdays 44

Tracking the Calendar: Months and Dates 46

Naming the months 46

Picking a date 47

Money, Money, Money 48

Currency and prices 49

Getting money from banks and ATMs 50

Measuring Distances and Other Stuff 52

Chapter 4: Making New Friends and Enjoying Small Talk 55

A Few Ways to Say Hello and Goodbye 56

Introducing Yourself 58

First Names, Last Names, and Nicknames 59

Knowing Who, What, and Where 61

"Where Are You From?" 62

Describing the World around You 66

Describing permanent qualities: Ser 66

Describing temporary qualities: Estar 70

Speaking about Speaking 71

The Good, the Bad, and the Humid: Weather 73

Figuring Out Family Connections 75

Giving Out Your Contact Information 76

Chapter 5: Enjoying a Drink and a Snack (or Meal!) 79

Bom Apetite! Enjoy Your Meal! 79

At the Restaurant: Trying Local Foods 81

Ordering at a restaurant 82

Ordering a drink 85

First foods up: Salads and condiments 86

On to the main course 88

Basking in Brazilian barbeque 89

Doing dessert 90

Paying the bill 91

Chapter 6: Shop 'Til You Drop 95

Finding Places to Shop 95

Out for the Perfect Outfit 96

Skirts and shirts: Which to choose 97

Trying it on 99

Exploring Brazilian Treasures 101

Shopping for Food and Necessities at the Market 103

Getting some practical items 103

Shopping at the outdoor market 104

Making Comparisons and Expressing Opinions 105

Paying for Your Purchases 106

Chapter 7: Making Leisure a Top Priority 109

Talking about Going Out 110

Inviting someone and being invited 110

Asking what the place or event is like 111

Asking People What They Like to Do 113

Taking in Brazil's Musical Culture 114

Playing an instrument 114

Dancing around and singing out loud 116

Exploring Carnaval in Brazil 117

Exploring Art Galleries and Museums 118

Going to the Movies 119

Hanging Out at the Beach 120

What to take to the beach 121

Talking about beach safety 123

Expressing beauty: "It's so beautiful!" 124

Getting Out for a Walk (or a Hike) 125

Playing Soccer — Brazil's National Pastime 127

Falling in Love — in Portuguese 128

Chapter 8: When You Gotta Work 131

Picking Up the Phone 131

Saying hello and goodbye 132

Making a call 133

Dealing with verbal mush 135

Talking in the past 137

Talking about Work 138

Dealing with Computers 142

Chapter 9: I Get Around: Transportation 145

On the Move: Transportation 146

Making a plane reservation 146

Taking buses 150

Hailing táxis 150

Renting a car 152

Onde? Where? The Question for Going Places 154

Understanding Spatial Directions 157

Navigating Cityscapes 159

Over Here, Over There 162

How Far? Perto ou longe? 163

Chapter 10: Finding a Place to Lay Your Weary Head 165

Finding a Place to Live 165

Checking Out the Hotel or Pousada 167

Deciding where to stay 167

Making reservations 169

Checking in and checking out: Registration procedures 170

Talking about Sleep 171

Chapter 11: Dealing with Emergencies 175

Stick 'em Up: What to Say If You're Robbed 176

Asking for and receiving help 176

Reporting a problem to the police 178

Handling Health Emergencies 179

Getting sick 180

Handling broken bones and other injuries 183

Discussing Legal Problems 185

Chapter 12: Ten Favorite Brazilian Portuguese Expressions 187

Que saudade! 187

Fala sério! 187

. . . pra caramba! 188

Table of Contents ix

Lindo maravilhoso! 188

É mesmo? 189

Um beijo! or Um abraço! 189

Imagina! 189

Pois não? 190

Com certeza! 190

Fique tranqüilo 190

Chapter 13: Ten Phrases That Make You Sound Like a Local 191

Né? 191

Tá 192

Ah é? 192

Então 192

Sabe? 192

Meio 193

Ou seja/E tal 193

Cê Instead of Você 193

Pra Instead of Para a 194

Tô instead of Estou 194

Index 195