Learn about subjunctive sentences
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden: Hello, and welcome to PortuguesePOD101.com, where we study modern Portuguese in a fun, educational format! |
| Sílvia: So, brush up on the Portuguese that you started learning long ago, or start learning today. |
| Braden: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson, Sílvia, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Camila: So Braden, please tell us what we'll be learning in this lesson. |
| Braden: In this lesson, we'll be learning dealing with difficult attitudes |
| Camila: Where does this conversation take place and who is it between? |
| Braden: This conversation takes place in the evening, at the restaurant, Mariana and Marlon. |
| Camila: What's the formality level? |
| Braden: Well, it's informal. |
| Camila: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Marlon: Me conta. |
| Mariana: Não. |
| Marlon: Mariana, eu quero que você me conte. |
| Mariana: Não vou. É uma surpresa. |
| Marlon: Mas eu não gosto de surpresa. Eu quero saber agora. |
| Mariana: Não vou falar nada. |
| Marlon: Então tá, você quer que seja assim. Deixa assim então. |
| Mariana: Eita, Marlon. Não precisa falar desse jeito. Me machuca. Estamos fazendo algo bom pra você e você age desse jeito, dá nem vontade. |
| Marlon: Desculpe Mariana mas realmente, não gosto de surpresas. |
| Mariana: Então aprenda a gostar porque vai ter uma. |
| Marlon: Ai ai, eu não queria que fosse assim. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Marlon: Me conta. |
| Mariana: Não. |
| Marlon: Mariana, eu quero que você me conte. |
| Mariana: Não vou. É uma surpresa. |
| Marlon: Mas eu não gosto de surpresa. Eu quero saber agora. |
| Mariana: Não vou falar nada. |
| Marlon: Então tá, você quer que seja assim. Deixa assim então. |
| Mariana: Eita, Marlon. Não precisa falar desse jeito. Me machuca. Estamos fazendo algo bom pra você e você age desse jeito, dá nem vontade. |
| Marlon: Desculpe Mariana mas realmente, não gosto de surpresas. |
| Mariana: Então aprenda a gostar porque vai ter uma. |
| Marlon: Ai ai, eu não queria que fosse assim. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Marlon: Me conta. |
| Braden: Tell me. |
| Mariana: Não. |
| Braden: No. |
| Marlon: Mariana, eu quero que você me conte. |
| Braden: Mariana, I want you to tell me. |
| Mariana: Não vou. É uma surpresa. |
| Braden: I won't. It's a surprise. |
| Marlon: Mas eu não gosto de surpresa. Eu quero saber agora. |
| Braden: But I don't like surprises. I want to know now. |
| Mariana: Não vou falar nada. |
| Braden: I won't say anything. |
| Marlon: Então tá, você quer que seja assim. Deixa assim então. |
| Braden: Okay then, if you want to be that way, be that way. |
| Mariana: Eita, Marlon. Não precisa falar desse jeito. Me machuca. Estamos fazendo algo bom pra você e você age desse jeito, dá nem vontade. |
| Braden: Hey, Marlon. You don't need to talk like that. That hurts. We're doing something nice for you and you act like this, makes me not even want to. |
| Marlon: Desculpe Mariana mas realmente, não gosto de surpresas. |
| Braden: I'm sorry Mariana but really, I don't like surprises. |
| Mariana: Então aprenda a gostar porque vai ter uma. |
| Braden: Then learn to because there is going to be one. |
| Marlon: Ai ai, eu não queria que fosse assim. |
| Braden: Oh man, I didn't want it to be like this. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: (ask --- something about the dialogue-Peter always does a little review about the previous lessons. explain what you are thinking about the storyline in the lesson, so the students can follow and participate - don't make them guess.) |
| ---: response |
| Braden: One of the most difficult things for a foreigner to learn is how to not offend anyone. I'm very lucky that on the whole Brazilians are not easily offended but a short phrase used with just the wrong tone of voice can cause some hard feelings. |
| ---: It's mostly the the tone of voice that you need to be careful with. Short dismissive tones are particularly offensive to Brazilians. |
| Braden: (Give examples of the offensive tones of voice.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Sílvia: surpresa [natural native speed] |
| Braden: surprise |
| Sílvia: surpresa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: surpresa [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sílvia: contar [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to tell, to recount |
| Sílvia: contar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: contar [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sílvia: machucar-se [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to hurt, to become hurt |
| Sílvia: machucar-se [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: machucar-se [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sílvia: jeito [natural native speed] |
| Braden: way, mode, aspect, ability |
| Sílvia: jeito [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: jeito [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sílvia: agir [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to act |
| Sílvia: agir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: agir [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sílvia: vontade [natural native speed] |
| Braden: will, desire, wish |
| Sílvia: vontade [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: vontade [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sílvia: nem [natural native speed] |
| Braden: nor, the opposite of or |
| Sílvia: nem [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: nem [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sílvia: realmente [natural native speed] |
| Braden: really |
| Sílvia: realmente [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sílvia: realmente [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| ---: The first phrase we'll look at is contar |
| Braden: Just for clarification purposes, contar has two official meanings. So, literally translates to "to count" as in "count numbers," count the number of stars in the sky," etc. |
| ---: But it also means "re-count" as is "to tell a story" or some piece of information. In this dialogue, it was the second meaning. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| ---: (break down) |
| Braden: what's our next phrase? |
| ---: The next phrase we'll look at is dá nem vontade |
| Braden: dá nem vontade literally translates to "gives nor will" but it means "makes me not even want to." If you look at the verb "dar" in a Brazilian dictionary there will be about half a page of definitions for the various meanings for the word. |
| ---: In the phrase dá nem vontade dar uses it's "yield" or "supply" meaning. So you could retranslate this phrase to "it doesn't even yield desire" and then the inferred part would be "to do nice things for you." |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| ---: (break down) |
| Braden: what's our next phrase? |
| ---: The next phrase we'll look at is Deixa assim então |
| Braden: This is one of a million Portuguese phrases that can either be very polite or extremely rude depending only on tone of voice. For example, you could be at a hair salon negotiating a price for a particular service and then at the end the hair stylist says "deixa assim então" or "fica assim então" to put a verbal stamp on the agreement. |
| ---: In this case however, Marlon's tone of voice was very rude. Giving a feeling similar to "well if you don't want to do what I want then I don't care about you." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: So ---, what's the focus of this lesson? |
| ---: The focus of this lesson is the subjunctive in Portuguese. In the dialogue, we heard the phrase Marlon - Mariana, eu quero que você me conte. |
| Braden: Which we translated as"Marlon - Mariana, I want you to tell me." Sentences which express uncertainity, doubt, desire, belief, opinion, fear or emotions in general are called subjunctive sentences in both Portuguese and English. |
| ---: In English, sentences are made subjunctive by adding words which pass judgement on a sentence or phrase. The principle is the same in Portuguese. However, in Portuguese there are special subjunctive conjugations for each verb. |
| Braden: The subjunctive is best learned through examples and seeing it in use so we're going to go through lots of examples in this lesson. Could you get us started? |
| ---: sure Meu chefe fala muito bem o portugês. This is just a simple normal statement. My boss speaks Portuguese very well. |
| Braden: but if you add on some kind of desire or judgement, then you'd have Desejo que meu chefe fale muito bem o português. Which translates to I desire that my boss speak Portuguese very well. Subjunctive sentences always have two clauses. A clause is a sentence segment containing a subject and a verb. |
| ---: Second, in each case the verb in the main clause expresses a feeling that is associated with the subjunctive mood, that is, a feeling of uncertainty or doubt, desire, etc. |
| Braden: The verb desejar and the imporsonal expression é importante are known as subjunctive indicators, because when the appear in the MAIN Clause of a sentence the verb in the subordinate clause will be in the subjunctive form. |
| ---: So we've got quite a list of verbs and expressions that are all subjunctive indicatiors in the PDF. These phrases are actually a Lower Intermediate lesson so you can find them in the PDF of this lesson or check out the Lower Intermediate series and find them there. |
| Braden: Okay so when you have a subjunctive indicator and a change of subject between the two clauses, the subjunctive form is required in the subordinate clause. |
| ---: However, when the two clauses have the same subject, que is omitted and the verb in the subordinate clause is in the infinitive form. |
| ---: So for example, Eu quero que você vá. has a subject change Eu quero and then você vá. this means I want you to go. |
| Braden: Now compare that to Eu quero ir. There's only one subject so there's no subjunctive. It Portuguese grammar, it's basically impossible for you to use the subjunctive on yourself. |
| ---: So that should help a bit. |
| Braden: Okay so rules. The subjunctive form of the verb must be used in the subordinate clause when - |
| ---: 1. A subjunctive indicator is used in the main clause. |
| Braden: 2. A change in subject ocurrs. |
| ---: 3. The conjunction que is used to link two cluases. |
| Braden: Notice that, in Portuguese, the subordinate clause is introduced by the word que. (remember “que” typically translates as “that.”) |
| ---: In English the word “that” is not always necessary. For examples, both of these sentences are correct - |
| Braden: I hope that my teacher speaks Portuguese well. I hope my teacher speaks Portuguese well. |
| ---: In Portuguese, however, the word que must always be used, even if you don't hear it in the English translation. Eu espero que meu professor fale bem o português. |
| Braden: So, could you give us another example sentence pair? |
| ---: Sure. Nós queríamos que você estivesse lá ontem a noite. |
| Braden: Which translates to "We wanted you to be there last night." here we have a change in subjuct |
| ---: From nós to você |
| Braden: a subjunctive indicator used in the main clause. |
| ---: The verb Querer |
| Braden: and we have the conjunction "que" connecting the two clauses. |
| ---: all three conditions are met, so it must be subjunctive. Please remember everyone that these conjugations aren't just grammar structures. they are actually ways in which Brazilians express their feelings. |
| Braden: that's right. So don't think the subjunctive is just a new set of conjugations to memorize. The subjunctive opens up a whole new door of expression that for the most part is non-existent in English. |
| ---: And we can feel a difference when you use the subjunctive. It's not just grammar, there's a lot of heart behind the subjunctive. |
| Braden: Excellent. |
| quick review at the end of the lesson - explanation of why this is useful |
| That just about does it for this lesson. |
| thanks for listening! |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. |
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| Braden: See ya later! |
| Sílvia: Tchau tchau! |
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