How to Talk About Your Spouse and Children

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Portuguese by PortuguesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your spouse and children in Portuguese.

For example, "My husband, my son, my daughters, and me." is

O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

Susana Santos is studying with her Portuguese teacher, Lilian Lopes.

The teacher notices a picture on Susana's computer and asks about the people visible in the picture.

Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

Esposo.

"husband"

Esposo.

Filho.

"son"

Filho.

Filhas.

"daughters"

Filhas.

Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response.

Ready?

Esta é a sua família?

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

Once more with the English translation.

Esta é a sua família?

"Is this your family?"

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

"Yes, this is my family. My husband, my son, my daughters, and me."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Lilian asks,

"Is this your family?"

Esta é a sua família?

Let's start with família, "family." Família. Família.

In Portuguese, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Família is feminine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before família is a sua, a phrase meaning "your." A sua.

Let's start with sua, "your." Sua. Sua.

Sua is feminine and singular to agree with família.

Before sua is the article a. Think of it like "the" in English. A. A.

A is also feminine and singular to agree with família.

Note: in this sentence, the article a does not have a corresponding English translation.

In Portuguese, possessive adjectives, like minha, "my," sua, "your," and so forth, often pair with an article, like the a in a sua.

Together, it’s a sua, a phrase meaning "your." A sua.

All together, a sua família, "your family." A sua família.

Moving to the start of the sentence, esta, "this." Esta. Esta.

Note: Esta is feminine singular to agree with família.

Next is é, "is," as in "this is..." É. É.

É is from the verb ser, meaning "to be." Ser.

All together, it’s Esta é a sua família? This literally means "This is your family?" But it translates as "Is this your family?" Esta é a sua família?

Note the rising intonation of the sentence to indicate that it’s a question.

Esta é a sua família?

Remember this question. You’ll hear it again later.

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Susana says,

"Yes, this is my family. My husband, my son, my daughters, and me."

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

This starts with the expression, Sim meaning "yes." Sim. Sim.

It answers Lilian’s yes-or-no question, "Is this your family?"

Esta é a sua família?

After this, Susana points to the picture, and says, Esta é a minha família.

"This is my family."

Let’s start with família, "family." Família.

Do you remember the gender and number of família?

Feminine and singular.

Before this is a minha, a phrase meaning "my." A minha.

Minha. "My." Minha. Minha.

Minha is feminine and singular to agree with família.

Before minha is the article a. Think of it like "the" in English. A.

A is also feminine singular to agree with família.

Again, in this case, the article a does not have a corresponding English translation.

Together, it’s a minha, a phrase meaning "my." A minha.

All together, a minha família, "my family." A minha família.

Moving to the start of the sentence, Esta, "this." Esta.

Note: Esta is in the feminine singular form to agree with família.

Next is é, "is." É.

All together, it’s Esta é a minha família. "This is my family." Esta é a minha família.

After this is o meu esposo, "my husband." O meu esposo.

Let's start with esposo, "husband." Esposo. Esposo.

Esposo is masculine singular.

Before esposo is o meu, a phrase meaning "my." O meu.

Meu, "my." Meu. Meu.

Meu is masculine and singular to agree with esposo.

Before meu is the article o. Think of it like "the" in English. O. O.

O is also masculine and singular to agree with esposo.

Note: in this sentence, the article o does not have a corresponding English translation.

Together, it’s o meu, a phrase meaning "my." O meu.

All together, o meu esposo, "my husband." O meu esposo.

Next is o meu filho, "my son." O meu filho.

Let's start with filho, "son." Filho. Filho.

Filho is masculine singular.

Before filho is o meu, "my." O meu.

Meu, "my." Meu. Meu.

Meu is masculine and singular to agree with filho.

Before meu is the article o. O is also masculine and singular to agree with filho.

All together, o meu filho. "My son." O meu filho.

After this is as minhas filhas, "my daughters." As minhas filhas.

Let's start with filhas, "daughters." Filhas. Filhas.

Remember, in Portuguese, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Filhas is feminine and plural — a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence.

Filhas is the plural form of Filha, "daughter." Filha.

Before filhas is as minhas, a phrase meaning "my." As minhas.

Minhas. "My." Minhas. Minhas.

Minhas is feminine and plural to agree with filhas.

Before minhas is the article as. As is also feminine plural to agree with filhas.

All together, as minhas filhas, "my daughters." As minhas filhas.

Note, to say "my sons," os meus filhos. Os meus filhos.

Next is e, "and." E. E.

And last is eu, which translates as "me" in this context. Eu. Eu.

All together, Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu. "Yes, this is my family. My husband, my son, my daughters, and me."

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

The sentence pattern is

Esta é a minha família. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER e eu.

"This is my family. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER and me."

To use this pattern, simply replace the {FAMILY MEMBER} placeholders with the members of your family.

Note: this pattern requires a noun preceded by the corresponding article and possessive adjective.

Imagine your family members are your wife, your son, your daughters, and you.

Esposa "wife." Esposa. Esposa.

Esposa is feminine and singular. Therefore, "my wife" is a minha esposa. A minha esposa.

Say

"This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughters, and me."

Ready?

Esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

"This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughters, and me."

Esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

In Portuguese possessive adjectives, like sua, "your," and minha, "my," are often paired with an article, like "a" in a sua família, "your family," and "a" in a minha família, "my family."

Again, the key pattern is

Esta é a minha família. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER e eu.

"This is my family. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER and me."

Let's look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

"This is my family. My husband, my son, my daughters, and me."

Esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

Esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

"This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughters, and me.”

Esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

Esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, a minha filha e eu.

"This is my family. My wife, my daughter, and me."

Esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, a minha filha e eu.

Esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho e eu.

"This is my family. My husband, my son, and me."

Esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho e eu.

Esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, os meus filhos e eu.

"This is my family. My husband, my sons, and me."

Esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, os meus filhos e eu.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "yes?"

Sim.

And how to say "family?"

Família.

Do you remember how to say "my family?"

Don’t forget the article.

A minha família.

And do you remember how Susana says,

"This is my family."

Esta é a minha família.

Do you remember how to say "husband?"

Esposo.

And how to say "my husband?"

Don't forget the article.

O meu esposo.

Do you remember how to say "son?"

Filho.

And how to say "my son?"

Don't forget the article.

O meu filho.

Do you remember how to say "daughters?"

Filhas.

And how to say "my daughter?"

Don't forget the article.

As minhas filhas.

Do you remember how to say "and?"

And how to say "me?"

Eu.

Do you remember how Susana says,

"Yes, this is my family. My husband, my son, my daughters, and me."

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, as minhas filhas e eu.

And do you remember how Lilian asks,

"Is this your family?"

Esta é a sua família?

Do you remember how to say "wife?"

Esposa.

And how to say "my wife?"

Don't forget the article.

A minha esposa.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Samuel's colleague, Carlos Costa.

You have a wife, esposa, and a daughter, filha.

Respond to Samuel’s question referring to the photo.

Don’t forget to include the word for "yes" at the beginning of your response.

Ready?

Esta é a sua família?

Sim, esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, a minha filha e eu.

Listen again and repeat.

Sim, esta é a minha família. A minha esposa, a minha filha e eu.

Let’s try another.

Imagine you're Marcia Martins.

You have a husband, esposo, a daughter, filha and a son, filho.

Ready?

Esta é a sua família?

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, a minha filha, o meu filho e eu.

Listen again and repeat.

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, a minha filha, o meu filho e eu.

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Vanessa Vieira.

You have a husband, esposo and a son, filho.

Ready?

Esta é a sua família?

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho e eu.

Listen again and repeat.

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho e eu.

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your spouse and children in Portuguese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of talking about family. Let’s review the family members.

Do you remember how to say "sister”?

Irmã.

And how to say "my sister”?

Don’t forget the article.

A minha irmã.

Do you remember how to say "mother”?

Mãe.

Do you remember how to say "father”?

Pai.

Imagine you're Ben Lee , and you have a father, mother and sister.

Respond to your classmate Nicolas Nunes , who sees a picture in your wallet, and asks for the people in it.

Ready?

Esta é a sua família?

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu pai, a minha mãe, a minha irmã e eu.

Listen again, and repeat.

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu pai, a minha mãe, a minha irmã e eu.

Now imagine that you're Ben's mother, Karen Lee , and your friend asks about the people in the picture on your phone.

Esta é a sua família?

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, a minha filha e eu.

Listen again, and repeat.

Sim, esta é a minha família. O meu esposo, o meu filho, a minha filha e eu.

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About Family unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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