Essential Social Expressions - Part 1

Learn essential social expressions

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Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone! I’m Paloma.

Oi gente! Eu sou Paloma.

Welcome to whiteboard lessons.

Today, we’re going to talk about Essential Social Expressions.

Okay, let’s jump right into the expressions.

Com licença.

Com licença means "Excuse me."

Você pode me ajudar?

"Can you help me?"

Espera aí.

Espera aí means "Wait."

Pois não?

Pois não? literally means “Because not” but it's translated in English as "How can I help you?"

Posso ajudar?

Posso ajudar? means "Can I help you?"

Next, we have: Obrigado. / Obrigada.

Obrigado. / Obrigada.

Obrigado is for men, and Obrigada is for women.

So for example, I say Obrigada, that means "Thank you."

And we also have:

Muito obrigado and Muito obrigada.

Muito obrigado. / Muito obrigada.

Muito means "a lot," so Muito obrigado or Muito obrigada means "Thank you very much."

Next is: De nada.

De nada.

De nada means "You're welcome."

Or, you can also say: Disponha.

Disponha.

Disponha menas "Anytime."

Next, we have: Desculpa.

Desculpa.

Desculpa means "Sorry."

Next is:

Não queria te incomodar.

"I didn’t want to bother you."

And last one is:

Não tem problema.

Não tem problema means "No problem."

Ok, now let's see them in use in some dialogues.

For example, someone calls for your attention after you drop something:

Com licença.

"Excuse me."

Pois não?

"How can I help you?"

Next example is: You are a man and you want to thank a friend who has just given you a souvenir.

Obrigado.

"Thank you."

Obrigado.

De nada.

"You're welcome."

And the third example is: You apologize after bumping into someone on the train.

Desculpa.

Não tem problema.

Desculpa. "Sorry."

Não tem problema. "No problem."

So today we saw many useful expressions you'll hear and say a lot when you go to Brazil. Some of them can even be useful when you go shopping. For example, a salesperson might ask you,

Posso ajudar? "Can I help you?"

Or, Pois não?

Or if someone doesn't come to help you, you can just ask the salesperson, Você pode me ajudar? "Can you help me?"

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