INTRODUCTION |
Portuguese people will usually make an effort to speak English with foreigners. Even so, for different reasons, there might be many times when you will not catch all or any of their words. Either their English is not good enough or, if Portuguese is the language they use, their native speed might be a problem for you. When this happens, asking the speaker to say it again can make the difference between understanding a crucial piece of information, and spending the rest of the day trying to figure out what it was. The following phrase will not only give you a better sense of the language, but will also help you tune your ear! |
GRAMMAR POINT |
In Portuguese, "Could you repeat, please?" is |
Podia repetir-se, por favor? |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Po-di-a re-pe-tir-se, por fa-vor? |
Once more: |
Podia repetir-se, por favor? |
The first word Podia is translated as “could you.” |
(slow) Po-di-a. |
Podia. |
Next is repetir-se, which is a verb that means "to repeat." |
(slow) re-pe-tir-se |
repetir-se |
After this comes a expression that we’ve mentioned before, meaning “please”: Por favor. |
All together, that’s |
(slow) Po-di-a re-pe-tir-se, por fa-vor? |
Podia repetir-se, por favor? |
・ |
You can also say “Say it again, please.”: |
Diga outra vez, por favor. |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Di-ga ou-tra vez, por fa-vor. |
Once more: |
Diga outra vez, por favor. |
The first word, Diga, can be translated as “speak it” or “say it.” |
(slow) di-ga |
Diga |
Next we have outra, which means “other” or “another.” |
(slow) Ou-tra. |
Outra. |
Next is vez, which means "time" as in "one more time." |
(slow) vez. |
vez. |
And last, we have the expression Por favor meaning “please”. |
The whole sentence is |
(slow) Di-ga ou-tra vez, por fa-vor. |
Diga outra vez, por favor. |
・ |
When the reason for not understanding is the speed, you may want to say “Speak slower, please”. In Portuguese, that’s: |
Fale mais devagar, por favor. |
(slow) Fa-le ma-is de-va-gar, por fa-vor. |
Fale mais devagar, por favor. |
the first word, fale, meaning “talk.” |
(slow) fale |
fale |
Next we have mais, that means “more” |
(slow) ma-is |
mais |
and devagar means “slow” or "slowly". |
(slow) de-va-gar |
devagar |
Finally we have Por favor. |
Let’s hear the whole phrase one more time: |
(slow) Fale mais devagar, por favor. |
Fale mais devagar, por favor. |
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