INTRODUCTION |
This lesson will teach you how to refuse in Portuguese. There are many situations in our daily life when we want to refuse, especially when we do not like or want something. Other than that, the Portuguese consider refusing as a form of being polite, so in those cases, refusing also becomes good manners. |
GRAMMAR POINT |
In Portuguese, “No thank you ” is: |
Não, obrigado |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Não, o-bri-ga-do. |
Once more: |
Não, obrigado. |
The first word não means “no” |
(slow) não |
não |
After that comes obrigado which means “thank you” in masculine form. |
(slow) o-bri-ga-do. |
Obrigado. |
Let’s hear the expression again: |
Não, obrigado. |
(slow) Não, o-bri-ga-do. |
This expression is the equivalent of “No, thank you!” and it is used in the same situations as in English. |
・ |
When you feel that what was offered to you is too much say É demasiado. |
Let’s hear that again: |
(slow) É de-ma-si-a-do. |
É demasiado. |
In this sentence, the word é is a form of the verb that means “to be”. |
(slow) é. |
É. |
Next we have demasiado which is translated as “too much”. |
(slow) De-ma-si-a-do. |
Demasiado. |
Let’s hear the phrase one more time. |
(slow) É de-ma-si-a-do. |
É demasiado. |
The translation is “It is too much”. |
・ |
A combination between the two expressions we just covered is also possible Não, obrigado. É demasiado. |
・ |
During your stay in Portugal, you may be invited to people’s houses. And in most cases, you will be offered food. There is a custom in Portugal to offer more food when the guest finishes eating everything that is on his or her plate. If that happens, you can politely refuse using the phrase, "Obrigado, mas estou satisfeito" which means "Thank you, but I am satisfied." |
"Obrigado, mas estou satisfeito." |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) O-bri-ga-do, mas es-tou sa-tis-fei-to. |
Once more: |
Obrigado, mas estou satisfeito. |
In this sentence Obrigado means “thank you”. |
Mas means but. |
(slow) Mas. |
Mas. |
estou is translated as “I am”. |
(slow) Estou. |
Estou. |
And satisfeito is an adjective that means “satisfied”. |
(slow) sa-tis-fei-to. |
Satisfeito. |
(slow) O-bri-ga-do, mas es-tou sa-tis-fei-to. |
Obrigado, mas estou satisfeito. |
“Thank you but I am satisfied.” |
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