Learn about Brazilian employment and negation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sílvia: Bem-vindo ao PortuguesePod101.com! |
| Braden: Braden here! This is Upper Beginner Season 1, Lesson 4, Working While at Work is Overrated in Brazil. Hello and welcome back to PortuguesePod101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Portuguese. I’m joined here in the studio by… |
| Sílvia: Hello, everyone! Sílvia here! So Braden, please tell us what we’ll be learning in this lesson. |
| Braden: In this lesson, we’re learning a little bit about negation in Portuguese. |
| Sílvia: Where does this conversation take place and who is it between? |
| Braden: This conversation takes place in the morning at a staff meeting, and it’s mostly between Jaqueline and Marcelo. |
| Sílvia: What’s the formality level? |
| Braden: Well, it’s a business situation, but they’re kind of friends, so it’s kind of formally informal. |
| Sílvia: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jaqueline: Atenção, pessoal. Recebemos algumas instruções do nosso chefe. |
| Marcelo: Ele não pediu nada demais não, né? |
| Jaqueline: Aí é contigo. Mas, ele nos pediu para não usar o celular durante o trabalho |
| Marcelo: Nem tenho celular. |
| Jaqueline: e nos lembrou que a impressora não é para uso pessoal. |
| Marcelo: Sério? |
| Jaqueline: e que não devemos acessar o Orkut o dia inteiro. |
| Marcelo: e como ele sabe de tudo isso? |
| Jaqueline: Por causa das cameras. Olha aqui o aviso “sorria você esta sendo filmado.” |
| Marcelo: Nem vi. Alguém aqui já viu? Quanto tempo tá aí? |
| Jaqueline: Faz sete meses. |
| Braden: One time slowly. |
| Jaqueline: Atenção, pessoal. Recebemos algumas instruções do nosso chefe. |
| Marcelo: Ele não pediu nada demais não, né? |
| Jaqueline: Aí é contigo. Mas, ele nos pediu para não usar o celular durante o trabalho |
| Marcelo: Nem tenho celular. |
| Jaqueline: e nos lembrou que a impressora não é para uso pessoal. |
| Marcelo: Sério? |
| Jaqueline: e que não devemos acessar o Orkut o dia inteiro. |
| Marcelo: E como ele sabe de tudo isso? |
| Jaqueline: Por causa das cameras. Olha aqui o aviso “sorria você esta sendo filmado.” |
| Marcelo: Nem vi. Alguém aqui já viu? Quanto tempo tá aí? |
| Jaqueline: Faz sete meses. |
| Braden: One time fast, with translation. |
| Jaqueline: Atenção, pessoal. Recebemos algumas instruções do nosso chefe. |
| Jaqueline: Attention, people. We have received some instructions from our boss. |
| Marcelo: Ele não pediu nada demais não, né? |
| Marcelo: He didn't request anything strange did he? |
| Jaqueline: Aí é contigo. Mas, ele nos pediu para não usar o celular durante o trabalho |
| Jaqueline: That's up to you. But, he asked us to not use our cell phones during work. |
| Marcelo: Nem tenho celular. |
| Marcelo: I don't even have one. |
| Jaqueline: e nos lembrou que a impressora não é para uso pessoal. |
| Jaqueline: And reminded us that the printer is not for personal use. |
| Marcelo: Sério? |
| Marcelo: Really? |
| Jaqueline: e que não devemos acessar o Orkut o dia inteiro. |
| Jaqueline: And that we shouldn't access Orkut at all during the day. |
| Marcelo: E como ele sabe de tudo isso? |
| Marcelo: And how does he know all this? |
| Jaqueline: Por causa das cameras. Olha aqui o aviso “sorria você esta sendo filmado.” |
| Jaqueline: Because of the cameras. Look here at the sign, "Smile, you're on camera." |
| Marcelo: Nem vi. Alguém aqui já viu? Quanto tempo tá aí? |
| Marcelo: I never saw that. Has anyone else seen that? How long has that been there? |
| Jaqueline: Faz sete meses. |
| Jaqueline: Seven months. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: Marcelo seems kind of one of the typical Brazilian employees, doesn’t it? |
| Sílvia: Yeah, Marcelo is a classic example of a Brazilian employee that doesn’t really get how businesses work. Many employees don’t understand that while you’re at work, you should work. |
| Braden: I know. I mean it’s not that they’re bad workers. I mean when they’re focused, Brazilian workers, they work very hard. They’re very good, so I’m not saying anything that’s bad, but sometimes, you kind of get that, okay focus here, we’re here to work. |
| Sílvia: Yeah, but here, at least, part of this is due to very strange labor laws in Brazil that actually give incentives to the employee to not work very hard, you know. |
| Braden: Yeah, and these are really pretty complex. Some of these are actually written into the constitution itself. If I’m a salaried employee, then I have to earn this much, but if my boss can only fire me if he pays like two months of pension, even if I’ve only been working there for a year, I mean there’s all these kind of catches and protections for the worker, but it kind of disincentives actual work in the practical reality of how things work. It’s kind of strange. There’s a really good article in The Economist about all of this and how Brazilian work laws affect the way that Brazilians work. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: The first word we’ll look at is… |
| Sílvia: pessoal [natural native speed] |
| Braden: personal |
| Sílvia: pessoal [slowly - broken down by syllable] pessoal [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: pessoal [natural native speed] |
| Braden: everyone, everybody |
| Sílvia: pessoal [slowly - broken down by syllable] pessoal [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: receber [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to receive |
| Sílvia: receber [slowly - broken down by syllable] receber [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: instrução [natural native speed] |
| Braden: instruction |
| Sílvia: instrução [slowly - broken down by syllable] instrução [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: chefe [natural native speed] |
| Braden: boss, chief, head |
| Sílvia: chefe [slowly - broken down by syllable] chefe [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: durante [natural native speed] |
| Braden: during, while |
| Sílvia: durante [slowly - broken down by syllable] durante [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: impressora [natural native speed] |
| Braden: printer |
| Sílvia: impressora [slowly - broken down by syllable] impressora [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: Orkut [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Orkut (a social network) |
| Sílvia: Orkut [slowly - broken down by syllable] Orkut [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: inteiro [natural native speed] |
| Braden: entire, whole |
| Sílvia: inteiro [slowly - broken down by syllable] inteiro [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: câmera [natural native speed] |
| Braden: camera |
| Sílvia: câmera [slowly - broken down by syllable] câmera [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: atenção [natural native speed] |
| Braden: attention |
| Sílvia: atenção [slowly - broken down by syllable] atenção [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: sorrir [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to smile |
| Sílvia: sorrir [slowly - broken down by syllable] sorrir [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: alguém [natural native speed] |
| Braden: someone |
| Sílvia: alguém [slowly - broken down by syllable] alguém [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: algum [natural native speed] |
| Braden: some |
| Sílvia: algum [slowly - broken down by syllable] algum [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Sílvia: filmar [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to film |
| Sílvia: filmar [slowly - broken down by syllable] filmar [natural native speed] |
| Braden: And our last word is… |
| Sílvia: nunca [natural native speed] |
| Braden: never |
| Sílvia: nunca [slowly - broken down by syllable] nunca [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases in this lesson. |
| Sílvia: The first word we’ll look at is pessoal. |
| Braden: Pessoal actually has two different meanings, that’s why we had it in the vocabulary twice. The first is as an adjective. Pessoal means “personal” as in personal things, which in Portuguese would be… |
| Sílvia: Coisas pessoais. The other meaning is pessoal as a group noun to mean something like "guys," "everybody," or "people." This is a non-formal meaning that works as a way to address groups. "Boa noite, pessoal"- This is something you'll hear often at concerts or group meetings. |
| Braden: You could use this when you come home or arrive at school or you’re giving a speech for that matter. However, it's typically not used in high-profile type situations, like when you're trying to impress a board of directors, for example, or defend your dissertation. But I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard someone show up from school and say, olá pessoal or something to that effect. Could you break this down for us? |
| Sílvia: pessoal |
| Braden: And one time fast. |
| Sílvia: pessoal |
| Braden: And is there any open or closed here? |
| Sílvia: They’re all closed. |
| Braden: What’s the next phrase? |
| Sílvia: The next phrase we’ll look at is câmera. |
| Braden: The word for “camera” actually has two meanings. First is the meaning of a “camera” like that takes pictures, a film camera or something like that. |
| Sílvia: But in daily conversations, film camera is usually just said máquina in reference to the phrase máquina fotográfica. |
| Braden: They’re both right, but you usually say máquina fotográfica. Another meaning is in a kind of a political sense. I often hear people talking about the… |
| Sílvia: câmera dos deputados |
| Braden: And that’s basically the House of Representatives. So, is it referring to the physical location of where they meet or they’re referring to them as a group? |
| Sílvia: Yes, to them as a group. |
| Braden: Them as a group. |
| Sílvia: But when people say, “Oh, they met at the câmera…” |
| Braden: Right. |
| Sílvia: Means they met at the building where the institution works. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Sílvia: câmera |
| Braden: And one time fast. |
| Sílvia: câmera |
| Braden: Okay. And open and closed vowels in here? |
| Sílvia: Yes. The first “â” is closed, câmera. Otherwise, it would be câmera. The “e” here is closed, câmera. Otherwise, it would be câmera. And the last “a” here is open, câmera. |
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sílvia: The focus of this lesson is negation. In the dialogue, we heard the phrase - Ele não pediu nada demais não, né? |
| Braden: Which we translated as “He didn't request anything strange, did he?” |
| Sílvia: To make a yes or no question in Portuguese, you just raise your voice intonation at the end of the question. |
| Braden: A straight statement and a yes/no question are only differentiated by the intonation. Could you give us some examples really quick? |
| Sílvia: Sure. Vocês falam português? |
| Braden: Literally, this translates to “You speak Portuguese?” But in English, we would switch the words around to “Do you speak Portuguese?” The statement is the same, “You speak Portuguese?” so the word order is identical. “You speak Portuguese?” The only thing that changes is the intonation of the sentence. |
| Sílvia: And to answer a yes/no question, you just negate the main verb. So, the question, “Vocês falam português?” the correct response would be - Não, não falo, não. |
| Braden: Unless of course you do, and then you say- sim, eu falo, sim. That’s a lot of (no)s in that example that you gave. Why are there so many (no)s? |
| Sílvia: It’s just common to use it to emphasize that you don’t want it. I mean, it would be correct to say “não,não quero” or “não, não falo”. In the daily speak, we just use não, não falo, não. We say three (no)s. |
| Braden: Three (no)s, yeah. So, there’s no such thing as double negatives in Portuguese. As you can see, there are three right here. And it doesn’t, like, contradict each other like it does in English. The first “no” answers the question, the second negates the verb, and the third, which is kind of optional, gives that bit of an emphasis. Não, não falo, não. There were three there. |
| Sílvia: Right. I think it’s kind of saying, “No, I do not speak, no.” |
| Braden: This next part is about negative and positive words, their meanings, how they function, their contrasting and so forth. |
| Sílvia: Portuguese has several word pairs of negative and positive meanings. |
| Braden: We don’t have enough time to go through all of them, but we’ll go through most of them and then give your few examples and rules on how to use them. |
| Sílvia: The ones we don’t cover in the audio, we’ll put in the PDF, so check those out here. |
| Braden: First words. |
| Sílvia: Algo or alguma coisa. Both of these mean “something.” |
| Braden: Could you use them in a sentence? |
| Sílvia: Sure! Algo vai acontecer, which means “Something will happen.” |
| Braden: That’s the positive sense, algo “something.” Okay, let’s take a look at the negative counterpart. |
| Sílvia: That would be the word nada which means “nothing.” |
| Braden: Could you use this in a sentence? |
| Sílvia: Sure! Nada vai acontecer, which means “Nothing will happen.” |
| Braden: So, the negative and positive contrast. You have algo which means “something” and nada which means “nothing.” So, these are word pairs of positive and negative counterparts. What’s our next word? |
| Sílvia: Alguém which means “someone.” |
| Braden: Can you use this in a sentence? |
| Sílvia: Sure. Alguém via sair, which means “Someone will leave.” |
| Braden: And its negative counterpart is… |
| Sílvia: Ninguém, which means “no one.” |
| Braden: Could you use this in a sentence? |
| Sílvia: Ninguém vai sair, which means “No one will leave” |
| Braden: And our next and last word… |
| Sílvia: Ou, which means “or.” |
| Braden: Could you use this in a sentence? |
| Sílvia: Ou você ou ele contou a verdade, which means, “Or you or he told the truth.” |
| Braden: What’s its negative counterpart? |
| Sílvia: That would be nem, which is something like “nor” or “not even.” In a sentence, it would be - Nem você nem ele contou a verdade, which means “Nor you nor he told the truth.” |
| Braden: So, when you’re talking about these kinds of things, like “neither he nor I” or “neither you nor them” or something like that, that kind of either/or kind of sentences, in Portuguese, you use ou and ou for positive-type sentences - Ou você ou ele contou a verdade, or you use the negative part, which is the nem. The nem is just the opposite of “or” and we don’t have a direct comparison in English for this. The closest one would be “neither” or “nor” or “not even” or something to that effect. Okay, so there are three more that we’ll put into the PDF, so check that out. Now, some important notes from our previous list. |
| Sílvia: First: Negatives are always used in the singular, whereas their affirmative counterparts may be pluralized. For example, algumas moças, nenhuma moça. |
| Braden: Second: A sentence may be made negative by placing a negative word in front of the verb. For example, “algumas coisas quebraram”, which means “Something is broke.” In comparison would be “nada quebrou” “Nothing broke.” Notice how the verb conjugation changes as well, because “algumas coisas” is plural and nada is singular, so it changed the verb conjugation as well. Algumas coisas quebraram, nada quebrou. |
| Sílvia: And third: There must always be a negative word in front of the verb of a negative sentence. If the negative follows the verb in a sentence, the verb must be preceded by não. For example - Nós não brincamos nunca. “Ele não falou nada” which would be “We never play or he didn’t speak anything.” |
| Braden: And just our one tip here, when you’re speaking this way, Portuguese doesn’t have a direct comparison word or translation to the word “anything” in these kinds of sentences. For example, in this last example that you gave… |
| Sílvia: Ele não falou nada. |
| Braden: We would translate that as, “he didn’t say anything” or “he didn’t speak,” but in Portuguese, they don’t have that form of an “anything.” |
| Sílvia: Right, we don’t. We just say nada which is “nothing.” |
| Braden: And it crosses both over, and it can do that because of that double negative rule. In English, we have to use the “anything” because the “he didn’t say nothing” confuses the meaning. But in Portuguese, they don’t have that, so it’s very easy to say “Ele não falou nada”. That makes complete sense. It’s actually perfect. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening! |
| Sílvia: Até amanhã! |
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