Learn how to use fixed expressions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Paloma: Olá! Eu sou a Paloma. |
| Gina: And I’m Gina! This is Upper Beginner Season 2 Lesson 18 - Eating Well is Easy in Brazil! In this lesson, you’ll learn about using fixed expressions in Brazilian Portuguese. |
| Paloma: The conversation is between husband and wife, and it takes place in the evening, at home. |
| Gina: The speakers are married, so they’ll be using informal Portuguese. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Paloma: One thing that you’ll notice as soon as you set foot in Brazil is that the food is very different. |
| Gina: Some things are the same though, like big restaurants chains. |
| Paloma: That’s right! However, apart from fast food chains, many Brazilian restaurants are kind of self-service. So, instead of looking at a menu and choosing dishes, you’ll see many buffet style restaurants. |
| Gina: This is important for people traveling in Brazil, for several reasons. One of those reasons is that these "self-service" restaurants often have homemade food with homemade recipes made in bulk. So, they serve much more typical Brazilian cuisine then anything you can find, except for dinner at a Brazilian’s home like in the dialogue. |
| Paloma: These "self-service" restaurants are also very fast because all of the food is already cooked and available for you to put on your plate and eat. Great for travelers who might be in a hurry for example! |
| Gina: And some are interesting too. There are a few places where you put the food on your plate, and then you have to weigh it! |
| Paloma: That's true. After you weigh it, you eat it, pay for it, and then leave the restaurant. You can be back on your way in the less than ten minutes. Even most fast food restaurants aren’t that fast. |
| Gina: That’s awesome! |
| Paloma: Yes! In Brazil, eating well, and eating quickly, are both possible in a self-service restaurant. |
| Gina: Sounds good! |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gina: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Paloma: First, let’s look at the phrases para mim and por mim. |
| Gina: Literally translated, these phrases mean "to me" and "for me." But there’s more to it than that. |
| Paloma: That’s right. The phrase para mim can be used in sentences like Você poderia comprar isso para mim? |
| Gina: This translates to "Could you buy this for me?" |
| Paloma: But it can also be used in a sentence like Você poderia carregar essa bolsa para mim? |
| Gina: "Could you carry this bag for me?" |
| Paloma: So, para can mean both "to" and "for." In contrast, the phrase por mim can be used in sentences like Meu filho trabalha por mim. |
| Gina: "My son works for me." But the meaning is more like “My son is working in my place” not that “I am my son’s boss.” |
| Paloma: Great! The next phrase we’re going to look at is tanto…assim. Think of this as a formula. |
| Gina: Right. It means “as much...as that”. To use this formula, simply insert the thing that you're talking about between the two words. |
| Paloma: Exactly. Tanto or tanta and assim. You could say something like Eu não quero viajar por tanto tempo assim. |
| Gina: “I don't want to travel for as much time as that.” or “I don't want to travel that much.” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Paloma: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use fixed expressions in Brazilian Portuguese. |
| Gina: These are not idioms, which are phrases that have a lot of cultural meaning but don’t make sense grammar-wise. |
| Paloma: Right! Like "It takes two to tango." The meaning has little to do with dancing techniques, right? |
| Gina: (laughs)! Yeah, and as a side note, what’s the equivalent Brazilian expression for "it takes two to tango"? |
| Palom: That would be Quando um não quer, dois não brigam. |
| Gina: This literally is "When one doesn’t want to, two don’t fight." |
| Paloma: Anyway! Back to fixed expressions. These are frequently used in Brazil. |
| Gina: In this lesson we’re going to look at three fixed expressions in Brazilian Portuguese. What’s the first one, Paloma? |
| Paloma: It is todo o dia. |
| Gina: This phrase, means "all day long". Literally, it translates to "all the day" so the "long" is something you need to understand by context. |
| Paloma: This phrase is used in our dialogue. Interesting though how the literal translation kind of makes sense in English. |
| Gina: True! Could you say it again, Paloma? |
| Paloma: Sure! To-do o di-a. Todo o dia. |
| Gina: Excellent! Okay. And to compare, the second one we’ll look at means "every day" even though it’s literally translated as "all day". What’s that in Portuguese? |
| Paloma: That would be todo dia. To-do di-a. Todo dia. |
| Gina: Okay, so, notice how the pronunciation between these two phrases is very similar. Let’s hear them again. |
| Paloma: Sure! The first phrase "all day long" is pronounced todo o dia, and the second phrase, which means "every day" is pronounced todo dia. |
| Gina: So could you say them together slowly? |
| Paloma: Certainly. Todo o dia and todo dia. |
| Gina: Notice how the first phrase has the "O" in the middle held a little bit longer, it almost sounds like it’s kind of "bumped". |
| Paloma: Yeah, the second phrase is pronounced faster; todo dia. |
| Gina: Nice, and what’s the third phrase we wanted to look at? |
| Paloma: Imagina só. Literally translated this phrase is "imagine only", but used to mean "just imagine". |
| Gina: But it isn't just that. Sometimes it can be used as "just imagine" or "imagine that", and in other contexts, "just imagine it" or "just imagine that" would be more appropriate. |
| Paloma: Yeah. The meaning is a bit fluid in English. But remember that in Portuguese, the letter "i" makes an "ee" sound. |
| Gina: Could you show us how to pronounce these slowly? |
| Paloma: Of course! (slow) Imagina só. Imagina só. |
Outro |
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| Gina: Thank you for that, and listeners, thanks for joining us! Make sure to check the lesson notes, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Paloma: Até mais! |
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