Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Lesson 7 - Text

Olá, leitores! Hello, readers!
Como vocês têm estado ultimamente? How have you been recently?


Let's start a new portuguese lesson! As we have already learned the verbs and their conjugation, let's try a simple text today! Don't worry, it'll be very easy to read. So, let's start it!




Texto - Minha família

Minha família tem cinco pessoas: eu, meus dois irmãos mais novos e meus pais. Temos também um cachorro preto. Seu nome é Trovão! Nós moramos no interior do estado de São Paulo. Aqui, temos uma paisagem cheia de natureza e as ruas são seguras. 
Eu estudo em Campinas, uma grande cidade vizinha. Meu irmão Henrique gosta de gançar e meu irmão Marcelo toca bateria e contra-baixo. Meus pais são professores de português, inglês e alemão. 
Meu cachorro é barulhento e preguiçoso, mas é muito lindinho! Gosto muito de morar aqui!
Text - My family

My family is formed by five people: me, my two youger brothers and my parents. We also have a black dog. His name is "Trovão" (Thunder)! We live in the countryside of the state of São Paulo. Here, we have a landscape full of nature and the streets ar safe.
I study in Campinas, a big neighbour city. My brother Henrique likes to dance and my brother Marcelo plays the drums and the bass.My parents are portuguese, english and german teachers.
My dog is very noisy and lazy, but he is very cute! I love to live here!

Vocabulary

Texto-Text
Família-Family
Pessoa-Person
Irmão mais novo-Youger brother
Irmão mais velho-Elder brother
Pais-Parents
Cachorro-Dog
Preto-Black
Azul-Blue
Amarelo-Yellow
Vermelho-Red
Verde-Green
Branco-White
Nome-Name
Morar-To live, to inhabit
Interior-Countryside
Estado-State
Aqui-Here
Aí-There (near the listener)
Ali-There (far from both the speaker and the listener)
Lá-There (farther than "Ali")
Paisagem-Landscape
Cheio de...-Full of...
Natureza-Nature
Rua-Street
Seguro-Safe
Estudar-To study
Cidade-City
Vizinho-Neighbor
Gostar de...-To like to...
Dançar-To dance
Tocar-To play, to touch (in other context)
Bateria-Drums
Contra-baixo-Bass
Violão-Guitar
Guitarra-Eletric guitar
Piano-Piano
Teclado-Keyboard
Barulhento-Noisy
Preguiçoso-Lazy
Mas -But
Lindinho-Cute
Muito-So much, very

Gramática
Grammar


Preposições ‐ Prepositions

There are some prepositions that appeared in the text, which we're going to learn today.

Em In
De Of
Para For, to 

These are their neuter forms. These forms can vary deppending on the gender and the article of the succeeding noun.See examples below:

Em in
No in the (masculine) ex: No carro in the car
Na in the (femenine) ex: Na escola in the school

De
Do of the (masculine) ex: Do menino of the boy
Da of the (femenine) ex: Da menina of the girl

Para
Pro to/for the (masculine) ex: Pro seu irmão for your brother
Pra to/for the (femenine) ex: Pra sua mãe for your mother


Uso do verbo "gostar" Usage of the verb "gostar" (to like)

The verb "gostar" always needs the preposition "de" to be connected with an object, even if it's a verb. Ex:

Eu gosto de flores. I like flowers.
Meu irmão gosta de casas grandes. My brother likes big houses.
Eu gosto de correr. I like to run.
Meu pai gosta de ouvir música. My father likes to listen to music.


See you next time! Até mais, leitores!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Lesson 6 - Verbs

Hello, readers. Let's start a new portuguese lesson!


Today, we're gonna learn about portuguese regular verbs.
In portuguese, there are three kinds of verbs: the verbs that have the suffix "ar", the ones that have the suffix "er" and the ones that have "ir". For example:


Amar to love
Obedecer to obbey
Sumir to disappear


Depending on the suffix, the way to inflect them changes. As there are three kinds of verbs, there are Three Conjugations. Let's study them!


The First Conjugation - verbs with the suffix "ar"


Verb "Adorar" (to worship)


Eu adoro
Você adora (Tu adoras)
Ele adora
Nós adoramos
Vocês adoram (Vós adorais)
Eles adoram


To inflect the verbs, just take off their suffix "ar" and replace them with the suffix that corresponds the pronoun.


The Second Conjugation - verbs with the suffix "er"


Verb "Sofrer" (to suffer)


Eu sofro
Você sofre (Tu sofres)
Ele sofre
Nós sofremos
Vocês sofrem (Vós sofreis)
Eles sofrem


The Third Conjugation - verbs with the suffix "ir"


Verb "Assumir" (to assume)


Eu assumo
Você assume (Tu assumes)
Ele assume
Nós assumimos
Vocês assumem (Vós assumis)
Eles assumem


Though, there are some verbs like "dormir" or "servir", that don't change only the suffix, but also the vocalic sound of the stem. See below:


Verb "Dormir" (to sleep)


Eu durmo
Você dorme (Tu dormes)
Ele dorme
Nós dormimos
Vocês dormem (Vós dormis)
Eles dormem


Verb "Servir" (to serve)


Eu sirvo
Você serve (Tu serves)
Ele serve
Nós servimos
Vocês servem (Vós servis)
Eles servem


Now we know how to conjugate the verbs, let's use them! Pay attention to the examples below:


1 -  Eu como arroz todos os dias. I eat rice everyday.

2 - Meu amigo gosta de casas grandes. My friend likes big houses.

3 - Eu sempre me esqueço dos nomes das pessoas. I always forget people's names.


Next time, I'm going to post more verbs and a small text for you! Let's enlarge our portuguese vocabulary!


Um abraço a todos!!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Lesson 5 - Estar (to be)

Hello, my readers. Today, we're going to learn the portuguese verb "Estar".

"Estar" indicates a temporary state or condition. For example, when one says "Estou feliz I'm happy", he's talking about his present condition, which could change anytime.
But when one says "Eu sou feliz I'm happy", it sounds like he's telling somebody he's always unconditionally happy.
"Estar" could also indicate one's localization, as in "Eu estou na igreja I'm at the church", or could form the portuguese present continuous tense, like "Eu estou comendo bolo I'm eating cake".

Below, the inflection of the verb "Estar" in the present:

Eu estou
Você está (Tu estás)
Ele está
Nós estamos
Vocês estão (Vós estais)
Eles estão

I included "Tu" and "Vós" because they could be useful in certain circunstances, like reading some portuguese books or talking to portuguese people.

Below, some examples of the usage of "estar":

1- Eu estou nervoso por causa da prova de matemática.
I'm nervous because of the math exam.
2- Meu irmão está cantando uma música folclórica.
My brother is singing a folk song.
3- O livro está em cima da minha cama.
The book is on my bed.

Vocabulary - 1

Em cima On
Em baixo Under
Ao lado de Beside
No meio Between
Dentro In, inside
Fora Out, outside
À esquerda To the left
À direita To the right
Atrás Behind
Na frente de In front of

Examples:

A criança está em cima da mesa. The child is on the table.
O menino está dentro da caixa. The boy is inside the box.
O carro está na frente da escola. The car is in front of the school.
Eu estou ao lado de minha mãe. I'm beside my mother.
A caixa de cartas está à direita de minha casa. The mailbox is at the right side of my house.
Minha sala está à esquerda de meu quarto. My living room is to the left side of my room.
Eu estou fora de casa. I'm out my house.
Meu irmão está embaixo da cama. My brother is under the bed.

Vocabulary - 2

Sala Living room
Sofá Sofa
Televisão Television
Tapete Carpet
Mesa Table
Cadeira Chair
Janela Window
Porta Door
Almofada Cushion
Estante de livros Bookshelf
Aparelho de DVD DVD player
Rádio Radio
Banheiro Bathroom, WC
Vaso sanitário Toilet
Pia Lavatory basin
Box Shower-box
Toalha Towel
Sabonete Soap
Xampú Shampoo
Armário Wall Cabinet
Chuveiro Shower
Esponja Sponge
Quarto Sleeping room
Cama Bed
Travesseiro Pillow
Cobertor Blanket
Lençol Sheet
Pantufa Slipper
Chinelo Sandal
Sapato Shoe
Tênis Tennis Shoes
Roupas Clothes
Calça Pants
Saia Skirt
Camisa Shirt
Vestido Dress
Blusa Blouse
Jaqueta Jacket
Cozinha Kitchen
Garfo Fork
Faca Knife
Prato Dish
Colher Spoon
Geladeira Freezer
Fogão Stove
Lavanderia Laundry
Cesto de roupas It's a kind of basket to put the dirty clothes before washing them.
Lavadeira Washing machine
Quintal Yard
Grama Grass
Piscina Swimming-pool
Rede Hammock
Churrasqueira Barbecue (fireplace)

Let's try to make some simple sentences with the vocabulary I taught you today! You can send them to my e-mail, if you want. I've already posted my e-mail address to this blog in the Lesson 4.

See you next time!
Até a próxima!!

Grande abraço a todos os leitores!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Lesson 4 - Ter (to have)

Hello, Readers. I could see that the number of readers kept increasing this week, and that makes me really happy! I hope I can keep writing here forever!
Today, I'm going to teach you the verb "Ter", or in english "to have". As "Ser to be", it's an irregular verb, so pay attention to it.

Eu tenho→ I have
Você tem→ You have
Ele tem→ He has
Nós temos→ We have
Vocês têm→ You have
Eles têm→ They have

I also have to teach you the possessive pronouns today. The possessive pronouns also change in gender and number. Check out for them below:

Meu/Minha My
Seu/Sua Your, his
Nosso/Nossa Our
Seu/Sua Your, their

These possessive pronouns listed above are usually put before the possessed thing, as in english. Ex.:

Meu irmão My brother
Minha casa My house
Nossa roupa Our clothes
Nossos agasalhos Our coats
But "Dele(s)/Dela(s) His/Her" are put after the possessed thing. Ex.:

O irmão dele His brother
A casa dela Her house
As roupas deles Their clothes
Os agasalhos delas Their coats

I'm going to write some sentences using "Ter", the possessive pronouns and the vocabulary we learnt last lesson below. I want you readers to make some sentences by yourselves, too! If you want me to take a look at them, just send me them by coment or e-mail.

Eu tenho um carro vermelho. I have a red car.
Meu irmão tem uma calça grande. My brother has big pants.
Minha família tem uma casa pequena. My family has a small house.
Eu tenho uma irmã gorda. I have a fat sister.

My mail address is liubenchi.br@gmail.com! Feel free to contact me anytime.

See you! Até mais!!

Abraços!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Lesson 3 - Vocabulary and adjectives

Hello, readers! Firstly, I have to apologize for my faults in writing english. Sometimes I get confused about when using "above" and "below". I corrected my earlier posts, because there were a lot of wrongly used "above"s. (lol)
I was planning to post here only in the weekends, but as today I am absent to school and have some free time, I decided to write one more post for you. So, let's start it!

Today, as I told you before, I'm posting a list of portuguese basic vocabulary, because we'll need it to study and form sentences later. The list is below:

Adulto
adult
Agasalho
coat
Água
water
Alto
tall, high
Arroz
rice
Avô
grandpa
Avó
grandma
Baixo
low
Barato
cheap
Bonito
beautiful
Cadeira
chair, seat
Caderno
note
Calça
pants
Camiseta
t-shirt
Carne
meat
Caro
expensive
Casa
house
Céu
sky
Chato
boring
Cidade
city
Comida
food
Computador
computer
Cozinha
kitchen
Criança
child
Curto
short, brief
Desenho
drawing, draft
Dia
day
Escola
school
Estrela
star
Feijão
beans
Feio
ugly
Feliz happy
Fino thin
Garagem
garage
Gordo
fat
Gostoso
delicious, tasty
Grande
big
Grosso thick
Irmã
sister
Irmão
brother
Largo
large, wide
Legal
cool, fun
Livro
livro
Longo
long, lenghty
Mãe
mother
Magro
thin, skinny
Menina girl
Menino boy
Mesa
table
Noite
night
Olho eye
Pai
father
Pequeno
small
Quarto
room
Rádio
radio
Revista
magazine, periodical
Roupa
clothes
Rua
street
Saia
skirt
Sala
living room
Sofá
sofa
Tia
aunt
Tio
uncle
Triste sad

Now, we know some basic portuguese vocabulary, so we can continue studying and start making simple sentences using them. Did you note I put some adjectives in the list? Let's learn how to use them today!
In portuguese, unlike in english, the adjectives always come
after the nouns. Ex.:

1 -
carro grande big car
2 -
casa pequena small house
3 -
sofá largo large sofa
4 -
menino bonito beautiful kid

The adjectives are always equal in gender and number to the nouns. Ex.:

1 - casa bonit
a
2 - olho bonit
o
1 - casa
s bonitas
2 - olho
s bonitos

The plural of nouns and adjectives

One adds "s" to the nouns and adjectives whose ending is a vowel. Ex.:

Carro grande → carros grandes
Olho grande → olhos grandes

One adds "es" to nouns and adjectives whose ending is "r" or "z". Ex.:

Cartaz → cartazes placards
Par → pares pairs

One takes off the "l" ending of a word and replaces it with "is" to form the plural. Ex.:

Coral → corais corals
Animal → animais animals
Anel → anéis rings
Azul → azuis blue

One replaces "il" and "el" for "eis" in words that have the acute accent on the penultimate syllable. Ex.:

Amável
→ amáveis kind, lovable, affable
Hábil → hábeis skilful, able, capable

One replaces "m" for "ns", because in portuguese, we only use the letter "m" before "p" and "b", so we have to change it to "n" before adding a "s". Ex.:

Tom → tons tones
Bom → bons good
Ruim → ruins bad

One adds "es" to words ended by "s" which have the acute accent on the last syllable. Ex.:

Gás
→ gases gases
Japonês → japoneses japanese people
Inglês → ingleses englishmen

Words which have the ending "x" don't change. Ex.:

Ônix → ônix
Tórax → tórax

One replaces "ão" by "ães", "ões" or "ãos". Ex.:

Mão → mãos hands
Pão → pães breads
Balão → balões balloons

And this is it. Grammar is a bit boring for most people, but it's very important, so pay attention to what I wrote above. I'm going to write now some simple sentences using the vocabulary I taught you today! See how the adjectives follow the nouns in gender and number.

1 - O livro é grosso.
2 - A carne é gostosa.
3 - As crianças são pequenas.
4 - A menina e o menino são gordos.
5 - Os olhos são bonitos.
6 - A cidade é grande.
7 - Os quartos são pequenos.

I want you guys to try to write some sentences, too! I would be very glad if you sent me them by coments or e-mails.
If you want to contact me, look below:

E-mail→ liubenchi.br@gmail.com
Facebook→ http://www.facebook.com/ryu.yusuke

It will be a pleasure to keep in contact with you!

Um abração a todos!

Tchau, tchau!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Lesson 2 - Basic grammar

Olá, pessoal! (Hi, guys)
Here I am, posting again! Today, I'm going to teach you about portuguese articles, nouns and demonstrative pronouns, such as their masculine and femenine gender forms. So let's start the class!

Firstly, I must teach you about portuguese articles. Do you guys remember what's an article? An article corresponds to the "the, a, an" of English. In portuguese, we have more articles than in english, and their use depends on the gender and number of the nouns. See below:

Masculine
The = O, plural Os
A = Um, plural Uns

Femenine
The = A, plural As
A = Uma, plural Umas

Then, when one says "The car", in portuguese, one says "O carro", and never "A carro", because "carro" is a masculine word. Unlike in english, in portuguese the gender of the nouns play an important role.
So pay attention below, because I'm going to write a list of nouns and their articles. By the articile and the ending of a noun, one can know wether it's a masculine or feminine word!

Carro car
O carro, um carro The car, a car

Casa
house
A casa, uma casa The house, a house

Bicicleta bike
A bicicleta, uma bicicleta The bike, a bike

Livro book
O livro, um livro The book, a book

Pretty easy, huh? The only difficulty is that one needs to learn by heart the genders of the nouns! But there's a good hint for you: nouns ended in "o" usually are male, and the ones ended in "a" are usually female! For example, "cabelo hair" and "bolsa bag". "Cabelo" is a male noun and "bolsa" is a female one! Easy, isn't it?

Below, I'm going to put for you the demonstrative pronouns in portuguese.

This = Este(a)*
That = Esse(a)**, Aquele(a)

*(a) means it has a femenine version; in this case, it would be "Esta", "Essa", "Aquela". Just replace the last letter by an "a".
**"Esse" is used when one's talking about something that is next to the listener. "Aquele" is used only when one's mentioning something that is far from both the speaker and the listener.

Below, there are more examples of the use of the demonstrative articles. Pay attention, please!

Carro
Este carro, esse carro, aquele carro
Tis car, that car, that car

Casa
Esta casa, essa casa, aquela casa
This house, that house, that house

Bicicleta
Esta bicicleta, essa bicicleta, aquela bicicleta
This bike, that bike, that bike

Livro
Este livro, esse livro, aquele livro
This book, that book, that book

Well, this is all for today! I'm going to post more soon, and I hope you're liking my blog! Next time, I'm going to post a big vocabulary list, so prepare yourselves.

Um abraço, até mais!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Lesson 1 - Self introduction and greetings

Hello everybody! Today, I'm going to teach you how to introduce yourselves in portuguese. It's quite easy and simple to introduce oneself, since brazilian people are not so formal!
But there's a good hint for you all: always smile when you meet somebody! Brazilians love high-spirited people! So let's start the
class!

Firstly, I'm going to teach you how tho say the personal pronoms in portuguese. Do you remember them in english?
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they! The only difference is that we don't have an "it" in portuguese! I'm going to write the portuguese ones and their translations below.

Eu→ I
Você→ You
Ele→ He
Ela→ She
Nós→ We
Vocês→ You
Eles→ They

People in some parts of Brazil still use the old "Tu" and "Vós", but it's quite rare nowadays! Portuguese people still use them indeed, but I'm teaching you the brazilian way, so I'll always use "Você" and "Vocês" here!

Now, let's learn the portuguese verb
to be. Without it, we cannot progress to a self introduction!
Portuguese verbs are a little more difficult than english ones, because all of them change depending on about who one is talking about. The verb to be is not an exception, and like in english, it's an irregular verb; in other words, it doesn't follow any rule! See below.

Eu sou→I am
Você é→You are
Ele(a) é→He/she is
Nós somos→We are
Vocês são→You are
Eles são→They are

There's no way to remember it except learning it by heart. But as it's the most used verb, I assure you you'll learn it easily!

So let's learn some greetings! They're absolutely necessary in everyday life!

Bom dia→ Good morning
Boa tarde→ Good afternoon
Boa noite→ Good evening or Good night
Oi
or Olá→ Hi, Hello

Tudo bem?→ How are you doing?
(literally translating, "Is everything alright?")
Como vai?→ How are you doing?
(literally translating, "How is it going?")
Beleza?→ What's up?
(It's quite colloquial. Don't say it to people you don't know)
Estou bem→ I'm fine.
Tudo (bem)→ I'm fine
(literally speaking, "Everything's ok". One can say only "Tudo" to answer the "Tudo bem?" question)
Sim, obrigado→ Yes, thanks
(answering to "Tudo bem?")
E você?→ And you?
Qual é o seu nome?→ What is your name?
Meu nome é...→ My name is...
Muito prazer→ Nice to meet you!
Prazer em conhecê-lo→ Nice to meet you.
(literally saying, prazer = pleasure)
Prazer→ Nice to meet you
(it's more informal)
O prazer é todo meu→ Nice to meet you, too!
(Literally translating, "the pleasure is all mine")
Tchau→ Goodbye
Obrigado→ Thank you


Now you can introduce yourself to a brazilian! I'm going to introduce myself next.

I could say:
Olá, Tudo bem? Meu nome é Rubens. Muito prazer!

Or I could also say:
Boa tarde, como vai? Eu sou Rubens. Prazer em conhecê-lo!

As you can see, portuguese is a very
free language! If one learns it properly, one can express his feelings by many ways! I hope you readers can learn it well, and I swear I'll do my best to support you as much as it's possible to!

Today, we're gonna stop here. I hope I can help many people writing this blog and I'm sorry about my bad english. I promise I'll study more!


So, see you guys!

Tchau, tchau!

Introduction

Hello, my name is Rubens and I'm going to start this blog to spread my native language, Portuguese, for english speakers who want to learn it, or for people who are just curious about it.
As you can see, my English is not that good, and I hope I can improve it by writing this blog and having contact with anyone who reads it.
It'll be a pleasure for me to solve your doubts about my language and even about my country as long as I can. So feel free to ask me aanything and to tell me your opinion about my work!
I'm doing this as a hobby, but if I have the opportunity to turn this into a more serious work, be sure I'm going to!

I hope we can develop our linguistic abilities and make progress together from now on!


Rubens Miranda