Continuing the recent posts on vocabulary, I thought I’d share a few different ways of expressing bending and folding in Brazilian Portuguese. If you practice yoga, por example, how do you tell someone to bend in Portuguese?
The definitions, followed by examples, are below.
Dobrar – to fold, to bend, to turn (directions), to double
- Ele dobrou a roupa antes de colocá-la no armário. = He folded the clothes before putting them in the closet.
- Com ioga, você tem que virar, dobrar e mover diferentes partes do seu corpo. = With yoga, you have to twist, bend, and move different parts of your body.
- Para ir ao aeroporto, dobre à esquerda no quarto sinal. = To go to the airport, turn left and the fourth light.
- A Amazon.com dobrou de tamanho em um ano. = Amazon.com doubled its size within a year.
Dobrar-se – to stoop, to bend
- Para fazer essa posição de ioga, você precisa se dobrar para a frente. = To do this yoga pose, you need to stoop over.
Inclinar-se – to lean, to bow
- No Japão, as pessoas se inclinam para cumprimentar o próximo. = In Japan, people bow do greet other people.
- No Brasil, não temos o hábito de nos inclinar para cumprimentar as pessoas. = In Brazil, we do not have the habit to bow to greet people.
Bonus vocabulary: Ajoelhar and Desdobrar
Ajoelhar-se = to kneel down
- Ele se ajoelhou para falar com a criança. = He kneeled down to speak with the child.
Desdobrar = to unfold
- A história se desdobrou de uma maneira surpreendente. = The story unfolded in a surprising manner.
Check out these additional Portuguese Lessons:
Verbo Pegar and Street Smart Expressions (with VIDEO)
To Borrow and To Lend in Portuguese
Pedir vs. Perguntar: Get It Right with Street Smart Brazil – with Video
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