I remember that I learned the expression brand new from a song by Roberta Flack. This was many years ago and I was back in Brazil. My English was at its beginning years.
Do you know how to say brand new in Portuguese? I will show you two colloquial expressions to say brand new in Portuguese. I will also show you how we talk about a brand new car.
Zero-Bala
Zero-bala is a street smart expression that means brand new.
For example:
- João comprou um carro zero-bala. = João bought a brand new car.
- Esse telefone é zero-bala. Comprei hoje. = This phone is brand new. I’ve just bought it today.
- Estou me sentindo zero-bala depois do feriado. = I’m feeling brand new after the holiday.
The expression zero-bala doesn’t change with gender or number.
Novo em Folha
Novo em folha also means brand new.
The word novo agrees in gender and number with the object that it refers to.
It’s also common to use the word novo in the diminutive.
For example:
- Gostou do meu vestido? É novinho em folha! = How do you like my dress? It’s brand new!
- Carla e João compraram dois carros novos em folha. – Carla and João bought two brand new cars.
- Joana tirou um cochilo e agora está se sentindo nova em folha. = Joana took a nap and now she is feeling brand new.
How to say a car is brand new
You can use zero-bala and novo em folha to say that a car is brand new.
We also commonly say that the car is zero quilômetro (zero kilometer), meaning that no kilometer (or mile) has been driven yet. In other words, it’s a brand new car.
We often write it 0 KM.
Mark says
January 3, 2018 at 1:21 amHello Luciana,
After reading today’s blog post, I decided that it really was time to let you know how extremely grateful I am for the brilliant work that you do. Your videos and blog posts are helping me enormously.
Although I’m in my 50’s, this is the first time that I’ve attempted to properly learn a second language. When I began trying to teach myself last year, I felt overwhelmed by many aspects of Brazilian Portuguese.
Street Smart Brazil has helped me to feel that learning Portuguese is realistic for me, because you explain so beautifully so many of the things that would otherwise be very difficult for me to understand.
I also feel that the generous and open hearted approach that you have in freely sharing such excellent resources reflects what I know of the Brazilian people, culture and hospitality, and reinforces my love for Brazil.
So… Thank you very much Luciana.
All best wishes,
Mark.
Luciana Lage says
January 3, 2018 at 9:46 amMark, muito obrigada! Your comment moved me. What a wonderful start to this new year 🙂 It makes me so happy to hear that you are enjoying your learning journey. Learning a language is challenging, but it is also so rewarding. The trick is to have fun along the way and accept that making mistakes is a necessary part of the journey. Até mais!
Alan Merle Weber says
January 2, 2018 at 6:35 pmThank you so much for this new lesson! I will be discussing this with my Brazilian friends! I do really appreciate the level of effort you put into all of your lessons.
Thanks so much again
Alan
Luciana Lage says
January 2, 2018 at 6:54 pmMuito obrigada, Alan!