• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Street Smart Brazil

We teach smart Portuguese

  • Contact
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Policies
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Speak Portuguese With Ease
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop for Lessons
  • Starter Kit
  • Translation/Interpretation
  • Testimonials
  • Resources
  • Blog
Four Power Tips to Say No One Correctly in Portuguese

Four Power Tips to Say No One Correctly in Portuguese

posted on April 27, 2016

How to Say No One Correctly in Portuguese: Four Power Tips

Do you know how to say No One in Portuguese? It can be a little tricky because in English we cannot use the double negative and in Portuguese we can and often need it!

In this video lesson, I show you how to say No One, Nobody in Brazilian Portuguese to express ideas such as: No one answered the phone; It seems that nobody is home; or I don’t know anyone here.

Ninguém: How to Say No One, Nobody in Portuguese

Ninguém means no one, nobody. The trick is to learn how to use it correctly in Portuguese.

The dialogue below uses ninguém in context:

Marta: Onde você estava ontem à noite? Liguei para a sua casa, mas ninguém atendeu.

Leila: Ontem a gente foi ao aniversário da Maria. Por isso não tinha ninguém em casa.

Translation:

Marta: Where were you last night? I called your home, but no one answered.

Leila: Yesterday we went to Maria’s birthday. That’s why there wasn’t anyone at home.

As you can see, in English you use two different words no express that no one answered the phone and no one was at home. In Portuguese, it is different. We use the same word because we have no problem with the double negative. In fact, we often need to use a double negative.

Four Power Tips to Use Ninguém Correctly

Tip 1

Ninguém may come before or after the verb. If you place it after the verb, you need to use the word não before the verb.

  • Ninguém estava em casa.
  • = Não havia ninguém em casa.
  • = There was no one home.

Tip 2

Ninguém always refers to people, never to objects. It means no one or anyone. It does not mean nothing or anything.

  • Ninguém fala francês aqui. = No one speaks French here.

Tip 3

Ninguém is never followed by a noun and never has a noun right before it. In other words, you cannot say “ninguém pessoa”. Just say ninguém.

  • Ninguém quer provar meu bolo? = Doesn’t anyone want to try my cake?
  • Ninguém me convidou para a festa. = No one invited me to the party.

Tip 4

Embrace the double negative. You will need it. And because in Portuguese we use the double negative, we don’t need to change from “no one” to “anyone”. We simply use ninguém.

  • Parece que não tem ninguém em casa. = It seems that nobody is home.
  • Não quero falar com ninguém hoje. = I don’t want to speak with anyone today.
  • Eu não conheço ninguém aqui. = I don’t know anyone here.

I hope this will help you use the word Ninguém correctly and with confidence.

Stay tuned: In the coming weeks, I will publish similar lessons teaching you how to say some, any, none, and nothing. Make sure you are subscribed to receive new blog posts in your inbox. Simply enter you email address on the right hand side box here.

Portuguese Lessons via Skype

 

Related Posts:

  • Tô na correria - One-Word Portuguese lesson
  • Não é a minha praia: One-minute Portuguese Lesson [Video]
  • One-minute Portuguese Lesson [Video]: Vestir a…
Share ... Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Email this to someone
email
Luciana Lage

About Luciana Lage

Luciana Lage founded Street Smart Brazil drawing on her passion for Brazilian Portuguese language and culture. Luciana has also taught Portuguese at University of California, Berkeley, and currently teaches at the University of San Francisco.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarAngela

    May 1, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    Luciana, seu blogue fica melhor a cada dia, parabéns!

    Reply
    • Luciana LageLuciana Lage

      May 2, 2016 at 2:07 pm

      Muito obrigada, Angela 🙂

      Reply
  2. AvatarTimothy DeVault

    April 28, 2016 at 2:49 pm

    I want to learn portuguese, not be pursuaded to spend my money.

    Reply
    • AvatarAngela

      May 1, 2016 at 1:04 pm

      Meaning, you want people work for you for free?

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Brazilian Portuguese
  • Business Culture
  • Culture and History
  • Flashcards
  • Food
  • Grammar
  • Idiomatic Expressions
  • Learning Languages
  • Music
  • Pronunciation
  • Resources
  • Video lessons
  • Visiting Brazil
  • Vocabulary

Schedule a Trial Session

Testimonials

Street Smart Brazil has been incredible. As someone who is focused on international business as a profession and a passion, learning languages has always been critical in helping me bridge cultures an… – Jessica

Meet The Team

Find Resources

Make your learning fun and easy with good resources.
Learn More

51 Portuguese Idioms – Speak Like a Brazilian

You will learn each expression inside a real-life context: everyday situations that could happen to any of us.
Purchase Now >

Recent Posts

  • Portuguese Conversation Group Class open now
  • Brazilian New Year’s Eve Traditions and Superstitions
  • Use the Infinitive in Portuguese instead of -ING in English – Portuguese lesson
  • To Turn On in Portuguese: 3 Different Verbs– Portuguese lesson
  • 5 New Books to Learn Portuguese

Footer Subscribe

Footer Video CTA

Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get all the new video lessons

Subscribe

https://youtu.be/Q8ONwVoTG9M

Footer Full CTA

Book a Trial Lesson today to get started.

Get Started Now

Footer CTA

Street Smart Brazil

  • About
  • Shop For a Portuguese Class
  • Testimonials
  • Blog

Portuguese Classes

  • Trial Lesson
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Subscription
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Packages
  • Celpe-Bras Preparation Course
  • Aulas de Inglês

Books

  • 51 Portuguese Idioms
  • Master the Word MESMO in Portuguese


phone 415.573.8180
email info@streetsmartbrazil.com
Oakland, California

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Sitemap

© 2014–2021 Street Smart Brazil, All Rights Reserved | Website by Web Savvy Marketing