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

Street Smart Brazil

We teach smart Portuguese

  • Contact
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Disclaimer
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Speak Portuguese With Ease
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop for Lessons
  • Starter Kit
  • Testimonials
  • Resources
  • Blog

Informal Brazilian Portuguese: Saying Far Away

posted on November 18, 2013

Years ago, I was watching the Brazilian film “O Caminho das Nuvens” (aka The Middle of the World) when I heard the phrase “é chão” used for the first time. I stopped the film and rewound it to make sure I heard correctly because “it’s floor” didn’t compute in my head.

From the story, I knew it was a family from the northeast who travel by bicycle to Rio de Janeiro in search of better opportunities. After hearing it the second time, I thought about it abstractly and got the gist of it. One character was informing the other that his destination was far away.

From a Google search, using the lyrics of a song I found (by Xico Barreto), we can see the phrase being used.

“Do litoral pro sertão, é chão, é chão, é chão”
(From the coast to the backwoods, it’s far, it’s far, it’s far)

If you want to hear it used in the film I mentioned, see minute 4:10 in the film.

Other Articles You Might Like

Bota frio nisso! Learn Colloquial Portuguese

Learn Colloquial Portuguese: À Francesa – The French Way

Colloquial Portuguese from the Headlines: Livrar a cara

—————

Schedule your Portuguese Demo Lesson.

Street Smart Brazil offers one-on-one and group classes online via webcam. We have a fantastic team of tutors, exclusive class materials, and complete programs from absolute beginner to fluent.  See what our customers are saying.

Related Posts:

  • 4 language learning hacks for your Portuguese
  • Brazilian New Year’s Traditions and Superstitions
  • Family Vocabulary in Portuguese

About Adam Lee

Adam is a writer and a researcher who has studied Brazilian culture for over a decade and created several Brazil-themed blogs going back to 2008. Having taught himself Portuguese, he put it to practical use by spending three years doing Brazil on a budget (and living in favelas), from Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon.

He now resides in Lisbon, Portugal, developing a startup and dreaming about having a beachside B&B in the Northeast of Brazil.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to see your pic by your comment? Get a free custom avatar at Gravatar.

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

Primary Sidebar

Categories

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

Schedule a Trial Session

Testimonials

Especially if you are in Rio de Janeiro, I highly recommend this class! You don´t have to fight traffic to get to class, your teacher will show up on time, you can make your own schedule, and the ma… Read more
Sarah
Streetsmart Brazil helped me to attain a Celpe Bras proficiency rating of advanced intermediate. Not only have I improved my reading and writing skills, I can speak more fluently on a wide range of t… Read more
Auby
A fantastic way to learn rapidly while having fun.  I took two sets of classes with Street Smart Brazil and was really impressed with the quality of teaching; from the informative handouts to the sch… Read more
Danielle
I really enjoyed the lessons with my instructor; there was not a single moment of boredom throughout any of the lessons. Initially, I had asked my teacher to help me work on the subjunctive, thinking … Read more
Tania

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

  • Meio or Meia? How to say KIND OF in Portuguese
  • Family Vocabulary in Portuguese
  • The Power of Rehearsal to Improve Language Learning
  • Learn the Numbers in Portuguese: All you need to know
  • The Difference Between ESTE, ESSE, ISSO in Portuguese

Search

Cart

Classes

  • Trial Lesson
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Subscription
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Packages
  • Celpe-Bras Prep Classes with Street Smart Brazil

Footer Subscribe

Books

  • 51 Portuguese Idioms
  • Master the Word MESMO in Portuguese

Footer Video CTA

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

Subscribe

https://youtu.be/xoNtWBolAzE

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 Prep Classes with Street Smart Brazil

Books

  • 51 Portuguese Idioms
  • Master the Word MESMO in Portuguese


Street Smart Brazil, LLC

phone 415.573.8180
email info@streetsmartbrazil.com
Oakland, California

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap

© 2014–2023 Street Smart Brazil, All Rights Reserved.