A gota d’água: Colloquial Brazilian Portuguese Lesson [Video]
You know I love colloquial expressions ;) They make us sound natural speaking a foreign language. In addition, an idiomatic expression can often get your point across better than any other way of putting things. So here’s another great Brazilian Portuguese colloquial expression: a gota d’água.
Brazilian Portuguese Phrase: Em cima da hora
If you’ve ever found yourself doing something at the last minute, or on short notice, then you’ve done it em cima da hora, literally on top of the hour. To remember it, think of yourself standing on the minute hand of a clock about to reach twelve and you’d be on top of the hour. Below, I’ll show you two examples.
Taking Brazil With Me
For as long as I’ve been interested in Brazil, I’ve usually had something physical on me or near me that reminds me of the country. In the early days, it was merely a few stickers of the flag on my university binders and, at other times, there were various keychains of the shape of the country or, again, the flag on them. When I still had “Betsy” (my old, beaten-up but reliable car), you can be sure there was a Brazilian flag sticker on the back bumper, much to the dismay of my brother who thought such a “beautiful” car should have a Harvard sticker on the back.
The Way Portuguese Was
(Portuguese from 1909, click for larger image)
With the last spelling reform a few years back, there was backlash both in Portugal and in Brazil. While the governments agreed on a more similar way of spelling, the citizens of both countries seemed to be rather bothered by having to learn new rules for a language they’ve spoken and written their whole lives. When the press moved on, the noise abated and the differences were reluctantly accepted.
How to Use Porque and Por Causa de – with Video
I want to show you how to use porque and how to use por causa de. Check out the examples below. What is the difference between the sentences with porque and the sentences with por causa de?
Slang that came but hasn't gone
Often there are Portuguese words you may not hear all the time and as such, you may put less effort into memorizing them. Sometimes the word in question seems scientific in nature and other times the word may be less formal and have some history to it. The latter are usually from the 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s, and classified as “something my (grand)parents would say”, which isn’t to say they still aren’t useful. Here are a few for you which you may come across every once in a while (in rough order from most used to least, IMO).
