In this lesson I will show you how to say a few useful things in Portuguese:
- To take care of something or to look after something or someone. The kitty in the picture above is asking “Who is going to take care of me?”
- Take care! As we say at the end of a conversation
- To be careful with something or someone
Tomar conta de algo
In Portuguese, to take care of something or to look after something is:
- Tomar conta de algo
You always need to use the preposition de or one of its contractions:
- With a general object: de
- With a feminine, specific object: da, das
- With a masculine, specific object: do, dos
You will also need other contractions, such as dele, dela, daquele, etc.
Examples:
1)
Quem vai tomar conta da sua casa enquanto você estiver viajando?
= Who will look after your house while you are traveling?
2)
Você pode tomar conta da minha gata por duas semanas?
= Can you take care of my cat for two weeks?
3)
A Ana vai tomar conta do negócio quando eu me aposentar.
= Ana will take care of the business when I retire.
4)
Ela é babá, mas não gosta de tomar conta de crianças.
= She is a nanny, but she doesn’t like to look after children.
Cuidar de algo
We can also use the verb Cuidar, which also means to take care of something. It is a regular verb.
- Obs: In the examples below notice how I add the adverb (bem, melhor) between the verb Cuidar and the preposition. You could also place the adverb at the end of the sentence, but I feel it is more natural to use it like I have done here.
Examples:
1)
Gosto de cuidar bem dos meus clientes.
= I like to take good care of my clients.
2)
Você precisa cuidar melhor da sua saúde!
= You need to take better care of your health!
Take care!
At the end of conversations we often say: “Take care!”. In Portuguese it is:
- Se cuide! (conjugation for você)
- Se cuida! (conjugation for tu)
Example:
- Até mais. Se cuida! = See you later. Take care!
We use the Imperative or Command tense for the verbs when we are telling someone to take care. I have a great lesson on Commands here. Check it out here.
To Be careful
To be careful in Portuguese is:
- Tomar cuidado
- Ter cuidado
To tell someone to be careful with something we say:
- Tomar cuidado com algo
- Ter cuidado com algo
Did you notice that the difference is the preposition?
- To take care of something or someone = Tomar cuidado de
- To be careful with something or someone = Tomar cuidado com
Examples:
1)
Tenha cuidado quando sair sozinha à noite.
= Be careful when you go out alone at night.
2)
Tenha cuidado com o chão molhado.
= Be careful with the wet floor.
Learn with the Street Smart Brazil pros to practice and advance your Portuguese. We offer one-on-one Brazilian Portuguese lessons via Skype.
One-on-one lessons give you the opportunity for lots of practice and allow more control over your time and what you’d like to learn.
Book a Trial Lesson with one of our amazing instructors!
