In this lesson I will show you how to say a few useful things in Portuguese:

1. 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?”
2. Take care! As we say at the end of a conversation
3. 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.

 

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