Introduction to Portuguese: Lesson 4

Let’s learn a few more words which might come in handy. First one that almost feels like cheating:

Portuguese for to study is estudar.

It would be simply studar but Portuguese just like Spanish don’t like to have many consonants in the beginning of words without a vowel before them. So it’s estudar.

Say:

?I study it.|Eu estudo o.

You could just replace o with your field of study and actually tell what you study. Try one example:

?I study Italian.|Eu estudo italiano.

If you want to say I do not study it one thing happens:

The word não attracts o just right after itself.

Say:

?I don’t study it.|Eu não o estudo.

?I don’t know it.|Eu não o sei.

?You don’t know it.|Você não o sabe.

What would you study be:

?You study.|Você estuda.

?You don’t study it .|Você não o estuda.

Here is another important word:

Portuguese for to work is trabalhar.

How would you say:

?I work.|Eu trabalho.

Actually by coincidence the word for I work which is trabalho not only means I work but it can also mean work in general (i.e. a noun, synonym to job).

Ask:

?Don’t you work?|Você não trabalha?

Answer:

?I don’t want to work.|Eu não quero trabalhar.

This is pretty good for the first part. Let’s learn a couple of other important words.

Portuguese for I have is tenho.

Think I have a tender heart to remember it. Also this en is nasal because all vowel + n combinations are.

How would you say:

?I want it.|Eu tenho o.

What if you wanted to say:

?I don’t have it.|Eu não o tenho.

You already know that Portuguese for but is mas. Say:

?I don’t have it but I want it.|Eu não o tenho mas eu quero o.

What about this:

?I want it because I don’t have it.|Eu quero o porque eu não o tenho.

Here is another exception for you (last one, don’t worry):

Portuguese for you have is tem.

It should be something else but it’s not. Think you have quite a temperament. This em is nasal as well.

Now we have all the necessary stuff to learn to ask questions. First what questions.

You already know the Portuguese word for what from the expression why because it means for what. What is what?

?What|Que

When you have what by itself you usually say the what. What is the what?

?What|O que

So now you know the word for what and you can ask questions. For example, ask:

?What do you have?|O que você tem?

If you remember from the first lesson you would often say what it is that you have instead which would be:

?What do you have?|O que é que você tem?

Both variations go, though.

Use this é que and ask a couple more questions and we are good.

?What do you study?|O que é que você estuda?

?What do you know?|O que é que você sabe?

And so on...

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