1
00:00:01,805 –> 00:00:02,745
Gestora Sénior: Caros colegas,
{{Senior Manager: Dear colleagues,}}
2
00:00:02,745 –> 00:00:05,285
tenho notícias terríveis para vos dar…
{{I have terrible news to give you…}}
3
00:00:05,285 –> 00:00:07,345
O microondas morreu!
{{The microwave has died!}}
4
00:00:08,125 –> 00:00:11,411
É importante sermos fortes neste momento difícil
{{It is important to be strong in this difficult time}}
5
00:00:11,411 –> 00:00:13,575
e estarmos unidos como sempre.
{{and to be united as always.}}
6
00:00:13,575 –> 00:00:16,785
Gestor Júnior: Não, não!
{{Junior Manager: No, no!}}
7
00:00:16,785 –> 00:00:19,000
Não sei como é possível termos força
{{I don’t know how we can have strength}}
8
00:00:19,000 –> 00:00:24,225
quando o elemento mais importante da equipa acabou de nos deixar.
{{when the most important element of the team has just left us.}}
9
00:00:25,092 –> 00:00:27,465
Dizermos obrigado não chega.
{{Saying thank you is not enough.}}
10
00:00:27,465 –> 00:00:29,608
Gestora Sénior: É verdade.
{{Senior Manager: That is true.}}
11
00:00:29,608 –> 00:00:32,600
Mas ajuda falarmos sobre o que sentimos
{{But it helps to talk about what we feel}}
12
00:00:32,600 –> 00:00:35,445
e termos o apoio uns dos outros.
{{and to have each other’s support.}}
13
00:00:35,525 –> 00:00:38,845
Estagiário: Microondas, obrigado por me fazeres
{{Trainee: Microwave, thanks for making me}}
14
00:00:38,845 –> 00:00:41,065
comer tão bem todos os dias da semana.
{{eat so well every day of the week.}}
15
00:00:41,325 –> 00:00:43,905
Não é por ires para um lugar melhor
{{It is not because you are going to a better place}}
16
00:00:43,965 –> 00:00:45,905
que nós te vamos esquecer.
{{that we will forget you.}}
17
00:00:46,945 –> 00:00:50,345
Supervisor: Vai ser doloroso tu não estares aqui,
{{Supervisor: It will be painful not to have you here,}}
18
00:00:50,345 –> 00:00:54,105
nós não te vermos em todas as pausas para almoço…
{{for us not to see you at every lunch break…}}
19
00:00:54,114 –> 00:00:58,381
Estagiário: A nossa presença iluminava-te,
{{Trainee: Our presence lit you up,}}
20
00:00:58,385 –> 00:01:05,565
mas a tua presença preenchia o espaço e todas as pessoas nele.
{{but your presence filled the space and all the people in it.}}
21
00:01:08,625 –> 00:01:10,577
Gestor Júnior: Pormos um novo microondas
{{Junior Manager: Putting a new microwave}}
22
00:01:10,585 –> 00:01:17,705
no teu lugar nunca vai apagar a tua memória dos nossos corações.
{{in your place will never erase your memory from our hearts.}}
23
00:01:18,765 –> 00:01:21,202
Gestora Sénior: Não sei se partiste
{{Senior Manager: I do not know if you left}}
24
00:01:21,205 –> 00:01:24,105
por estares doente ou cansado,
{{because you were sick or tired,}}
25
00:01:24,105 –> 00:01:26,805
mas sei que estás em paz agora.
{{but I know you are at peace now.}}
26
00:01:27,605 –> 00:01:30,045
Descansa em paz.
{{Rest in peace.}}
27
00:01:30,045 –> 00:01:33,310
Gestor Júnior: Sim, descansa em paz.
{{Junior Manager: Yes, rest in peace.}}
28
00:01:33,310 –> 00:01:35,486
Não vais ser aquecido…
{{You will not be heated…}}
29
00:01:35,486 –> 00:01:37,935
Err, quero dizer, esquecido.
{{Err, I mean, forgotten.}}
Truly absurd! Great pun at the end!
Bahahahaha!! 🙂
After what I found to be a very difficult series of units on this tense I found the Tragedia almost impenetrable although I did spot early that it was a joke even though the whole thing seemed so formal..
It was enough to almost make me give up. But I won’t.
I think that I will use a different tense to express . What do you suggest.
Agree. This is a really tough tense to get my English head around.
It is hard to write this, as I can barely see through my tears–I am laughing so hard!
You guys are brilliant at humor like this!
Absolutely brilliant! 🙂
Muito obrigado!
These personal infinitives have come as a shock. How come I never noticed them before?! They seem to complicate things unnecessarily. I think it’s going to take a while for me to get my head round them (when to use them and how). I just don’t understand the logic behind them.
Anyway, I’ll stop complaining and just accept them as something that presumably you eventually get used to … through practice!
Hi Alison, you may have already seen this, but you can read about personal infinitives in more detail here: Infinitivo Impessoal vs Pessoal. These are tough, but you’re right, it will eventually get easier with practice. This topic in particular is one where it’s difficult to explain the difference, but if you see enough examples, it will start to make more sense. 🙂
One way you could think of it is that the impersonal form (just the regular form of the verb in the infinitive, like dançar) is used when you are talking about the action in a more general way, without a specific person being referenced (“É bom dançar” – It’s good to dance) or when the person was already indicated by the other associated verb in the sentence (“Queres comer em casa”).
The personal form (with the endings added, such as dançarem) is also used when talking about the action in a sort of general way, but the difference is that the focus is on a specific person doing that action (“É bom eles dançarem” – It’s good for them to dance).
Thank you, Molly. I think I’m just struggling with how to file this one in my brain in such a way that I’ll know where to locate it when needed.
At the moment, I’ve got it vaguely situated somewhere in the region of the subjunctive tense (which I know through learning French) — e.g. “É bom eles dançarem” – It’s good that they dance” — but I’ll see how it all turns out with more practice. I also keep wanting to add “que/de” when they’re not needed (probably a habit from French).
This particular requirement of the language does seem unnecessarily cruel but I will keep trying!
In the meantime, the lesson that followed, on ser/estar, was like a bit of light relief after struggling with this one
Hello and thank you for the explanations regarding the use of personal infinitive. I would very much like whether it would be advisable to use the subjunctive instead (like we do in French). For example “é importante (que ou se?) sejamos (formos?) fortes” instead of “é importante sermos fortes” like is found in the dialogue. Thank you, that would help a lot, Marie Hélène
Olá, Marie and thank you too for your comment. You could definitely use the subjunctive instead of the personal infinitive. In this case, only the present subjunctive fits, so you should say “É importante que sejamos fortes” 🙂
Thanks for that answer, Joseph – it’s a relief to know I can use the present subjunctive as well, as this really is a difficult grammatical construction. As a Spanish speaker, the subjunctive makes perfect sense but it will take time for the personal infinitive to make sense, too. I understand how it works and can do the exercises just fine but incorporating it into conversation is the hardest part! Thanks to all of you for making it so easy and fun to learn Portuguese grammar 🙂
Yes, I suppose the subjunctive is the lesser of two evils, so feel free to use it in place of the personal infinitive anytime you need – it’s a very useful workaround 😉 Thank you too for your kind comment, by the way!
Such hidden acting talent :).
I think we have an uncredited role here with Joel as “supervisora”, não é? What’s up with that?
And, shouldn’t that be “o supervisor “?
I’m happy to represent all of you as um agente de talentos.
Haha good ear, that’s indeed yours truly! Thanks for that correction, we must have had the role as a female before realizing when recording we were short on female voices 🙂 (Fixed!)
Marvellous – best to learn through humour!
Wowww you guys!! Hahaha. Excellent. I agree with others here – this is a tough lesson to wrap my head around, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in any other language I’ve studied. But it does make a lot of sense to separate personal vs. impersonal infinitives. Thanks for a great unit!
Bonjour les jeunes,
Je ne sais pas pour les autres apprenants, mais j’ai trouvé cette leçon très difficile, je ne décourage pas pour autant!
Maritimement.
André
What a fun shortie. Well done!
Is it more common for a native Portuguese speaker to use the personal infinitive rather than the subjunctive? Or do they use them interchangeably? Or would using the subjunctive sound overly formal?
Thank you for your excellent work.
Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Both the personal infinitive and the subjunctive are extensively used by native speakers. In cases where they’re interchangeable, I would say that the personal infinitive tends to be used more, if only because the subjunctive is wordier (and also more formal-sounding due to that). For example, “É importante sermos fortes e estarmos unidos…” becomes “É importante que sejamos fortes e estejamos unidos…”. There are also many instances where they’re not really interchangeable, and each has their specific uses. For example, only the personal infinitive fits in the sentence “Obrigado por me fazeres comer tão bem…”.