António A
Marina- Empregada: Boa tarde! Employee: Good afternoon!
- Abel: Boa tarde! Abel: Good afternoon!
- Empregada: Como é que está? Employee: How are you doing?
- Abel: Estou bem, obrigado. E a senhora? Abel: I'm fine, thank you. And you, ma'am?
- Empregada: Também estou bem, obrigada. Como é que poderei ajudar? Employee: I'm fine too, thanks. How can I help?
- Abel: Eu preciso de enviar esta carta para Lisboa. Abel: I need to send this letter to Lisbon.
- Empregada: Com certeza. Pretende enviar a carta com ou sem registo? Employee: Certainly. Do you want to send the letter with or without registration?
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Vocabulary
a cartaletter Conta de telefonePhone bill CorreioMail o destinatáriothe recipient FaturaInvoice, receipt o formulárioform o trocochange money UrgênciaUrgency
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Comments
Excellent idea with these shorties!
I love the shorties, but I don’t think people speak that slowly and clearly in real life.
Thanks, Ellen! They most likely won’t speak as slowly in real life unless they’re asked to, but when it comes to working on listening comprehension, this is a good point to start. The more shorties and podcasts you listen to, the more you’ll be challenged with different speech patterns and speeds. And there’s even more practice to be had in the Learning Studio lessons 🙂
Hi,
I know languages do not translate directly. So, Portuguese sometime uses ‘have’ where English uses ‘is/are’. But, I am puzzled about the following translations.
(1) Abel: Aqui tem 20 euros. Abel: Here’s 20 euros.
Empregada: Tem aqui o troco. Employee: Here’s the change.
My question is: should I use ‘tem’ in transactions?
(2) Empregada: Muito bem, no caso da fatura são 10 euros. Deste modo, são no total 12 euros. Employee: Very well, the invoice is 10 euros. Thus it is a total of 12 euros.
<I would have translated each of these as : '… they are 10 euros.' and 'They are in total 12 euros'. Is it correct to use 'is' or 'are'?
Olá Declan, e feliz ano novo!
(1) Yes, we typically use the verb “ter” in these cases. You can even use a short and sweet “Aqui tem” (There you go), if appropriate.
(2) It seems to me that in the Portuguese sentence, the verb is agreeing with the amount of money, while in the English translation, the verb is agreeing with the other nouns in the sentences (‘invoice’ and ‘total’). In any case, what really matters here is the Portuguese sentence 🙂 In Portuguese, if the verb is agreeing with the amount, we use the singular, é, for the number 1 (e.g. “é 1 euro” or “é 1 milhão de euros”) and we use the plural, são, for any other number (e.g. “são 2 euros” or “são 100 euros”). If the verb is agreeing with another noun, then it will depend on how much of that you have. Both possibilities are acceptable; personally, verb agreement with something other than the money (unless the money is the focus point) usually sounds better to me.
Hi Joseph,
Feliz ano novo!
Many thanks for your response, which as usual is very helpful and clears up these questions for me.
Best wishes
Declan
A really useful lesson. But I long for the day where I go to a post office and find such a talkative and helpful assistant!! 😂
Could you please tell me when I should use the expression “fica em ” when referring to cost as literally it means “stays in” “is located in”
Thank you
Olá! You can use it exactly as shown in the dialogue: to ask or to confirm the cost of something (typically paired with the preposition “em”). It’s an additional idiomatic use of the verb, along with the others you already know 🙂 But you don’t have to use it – you can always just use the verb custar.
– Quanto é que custa? / Em quanto é que fica?
– Custa 2 euros. / Fica em 2 euros.
Many thanks for helping me on this
Olá! De onde é o sotaque do Abel? (ch –> s, etc.)
É o belo e caloroso sotaque do norte de Portugal! 🙂
Obrigado mais uma vez pela resposta rapidissima, Luís! 🙂
why does she say ‘pretende enviar a carta’? Shouldn’t it be ‘gostaria enviar a carta’
The phrase “pretende enviar a carta” translates to “do you intend to send the letter?” which is a more direct and formal way to ask about someone’s intentions. On the other hand, “gostaria DE enviar a carta” would translate to “would you like to send the letter?” which is a more polite and indirect way of asking.
In this context, “pretende” is used to convey a straightforward inquiry about the action of sending the letter.
Both “pretende” and “gostaria” are correct, but they set a different tone. “Pretende” is more formal and direct, while “gostaria” is more polite and suggests a preference rather than an intention.
🙂
It’s the first time I’m hearing a strong rolling R in pronunciation in this course. It’s by the guy in the blue sweatshirt in the sentence “Não estou a receber o meu correio” in this unit. I wonder where he’s from and how common this pronunciation is? Can I read up more about it somewhere?
We don’t have details on the speaker’s origin, but the rolled and guttural R pronunciation actually coexist across Portugal. The guttural R is a more recent addition, but it became rather dominant probably due to its use in Lisbon. The rolled R, which is the more classical pronunciation, is more common in northern and inner central Portugal, but not restricted to those regions. Also, keep in mind that not all speakers roll it with the same intensity. We do have a general Learning Note about the pronunciation of the letter R, if it helps 🙂 How to Pronounce R in European Portuguese | Practice Portuguese