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Precisa-se Empregada de Limpeza

Needed: Cleaning Staff

Bernardo just started working as an assistant to a rather demanding man. One of his first tasks is to find someone to clean his boss’s home as soon as possible. He goes to his coworker, Joana, hoping for suggestions.

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  • 00:00:03Bernardo: Olá, Joana!
  • 00:00:04Joana: Olá, Bernardo.
  • 00:00:05Bernardo: Como estás?
  • 00:00:07Joana: Bem, mas um pouco ocupada.
  • 00:00:09Bernardo: Desculpa ter vindo até aqui, mas preciso de falar contigo. Podes?
  • 00:00:14Joana: Posso, mas peço-te que sejas breve.
  • 00:00:16Bernardo: Não te preocupes, não vou ocupar muito o teu tempo.
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alguémsomebody, someone BreveSoon, brief o caoschaos despedidofired sing.,masc. disponibilidadeavailability, readiness, willingness EmpregadaEmployee (female) , maid, housekeeper ExigenteDemanding, strict, picky OcupadaOccupied, busy a paciênciapatience UrgênciaUrgency vindocome, came, arrived
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Não te preocupesDon't worry Fazer limpezasClean, Do cleaning Estás safo!You're in the clear!, You're off the hook! sing.,inf.,masc. Depois digo-te qualquer coisaI'll let you know, Later I'll tell you something Assim que consigasAs soon as you can sing.,inf. Importas-te...?Do you mind...? sing.,inf. Há pouco tempoA little while ago, Not long ago
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À Descoberta de Sagres
A Nova Paixão Da Anabela
Um Patê Muito Bom
O Aquecimento Global
Padrão dos Descobrimentos
A Mulher que Adormece em Todo o Lado
Operação Stop
Até que a Tempestade Passe
Ana Vai ao Médico
O “Mestre” do Engate

Comments

  • Good. I could finally understand some sentences. Foi a primera vez que ouvi uma shortie. Normalmente ouco as pessoas em Futeta, mas a pronuncia deles e muito difficil

    • Olá! Não, “saber” é o infinitivo do verbo e “souber” é uma forma do futuro do conjuntivo. A tradução inglesa pode parecer igual para ambos, mas em português, não são usados da mesma forma.

  • i have seen you use the combination of ter vir and ter ver on several occasions and how the latter differs from ter a ver
    please could you explain in what contexts these are used. Thank you

    • “Ter a ver”, with that middle preposition, is an idiomatic expression that means “is related to/has to do with”. “Ter + vir” and “ter + ver” are only used together as compound verb tenses. For example: “tinha vindo” (had come), “tinha visto” (had seen), “tem vindo” (has been coming), “tem visto” (has been seeing), etc. Note that the structure is always: [infinitive or conjugated auxiliary verb ter] + [past participle of the main verb].

  • Sadly, I still find these shorties difficult, even after six months of Practice Portuguese. I catch bits and pieces and usually have some idea of what’s being said but I’m not really happy with my poor performance. The “listen and type” examples that are used in the lessons are always much easier, mainly because we hear the sentences multiple times in multiple forms before we’re asked to “listen and type” a phrase. I rarely miss one of these just because it’s a simple matter of matching what has just been practiced.
    I think it would be very useful to move the “listen and type” exercises to the very beginning of each unit. This would force us to recognize something completely new that we haven’t had any previous practice on, and would more closely match what we have to do in these shorties. I would really like to see how well I’d do in these “listen and type” exercises without being prepped for each phrase.

    • I agree, having the Listen & Type exercises without preparation would be helpful. This is on our ideas list. 😁 They show up in “Quiz Mode” of Smart Review, but maybe we could create a version that is only Listen & Type. At the beginning of each unit, they may be too difficult for a complete beginner, but I could see it being a great stepping stone between the Units and the Shorties.

      Even if you’re missing a lot of it, if you’re getting the main idea of what’s being said, I think that’s really good, especially on a B1 level episode like this.

  • Hi, great lesson on subjunctive! There is something I don’t understand though. I thought that « se » required the use of the subjunctive when expressing uncertainty or doubt. So why don’t we say, « se saibas de alguem que faça limpezas » instead of constructing the sentence as follows :
    O Hernâni quer que eu veja contigo se sabes de alguém que faça

    Also, what about the sentence : « ou se conhece alguém que tenha. » why wouldn’t it be « se conheça »?

    Thank you.

    • Thanks for your comment! Even when discussing hypothetical/uncertain ideas, or desires, etc, the word ‘se’ doesn’t automatically force the following verb into the subjunctive. It all depends on how the sentence is structured. In the cases you mentioned, only the indicative is suitable at those points. This is made more obvious if we change them to direct questions:
      – …se sabes de alguém que faça limpezas.
      Direct: Sabes de alguém que faça limpezas? (This question couldn’t be formulated with the subjunctive)

      – …ou se conhece alguém que tenha.
      Direct: Conhece alguém que tenha? (This question also couldn’t be formulated with the subjunctive)

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