h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is the thread for teaching Portugese. Go wild!

*Awaits the first lesson*

I don't know where to start! What would you like to learn? How much do you know already?
I don't know as much as I should do, as we are basically in an English community - and we are three generations of the same family all living, working or retired in the same valley!

why don't you start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

So greetings, i,you,he,she,it etc, My name is Kat, I am 17 years old...numbers...

Obrigada, Kat (Thank you, Kat)
mas tento de ir a cama! (but I am trying to go to bed!)
Talvez amanha? (Perhaps tomorrow?)

How much do I know? Soh poquinho (just a tiny bit). Eu pode (I can)... repeat things that I remember - things I've heard around or are in a song or something. Which is why the verbs are such trouble because I have no idea how they work.
Besides, I suspect my spelling will probably be quite awful, especially for the next week or so when I don't have my Babylon around (because it's on the laptop my mum has taken to Brasil ).

'So um pequeno' - (Just a bit - Only a little)

If you know any Latin it is useful for the declension of the verbs.

For example latin verb to love (if I remember, I only did it to O level, and that is a little in the distant past)

Latin - Portuguese - English (? - Amar - to love)
Amo - Amo - I love
Amas - Amas - You (personal) love
Amat - Ama - You (formal), he, she, it loves
Amamus - Amamos - we love
Amatis - Amais - You (formal, plural) love
Amant - Amam - They love

This is a regular verb ending in -ar, other regular verbs like this would be
falar - to speak
portar - to carry
aconselhar - to advise
telefonar - to telephone
lembrar - to remember

To emphasize, or in formal writing, the I, you, we is added in front, but I find it is left out in quick conversation (at least here in the Algarve)
Eu - I
Tu - you (usually used to children, family members and close friends)
Voçe - you
Ele - he, ela - she
Nós - we
Vôçes - you (plural)
Eles - they

Examples
Nós falamos Portuguesa - We speak Portuguese
Ela fala Inglês - She speaks English
Não falo Inglês - I don't speak English

Is that OK for a start?

(poder - 'to be able to' is an irregular verb and it would be "Eu posse .." for 'I can ..'. 'Pode' is you, he, she, it can. Posse repetir as coisas que lembro - I can repeat the things that I remember)

Like I said, my spelling is quite dreadful... I'm basically guessing, I really should do it with a dictionary.

Sorry, no Latin background; and a Semite native tounge to boot, so really nothing to compare to.

Anyway, how would this work on another verb? Like 'falar', since you've already done a bit of that:

Eu falo, tu falas, vôce/ele/ela fala, nos falamos, vôces falais, eles falam - did I get that right?

Yes! 10/10

I did start learning Farsi once - but found it a little difficult, because, of course one uses arabic to write it in. Then it was 1974, so was never going to be able to try it out 'in earnest'
Oh, and the Children and Youth Aliyah used to hold committee meetings in a café my parents once owned. That's the closest I ever got to Semitic.

Tonight I must away now.

Amanha a manha vou ao mercado. (Tomorrow morning I am going to the market.)
Boa Noite

Wheeeeee!

'Amanha de manha' I know - from Trem das Onze:

Se eu perder esse trem
Que sai agora às onze horas
Só amanhã de manhã

(Don't be too impressed though, just found the lyrics online - I can sing it but I can't spell it... Trandlation, as far as I remember, goes something like: 'if I miss that train / which leaves at 11 / there's just tomorrow morning' not too sure about that last bit)

Boa noite!

That's about it!

You don't need the squiggles on the a's. That gives them a nasal sound, like an unfinished n - bit like the oun in round or ow!. Maçã (apple) {M a s 'ou'}. Não (No) {N 'oun' or Now}.

Manha is pronounced {man-yah}, with the yah bit quite short.

I think for goodbye the 'tchau' is spelt Ciao as Italian, from where it is probably derived.

Yeah, I can do the nasal ão sound ... like I said, I just copied the lyrics from somewhere.

And I actually checked 'tchau' in a dictionary (Novo Aurélio, O Dictionário da Língua Portuguesa, Século XXI) - I suppose it's been adapted to the Portuguese pronunciation, since c isn't pronounces as 'ch' in Portuguese.

Full definition, as printed in the dictionary (hey, I don't do things half-way... not all the time anyway):
tchau [Do it. /ciao/.] Interj. Até a vista; até logo. (both meaning goodbye, in case that wasn't clear to any mod roaming around)

My dad laughed at me for pronouncing 'vista' as 'veeshta' - 'That's okay, you don't have to say it like a Carioca'... that's the problem with trying to learn a language via songs!

My eldest is always using 'Tchau' and Ciao, in both english and portuguese conversations! now I shall know, doing most of her typing including e-mails, in Portuguese!, to end those with Tchau!

As well as Até a vista (lit. until I see you) and Até logo, one can say all sorts of similar things
Até brêve (See you shortly)
Até proxima (until the next time)
Até manha (until the morning)

Other 'goodbye's are the greetings depending on the time of day,and they can be pluralised.
ie. Boas Tardes - Good Afternoon / Goodbye to a group of people

and of course, the more formal goodbye
Adeus

Portuguese is a bit like English in that there are several accents, including the 'American' version! I have a slight problem in understanding Brazilians when I am in Lisbon - but I also have problems with the Lisboetas' pronunciation!!! I am told I speak in 'Algarvean with an english accent'!

*prod*

I don't know how to say hello yet! I can't be asying good bye already!

Olá Kat! - (Hello Kat!) *arghh! more than one pupil - can I cope?*

Bom Dia - (Good morning) Lit. Bom = Good , Dia = Day

Boa tarde - (Good afternoon) used for daylight

Boa Noite - (Good night) anytime after dark, so can mean good evening as well.

Both tarde (afternoon) and noite (night) are feminine so have the feminine form of the adjective good - Boa - in front of them.

Bom cão (Good dog) Boa cadela (good bitch)
Bom cavalo (good horse) boa egua (good mare)
Bons cavalos (good horses) boas eguas (good mares)
A final -m changes to -ns in the plural.

Faz favor (please)
Obrigado / obrigada (thank you - from a man / woman)

The way I first remembered 'thank you' is really you are saying 'I am obliged', which is why there are masculine and feminine forms depending on what gender is saying 'I'.

Re accents: at my (Brasilian) cousin's wedding the summer before last the rabbi was American, and his Portuguese sounded absolutely hilarious... my brother said it sounded like Latin, and accordingly refered to him as 'the priest'!
My mum is Paulista ('minha mai e Paulista', right? wrong?) - but like I've said before some of the stuff I know are from songs, so they're in a Carioca/Baiano accent (I absolutely love the Baiano accent, it's as soft and laid-back as the baianos are ).

Faz favor - you can say 'por favor' too, no?

'A minha mai é Paulista' Yes. Lit. The my mother is Paulista{from São Paulo}

e is 'and'. O Pedro e o Paulo - Peter and Paul. They like putting the 'the's in.

You can say 'por favor', but it is considered a formal form, amd usually used in correspondence. (I have heard it said that it is not used in more general conversation, as it sounds like Spanish)
Literally - Faz favor 'make a favour'. Por favor 'for a favor. So they are both correct.

I'll see if I can explain the verbs 'to be' tomorrow (this is when Latin would have come in handy again)

Até manha (Until the morning)

I know 'faz' from the 'não fazer nada' (doing nothing) bit of a saying I don't remember in full, which says 'how good it is to do nothing and then rest!'

Think I better go rest now... boa noite, e até a vista!

There are two verbs 'to be'
One is transitory - estar - as in 'I am in London' (at the moment)

Estou em Londres

Estou - I am
Estás - You are
Está - He is
Estamos - We are
Estais - You are
Estão - They are

The other is permanent - ser - as in 'I am Portuguese' (This is usually not likely to change)

Sou Portuguesa

Sou - I am
és - You are
é - He is
somos - We are
sois - You are
são - They are

Okay... *frown* but we've only been doing present simple so far. How do you do past, for example? 'I was'?