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

Just to clarify: *frown* more as in than in .


Er, yeah. Sorry. I'm tired.

Let's stay with the present tense at the moment - as this can be used with phrases like yesterday or tomorrow or next week to imply the past or the future. Also some more useful verbs like to have (ter) and to go (ir).

Unless there is something particular you want to say?

Amanha vou ao supermercado. (Tomorrow I am going to the supermarket)

Semana passada vou ao exposição de pintura (Last week I went to the painting exhibition.)

Nothing particular, I was just curious.

So how would 'vou' (go) work?

Eu vou
Tu... vai? I seem to remember it's 'vai' (Vai, minha tristeza - 'go, my sadness')
Vôce/ele/ela... I don't know. Maybe I got it mixed with tu?
Nós vamos (I definitely know that one, we say that a lot: 'okay, vamos?')
Vôces... vais?
E eles... vam?

This is a bit confusing.

You nearly have it!

The verb 'ir' - to go

vou - I go, I am going
vais - you go, you are going
vai - you (formal), he, she, it goes, are going
vamos - we go, we are going
ides - you (friends) go, are going {It is an irregular verb)
vão - you (formal, plural) go, are going
vão - they go, they are going

Vão ao mercado hoje - They are going to the market today

Como vai? - How is it going? (How are you?)
Muito bem, Obrigada. - Very well, thank you.

The verb 'ter' - to have

tenho - I have
tens - you have
tem - you (formal), he, she, it has
temos - we have
tendes - you have
têm - you, they have

Tem-voçe uma fita vermelha? - Do you have a red ribbon?

But, there is also the word 'Há', which on a signboard means - The bar/café has ----, usually a speciality or seasonal fare, such as, in a snack bar....
Há caracois! (We have snails)
Há moraia! (We have moray eel)
Há percebes (We have goose barnacles)
Há leitão (We have suckling pig)

Any ideas for the next lesson. Numbers, dates etc., vocabulary?

Actually, since you brought up 'ter', could you explain the possesive bit? I know that it changes, but I don't know what goes where...

(song reference once again: cantando só teus olhos, teu riso, e tuas mãos... - 'it sings only of your eyes, your smile and your hands' - from one of the most beautiful songs I know, Manha de Carnaval)

???
Not sure what you mean! Could you give me some english examples and I could have a go - I'm not an expert, or have ever been a language teacher.

I know 'tomar' sometimes translates into - to have, in the sense to have a drink. Is this it?

Toma um café comigo? Have a coffee with me?
Tenho um problema. I have a problem.

Sorry, I am trying to get a newsletter up on the internet - it has taken all day and I have given up in the middle of typing up the Portuguese version (translated by professionals, I might add!), so I am feeling particularly dense at the moment.

That's alright - sorry if I've confused you. Might have made up a term since I didn't know the right one. What I meant is to ask about all the my/your/his/etc thing - I know that you say 'meu amigo' (my friend) but 'minha mai' (my mum), and like in the song bit I've brought 'your' can be 'teu' or 'tua' or a whole lot of other things... so what I was asking is what goes where.

Don't feel obliged to answer right away if you're busy - just take a break. This isn't a real class, we're under no schedule, we'll just continue when you can.

Ahha. That depends on the gender of the object.

O meu pai - my father
A minha mãe - my mother (note mãe, pronounced mai)

O teu irmão - your brother
A tinha irmã - your sister

O seu problema - his/her/its/your problem (note a problem is masculine - even though it ends in an a, which is more often the ending of a feminine word!)
A sua porta - his/her/its/your door

O nosso automovel - our car
A nossa casa - our house

O vosso vizinho - your neighbour
A vossa cadela - your female dog

Alright...

But then where do the teus/tua/tuas (as in the song) fit in?

I forgot the plurals -

Os meus pés - my feet

As tuas olhas - your eyes

Os seus livros - his/her books

So you have - meu, minha, meus, minhas for my
teu, tua, teus, tuas for your
seu, sua, sues, suas for his/her
nosso, nossa, nossos, nossas for our
vosso, vossa, vossos, vossas for your/their

all dependent on the object being singular masculine or feminine, or plural masculine or feminine.

O teu nariz - your nose (O nariz - the nose)
A tua mãe - your mother (A mãe - the mother)
Os teus livros - your books (O livro - the book)
As tuas olhas - your eyes (Uma olha - an eye)

Ah, I see!

And I get from your examples that 'the' also changes this way - m.s. = o, f.s. = a, m.p. = os, f.p. = as Do um/uma also have a plural form? ( wait, 'a' doesn't really have a plural, does it? so is that at all possible?)

You can have

some - algum, alguma, alguns - and also uns

many - muito, muita, muitas, muitos

Tem-voçe muitos amigos em Lisboa? Do you have many friends in Lisbon?

Os vossos amigos estão-eles em Lisboa? Are your friends in Lisbon?
(Lit. The your friends are-they in Lisbon?)

Tenho alguma coisa para voçe. I have something for you.

(Actualemente - não!) - (Actually I don't!)

Why do you add 'eles' to the 'estão'?

I mean, I know 'why is that so' questions are usually problematic when learning a language, and the answer is more often than not 'because'... but still.

It confirms the 'they' as in your friends. estão-eles - 'are-they' making it a question.

Bit like French?

Sente-se - Sit down (Lit, Sit-yourself)
Como chama-se? - What is your name? (Lit. What do you call-yourself?)
Chamo-me Maria - My name is Maria (Lit. I call-myself Maria.)

Os vossos amigos estão em Lisboa. Your friends are in Lisbon. - Unless said with a querying inflection - which with just plain text and no sound is difficult to do!!

Ah...

Oh, and another question about what you wrote before: you said 'alguma coisa' is 'something' - isn't it 'uma coisa'? I think I know it as 'uma coisa'.

Well, uma coisa - a thing, a coisa - the thing, alguma coisa - some thing. I think it is in the translation, as I can't think of a sentence with 'a thing' in it!

around the lines of 'a pretty thing' - 'uma coisa bonita' - maybe? Is that the kind of thing you meant?

Yes!

I just thought - it's a line in the panto!

I saw something - where they mean - I saw a thing.

So you could say
Vejo alguma coisa - or - Vejo uma coisa.

Which is the same thing! - Que está a mesma coisa!

Que coisa fina! (I think that translates as 'how lovely!', doesn't it?)

When you get the time, do you think you could maybe give some excersizes? Probably the first time ever that I'm actually asking for homework... but I want to make sure that I do understand all this.

Não tenho certeza como fazer isto. Not sure how to do this.

Preciso traduizir cada palavra para os 'mods'. I need to translate each word for the 'mods'.

I'll have to study the text book I have for ideas. Meanwhile we could always just try converation on the conversation thread?