Portuguese Language Blog

Amanhã means tomorrow, while a manhã means the morning.

Frequently confused by Portuguese learners, these two words are separate and non-interchangeable. Some related common phrases are café da manhã (breakfast), amanhã de manhã (tomorrow morning), and Manhã de Carnaval, or Carnival Morning, the famous theme to the movie Black Orpheus written by Luis Bonfá and Antonio Maria.

Many Spanish speakers learning Portuguese can trip up on the distinction between these two words, as Spanish uses the same, closely related, word mañana for both meanings.

My absolute favorite Brazilian performer is Maria Rita.

Maria Rita (full name: Maria Rita Mariano) is a Brazilian singer who comes by her deep musicality and immense talent honestly; she is the daughter of the late Elis Regina perhaps the most internationally famous Brazilian singer ever, and César Camargo Mariano a famous Brazilian composer.

I first saw Maria Rita perform at Canecão, the very temple of MPB, or Música Popular Brasileira, in Rio de Janeiro. That was 2003, and was her first show in Rio. It sold out and had the audience in tears. By New Year’s Day (Reveillon) some four months later when she played to a crowd of hundreds of thousands on Copacabana beach, the entire crowd knew every word of every song. This image has stuck with me, and is indeed a strong testament to the national passion for music as well as to the power of her performance and songs.

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A fantastic colloquialism, queimar o filme means to do something to hurt your reputation.

Here are some examples:

Meu amigo chamou a namorada dele pelo nome incorreto. Queimou o filme! My friend called his girlfriend by the wrong name. Queimou o filme!

Usei uma palavrão na minha redação, e meu professor notou. Pode crer? Queimei o filme! I used a swear word in my essay, and my professor noticed. Can you believe it? Queimei o filme!

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