Archive by Author
Brazilian Carnaval costumes Posted by carol on Mar 4, 2017
Fantasias do carnaval brasileiro Carnaval is unfortunately over! But the boas notícias (good news) is there’s still plenty to talk about the most popular party in the country. Brazilian people are known for their alegria (joy) and bom humor (sense of humor). During carnaval, people take the opportunity to wear fantasias (costumes), put on glitter…
Axé and Carnaval Posted by carol on Feb 24, 2017
Oi, pessoal! Hey, guys! Are you ready for Carnaval? Brazil’s longest-awaited party is only on February 28th, but the celebrations aqui (here) are already at full steam. The marchinhas (typical carnaval music that satirizes military marches), samba and frevo are some of the rhythms that get the party going, showing the diversity of the country and the…
Examples with the verb “to be” in Portuguese Posted by carol on Feb 18, 2017
Exemplos de situações de uso do verbo “ser” em português Olá, gente. Hey, everyone. “Ser” is one of the main Portuguese verbs, used in many contexts due to its versatility. Its meaning is similar to the verb “to be,” but in general it is used only for permanent conditions and characteristics of people or things…
How similar are Portuguese and Spanish? Posted by carol on Feb 15, 2017
Português e Espanhol são idiomas muito parecidos? Olá! ¡Hola! Hello! If you already speak or study Spanish, you have probably noticed by now that it can sometimes be very similar to Portuguese (and vice versa!). People like to joke that Portuguese kind of sounds like drunken Spanish or the other way around (although there is…
‘Yemanjá’ day in Brazil Posted by carol on Feb 5, 2017
Dia da Iemanjá no Brasil E aí, gente? What’s up, guys? On February 2nd we celebrate the dia (day) of Iemanjá, an African orixá – African divinized ancestors that correspond to manifestations of the forces of the natureza (nature) – associated with the rios (rivers) and mares (seas). Iemanjá is known to be the mãe…
The “né” and “tá” in Portuguese Posted by carol on Jan 31, 2017
Olá, pessoal! Hi, people! Last week we learned about the idiom pois é in Portuguese. (Here is the link, in case you missed it: https://blogs.transparent.com/portuguese/the-pois-e-in-portuguese/ ). Now we are going to see other colloquial expressions that we Brazilians use all the time, mostly in spoken language or online. I’m talking about né and tá. NÉ…
The “pois é” in Portuguese Posted by carol on Jan 28, 2017
Olá a todos! Hey, all! When you come into contact with Portuguese, you will definitely come across the interjection pois é. The pois é is a very common term in Portuguese to convey confirmation and resignation. It is normally used in informal conversations, small talk, etc as a way to give a positive reinforcement in…