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Part I: Transitioning from Spanish to Portuguese Posted by on Mar 6, 2008 in Uncategorized

Learning Portuguese is considerably easier if you have a background in Spanish, since much of the grammar and even the vocabulary is similar. However, here are some of the pitfalls of transitioning from Spanish to Portuguese.

SPANISH                   ENGLISH                PORTUGUESE

practicar                   practice                    treinar*

Example:

Tengo que practicar el inglés antes de que yo vaya para Inglaterra.
I have to practice English before I go to England.

Tenho que treinar o inglês antes de ir para Inglaterra.

*praticar does exist, but it means to do something over and over again. It’s better to use treinar.

cruzar*                      cross                       atrevessar

Example:
Vamos a cruzar la calle.
Let’s cross the street.
Vamos atrevessar a rua.

*cruzar, in some contexts in Portuguese, means streets or lines that cross; in others, it means “to have relations with”

acordarse               to remember               lembrar-se
despertarse             to wake up                 acordar

Example:

Me acuerdo bien de mi niñez.
I remember my childhood well.
Me lembro bem da minha infância.

Me despierto a las siete todos los dias.
I get up at 7 every day.
Acordo às sete todo dia.

apellido                       last name                sobrenome
apodo                          nickname                 apelido

Example:
Nuestro apellido es Sánchez.
Our last name is Sánchez.
Nosso sobrenome é

Sánchez.

No tengo apodo.
I don’t have a nickname.
Não tenho apelido.

exquisito                   delicious                delicioso
extra
ño                      weird                     esquisito

Example:
El pollo está

exquisito.
The chicken is delicious.
O frango é delicioso.

Ese muchacho es un poco extraño.
That boy is a little weird.
Esse garoto é

um pouco esquisito.

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Comments:

  1. Lucas:

    Hi! I´m writting just to make clear that ‘cruzar’ means “to have relations with” only for animals. Ex. “meu gato cruzou com a gata do vizinho.” That means, my cat had relations with the neighbor´s cat. You should never say that some person ‘cruzou’ with another one.
    And the verb ‘está’ in spanish should be translated to ‘está’ in portuguese too. It´s important to remember that, when the meaning is a state or mutable condition (like a illness for example), we use the verb ‘estar’, and, when the meaning is a constant condition, we use the ver ‘ser’. Example:

    “Eu estou em casa” -> “I´m at home”
    “Ele está doente” -> “He is sick”

    “Eu sou um arquiteto” -> “I´m an architect”
    “Ele é um engenheiro” -> “He is an engineering”

    Best regards!

  2. gika:

    Another thing to pay attention that I noticed in Lucas’ post:
    Example.
    “Minha gata cruzou com o gato do vizinho.”
    There are 2 interpretations:
    1- Our cats had sexual relations.
    2-My cat had sexual relations with my “beauty” neighbor.

    Of course, when you say that everybody knows that you are talking about the cats, but people sometimes do that kind of joke.
    “burro do meu tio”
    -uncle’s donkey or uncle IS a donkey.

  3. jorge amado:

    It seems atravessar is misspelled as atrevessar.

  4. Betsy:

    Another funny one that I was confused with in the beggining is brincar which means to jump in Spanish and to play in Portuguese 😛