Today, we’re going to learn how to talk about cleaning in Portuguese.

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Vamos limpar o nosso apartamento.
Pode pegar a vassoura?
Irei buscar o aspirador.
Temos que esfregar o chão da cozinha.
Lave os vidros, por favor.
Vou lavar a louça.
Até que em fim, tudo está limpinho!

This means “Let’s clean our apartment.” When you want to indicate a demand without using the subjunctive, and when referring to yourself and others, you can simply use “vamos” plus the infinitive verb. Here, we say “vamos limpar” which means “let’s clean.” Note that the grammatically correct way to use the possessive is by putting “the” before “our” to become “o nosso.”

Next, the speaker says: “Can you grab the broom?” “Pegar” is a very useful verb that means to grab, get or take (as in to take the bus). Here, we use it to mean grab or go get. “Vassoura” is broom. Though it’s not grammatically 100% correct, you can also add a “para mim” at the end of this phrase to mean “Can you get the broom for me?” Keep in mind that spoken Portuguese doesn’t always match written Portuguese in terms of grammatical correctness.

This means “I’ll look for the vacuum cleaner.” Here, we use the future tense, by adding “ei” to “ir” (to go), which becomes “I will.” When used before the infinitive “buscar” (to look for), it becomes “I’ll look for.” Without an infinitive, it would simply be “I will go,” but the meaning changes with the addition of the second verb. Note that “aspirador” is vacuum.

Here, the speaker says: “We have to mop the kitchen floor.” “Ter” is “to have” so when we put “que” after the conjugation in the simple present tense, it becomes “We have to.” “Esfregar” means to mop, but can also mean to scrub. “Chão” is floor, or ground, and “cozinha” is kitchen.

This means “Please wash the windows.” Note that here, we use the subjunctive tense of “lavar” (to wash), by changing the “a” to an “e” from the simple present tense. “Vidros” in this context means windows, though it can also mean “glass.”

Here, the speaker says: “I’m going to wash the dishes.”  Though not as proper as “irei,” you can use the present tense of “ir” (to go) to describe the future, so “Vou lavar” means “I’m going to wash.” Note that “lavar a  louça” is the expression that means “wash the dishes,” though “louça” is the word for sink. Literally translated, this would mean “wash the sink.”

This means, “Finally, everything is nice and clean!” “Até que em fim” is a great expression that means “finally.” Literally, it could be translated as “Until at last!” “Tudo” is everything. “Limpo” is clean, but when you add the diminutive (inho), it adds a positive or endearing little twist to the adjective. In this case, the best way to translate it would be “nice and clean.”