In spoken Portuguese, there are certain words that you will often hear cut off. While it’s important to learn and understand how words are spelled, it’s also good to know how words are treated in spoken form. Let’s take a look at some of these instances.<\/p>\n
estar<\/strong> (to be) – Conjugations of estar<\/em> are frequently cut off in spoken Portuguese. The eu<\/em>, voc\u00ea\/ele<\/em>, and sometimes n\u00f3s<\/em> and voc\u00eas<\/em>\/eles<\/em> conjugations are more often than not cut off in the present tense. The first and second person present tense conjugations are the most commonly cut off.<\/p>\n Spoken: T\u00f4 cansada<\/em>. [Eu estou cansada] I’m tired.<\/p>\n Spoken: Voc\u00ea t\u00e1 com frio?<\/em> [Voc\u00ea est\u00e1 com frio?] Are you cold?<\/p>\n Spoken: Tamos juntos!<\/em> [Estamos juntos!] We’re in it together!<\/p>\n Spoken: T\u00e3o querendo ir embora<\/em>. [Est\u00e3o querendo ir embora] They want to leave.<\/p>\n ent\u00e3o<\/strong> (so, then) – The phrase “t\u00e3o t\u00e1<\/em>” (Ok then) cuts off both ent\u00e3o<\/em> and est\u00e1<\/em>.<\/p>\n –Temos que come\u00e7ar agora<\/em>. We have to start now.<\/p>\n –T\u00e3o t\u00e1<\/em>. Ok then.<\/p>\n obrigado<\/strong> – You’ll sometimes hear people cut off the first ‘o’ in obrigado<\/em> or obrigada<\/em>, so that it sounds like ‘brigado or ‘brigada.<\/p>\n para<\/strong> – You’ll often hear people cut off the first ‘a’ in para (for). It sometimes gets reduced to pr\u00e1<\/em>, and other times gets combined with the next article.<\/p>\n Pr\u00e1 que<\/em>? [Para que] What for?<\/p>\n Vou pro bar.<\/em> [Vou para o bar.] I’m going to the bar.<\/p>\n voc\u00ea<\/strong> – Occasionally, you’ll hear people cut off the “vo” in voc\u00ea<\/em>, which is especially common in Minas Gerais<\/a>.<\/p>\n C\u00ea vai hoje \u00e0 noite<\/em>? [Voc\u00ea vai hoje \u00e0 noite?] Are you going tonight?<\/p>\n Can you think of any other examples?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In spoken Portuguese, there are certain words that you will often hear cut off. While it’s important to learn and understand how words are spelled, it’s also good to know how words are treated in spoken form. Let’s take a look at some of these instances. estar (to be) – Conjugations of estar are frequently…<\/p>\n