One of the most important things to bear in mind when learning Portuguese is that there is a big difference between written Portguese, which is more formal and sticks to the grammar books, and oral Portuguese, which is a whole different story.<\/p>\n
One place where this becomes apparent is the use of the word “n\u00e3o” in creating a negative sentence. Gramatically speaking, it is incorrect to place “n\u00e3o” at the end of the sentence; logistically, it is constantly placed at the end of the sentence in spoken Portuguese. Though technically, this structure is grammatically incorrect, it is frequently used this way in the oral form, usually in a response to a question.<\/p>\n
Let’s take a look.<\/p>\n
How it’s written<\/em>: N\u00e3o quero ir na festa.<\/strong> I don’t want to go to the party.<\/p>\n How it’s spoken<\/em>: Quero ir na festa n\u00e3o.<\/strong> I don’t want to go to the party.<\/p>\n To be safe, stick to the grammar rules when writing, be it a term paper or a business email, but when spoken, it’s ok to speak like the Brazilians do.<\/p>\n Let’s look at a few more examples we’re likely to hear in spoken Portuguese.<\/p>\n Sei n\u00e3o, cara.<\/strong> I don’t know, man.<\/p>\n Podemos ir n\u00e3o.<\/strong> We can’t go.<\/p>\n Gosta n\u00e3o. <\/strong>She doesn’t like it.<\/p>\n Est\u00e1<\/strong> triste n\u00e3o.<\/strong> He’s not sad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the most important things to bear in mind when learning Portuguese is that there is a big difference between written Portguese, which is more formal and sticks to the grammar books, and oral Portuguese, which is a whole different story. One place where this becomes apparent is the use of the word “n\u00e3o”…<\/p>\n