{"id":3782,"date":"2012-07-09T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/?p=3782"},"modified":"2014-07-24T19:40:37","modified_gmt":"2014-07-24T19:40:37","slug":"how-to-use-mal-and-mau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/how-to-use-mal-and-mau\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use “mal” and “mau”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mau<\/em> and mal<\/em> sound the same in Portuguese and oftentimes even native speakers have difficulty using them correctly. So today let’s learn some basic rules.<\/p>\n

Mal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mal<\/em> can be an adverb, noun or conjunction. As an adverb it means “badly”, “incorrectly”. It is the opposite of bem<\/em> (well).<\/p>\n

Ele fala ingl\u00eas muito mal<\/strong>. [He speaks English very badly.]<\/em>
\nOs alunos se comportaram muito mal<\/strong> quando a professora saiu da classe. [The students behaved very badly when the teacher had to leave the classroom.]<\/em>
\nSuas opini\u00f5es repercutiram muito mal<\/strong> na reuni\u00e3o. [His opinions sounded badly at the meeting.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Mal<\/em> can also be used as a noun, meaning “disease”, “illness”, “sickness”.<\/p>\n

A gripe su\u00edna \u00e9 um mal<\/strong> de que ainda n\u00e3o nos livramos. [The swine flu is a disease we haven’t gotten rid of yet.]<\/em>
\nO mal<\/strong> \u00e9 que n\u00e3o se toma nenhuma atitude definitiva. [The bad thing is that no definite activity is carried out.]<\/em>
\n“O mal<\/strong> n\u00e3o compensa.” [Evil doesn’t pay.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Mal<\/em> is also used to say “no sooner than”:<\/p>\n

Mal<\/strong> voc\u00ea chegou, ele saiu. [No soon did you arrive, he left.]<\/em>
\nMal<\/strong> deu tempo de falar com voc\u00ea na festa. [I had very little time to speak with you at the party.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Mau<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mau<\/em> is an adjective, it means “bad” and is the opposite of bom\/boa<\/em> (good).<\/p>\n

Ele \u00e9 um mau<\/strong> gerente. Suas atitudes n\u00e3o s\u00e3o muito planejadas. [He’s a bad manager. His attitudes are not very well planned.]<\/em>
\nVoc\u00ea conhece a hist\u00f3ria do Chapeuzinho Vermelho e o Lobo Mau<\/strong>? [Do you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf?]<\/em><\/p>\n

Want to practice some more with these exercises by G1 website? The answers will come in a couple of days.<\/p>\n

1. Ele \u00e9 um ______ profissional.
\n2. Ele est\u00e1 trabalhando ______.
\n3. O chefe est\u00e1 de ______ humor.
\n4. O chefe est\u00e1 sempre ______ -humorado.
\n5. O empregado foi ______ treinado.
\n6. ______ chegou ao escrit\u00f3rio, teve o desprazer de encontrar a ex-esposa.
\n7. ______ saiu de casa, foi assaltado.
\n8. ______ foi contratado, j\u00e1 demonstrou suas qualidades.
\n9. Houve um terr\u00edvel ______-estar.
\n10. Ele \u00e9 um grande ______-car\u00e1ter.
\n11. Comportou-se muito ______ durante a reuni\u00e3o.
\n12. Sempre foi um ______ aluno.
\n13. O seu ______ \u00e9 n\u00e3o ouvir os mais velhos.
\n14. Voc\u00ea n\u00e3o sabe o ______ que ela me faz.
\n15. Ela est\u00e1 com um ______ incur\u00e1vel.
\n16. Sofreu um ______ s\u00fabito.
\n17. Ele ______ adivinha o que pode lhe acontecer.
\n18. A velhinha ______ sa\u00eda de casa.
\n19. Um falava bem; o outro, muito ______.
\n20. Um era bom; o outro, muito ______.<\/p>\n

Want more free resources to\u00a0learn Portuguese<\/a>? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Mau and mal sound the same in Portuguese and oftentimes even native speakers have difficulty using them correctly. So today let’s learn some basic rules. Mal Mal can be an adverb, noun or conjunction. As an adverb it means “badly”, “incorrectly”. It is the opposite of bem (well). Ele fala ingl\u00eas muito mal. [He speaks…<\/p>\n

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