That's because you have yet to learn the Sounds of Portuguese.
Grow your idiomatic feel for Portuguese
The shortest path to being able to interact in your target language is to focus on high-frequency words first – that is, to prioritize words that are commonly used in day-to-day life. Here’s a list of 50 commonly used Portuguese verbs…
In Portuguese, we use the conditional tense to express desire, talk about unreal scenarios, or convey good manners. As you’ll soon see, however, the imperfect tense serves the same purpose and is more common in spoken language. In the first…
In this article, we will take a look at the Portuguese equivalents to the English past simple, past continuous, and past perfect tenses. I will be using the verb dormir* (sleep) for all the examples below: Dormir | PreteritePretérito perfeito…
Getting acquainted with Portuguese idiomatic expressions is key to reaching language fluency and feeling at home with day-to-day lingo. Today, I am bringing you 13 frequently-used Portuguese idioms, all of which have this one thing in common: they all make…
In this article, I will walk you through the Portuguese equivalents to the English present simple, present continuous, and present perfect tenses. I will be using the regular* verb cantar (sing) for all the usage examples: Ensinar | Present simplePresente…
I’ve noticed that Portuguese language learners often use the verb andar when they actually want to say ir, and vice-versa. This happens almost without exception in a context where means of transport are mentioned. Here’s the difference. We use andar…
Portuguese idioms are at the heart of the colloquial register and everyday life language. What’s special with such idiomatic expressions is that they transcend the literal meanings of their word constituents. Unquestionably, becoming fluent in Portuguese entails acknowledging and learning…
In 1990, various Portuguese-speaking countries agreed on a spelling reform to create and maintain a cohesive, international standard across borders. In Portugal, in particular, the spelling reform came to effect in 2009 followed by a transitional 6-year period where the old…
Most languages do well without articles. In this sense, English and Romance languages like Portuguese belong to a minority. The Portuguese definite articles – o, a, os, as – are the equivalent of “the” in English and we use them…