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Online Intensive Courses Subs
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Intermediate B1

This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the B1 level. The language of instruction is Portuguese. I will speak in English only if needed.

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My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:

  • Perfeito vs. imperfeito / Subjunctive mood (intro)
  • Reading and listening comprehension
  • Conversation

*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:

After this course, you'll have come closer to the B1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.

Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?

Take this placement test

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Clean Slate A0

Geared toward Absolute Beginners, this course gives you a solid start and foundation to build upon. The language of instruction is almost entirely in English.

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This is an introductory course to the Portuguese language as spoken in Portugal. Throughout the course, we will focus on the Portuguese sound system and basic Portuguese grammar.

You will also learn how to introduce yourself and day-to-day, useful phrases. Finally, we will discuss learning resources and strategies to support your learning journey.

After the course, you will have a basic understanding of European Portuguese pronunciation and grammar. You will also be capable of engaging in simple, short oral interactions. Last but not least, you will be aware of a variety of learning resources and strategies to help you succeed at learning the language.

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Intensive Courses Upcoming
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Beginners A2

This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A2 level. The language of instruction is English/Portuguese, typically in a 35/65 ratio.

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My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:

  • Prepositions
  • Past tense: perfeito vs. imperfeito
  • Listening comprehension and conversation

*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:

After this course, you'll have come closer to the A2 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.

Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?

Take this placement test

Any questions?

Inquiry

Beginners A1

This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A1 level. The language of instruction is English/Portuguese, typically in a 70/30 ratio.

If you've just started your learning journey, it may be that you will find this course a bit challenging. Nothing wrong with that.

However, if you think you'd have trouble coping with a challenging learning environment, consider enrolling for the Clean Slate A0 instead (if available).

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This is an all-round course, meaning that we’ll work on all aspects of language learning (at the A1 level):

  • Pronunciation
  • Listening comprehension
  • Reading comprehension
  • Conversation
  • Grammar

After this course, you'll have come closer to the A1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.

Not sure if you should enroll in the A1 or A2 course?

Take this placement test

Any questions?

Inquiry

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Do you know what constipado means in Portuguese? Probably not what you are thinking...

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False Friends
3

Portuguese Preposition ‘De’

The Portuguese preposition de is a preposition of origin and the Portuguese equivalent of from in English. Additionally, we use de to indicate possession, modify a noun, and express time, among others.

Keep in mind that de will contract with articles (and other determiners such as demonstratives). Here are the contractions with definite and indefinite articles:

de + definite articlesdo 
(de + o)
da 
(de + a)
dos 
(de + os)
das 
(de + as)
de + indefinite articlesdum 
(de + um)
duma 
(de + uma)
duns 
(de + uns)
dumas 
(de + umas)

Here’s an example of de used as a preposition of origin:

De onde és?
Where do you come from?

Here’s an example where de indicates possession:

O carro da Anabela é vermelho.
Anabela’s car is red.

Here’s an example where de modifies a noun:

Vou comprar uma mesa de madeira.
I’ll buy a wooden table.

Finally, here’s an example of de being used as a preposition of time:

De manhã gosto de ficar em casa a ler.
In the morning, I enjoy staying home and reading.

There’s much more to it, of course. For instance, you can see that in the last example above, de appears twice – the latter case has to do with the verb Gostar which, like several other verbs, is usually followed by this preposition.

If you want to dive deeper into this and other prepositions, consider taking a look at my course called The Big 5. That’s all for now. Até já, p

Bread & Butter of Portuguese Prepositions
BIG 5

Reading tips! Dive into the prepositional bread & butter of Portuguese:  Basic Portuguese Prepositions and Contractions: An Inclusive Usage Rundown.

Contracted forms

The preposition de merges with determiners, mostly articles, and demonstratives. Let’s take a look at its contracted forms.  

de + articles

By default, de merges with any article following it:

definite articles oaosas
contracted forms do 
(de + o)
da 
(de + a)
dos 
(de + os)
das 
(de + as)
indefinite articlesumumaunsumas
contracted forms dum 
(de + um)
duma 
(de + uma)
duns 
(de + uns)
dumas 
(de + umas)

Note! Sometimes we won’t merge de with the indefinite articles. Thus, we often say and write de um instead of dum, or de uma instead of duma. Both are correct. 

de + demonstratives 

When preceding demonstrative determiners, de often melts with them in a contracted form:

thisistoeste/sesta/s
contracted forms disto
(de + isto)
deste/s
(de + este/s)
desta/s
(de + esta/s)
thatissoesse/sessa/s
contracted formsdisso
(de + isso)
desse/s
(de + esse/s)
dessa/s
(de + essa/s)
that over thereaquiloaquele/saquela/s
contracted formsdaquilo
(de + aquilo)
daquele/s
(de + aquele/s)
daquela/s
(de + aquela/s)

Other common contractions 

otheroutro/soutra/s
contracted forms doutro/s
(de + outro/s)
doutra/s
(de + outra/s)
somealgum/algunsalguma/s
contracted formsdalgum/dalguns
(de + algum)
dalguma/s
(de + alguma)
someonealguém
contracted formsdalguém
(em + alguém)
here/thereaqui
contracted formsdaqui
(em + aqui)
daí
(de + aí)
he/she/theyele/sela/s
contracted formsdele/s
(de + ele/s)
dela/s
(de + ela/s)
whereonde
contracted formsdonde
(de + onde)
beforeantes
contracted formsdantes
(de + antes)

Usage

Origin

As we said in the introduction, de is first and foremost a preposition of origin: 

Eu venho do Paquistão. 
I come from Pakistan.

Ela é do Minho. 
She’s from the Minho region.

Possession

We use de in genitive constructions to indicate possession, much as we use the suffix ’s in English:

Aquela é a casa da Isabel. 
That house over there is Isabel’s.

Esta é a quinta do Miguel. 
This is Miguel’s farm.

Modifier

We use de to articulate two nouns where the second modifies the first. In this context, de always shows in its non-contracted form. Here’re some examples: 

Copo de vinho
Wine glass

Máquina de café 
Coffee machine

Cadeira de plástico 
Plastic chair

Casa de madeira 
Wooden house

Time

We also use de to express time. Concerning the parts of the day, we use it to refer to the morning: 

Ela trabalha de manhã e está livre à tarde.
She works in the morning and she’s free in the afternoon.

! As you see above, we use the preposition a, not de, to refer to the afternoon. The same applies to evenings and nights.

We use de to contextualize time in relation to the part of the day:  

O curso começa às 8 da manhã e acaba às 4 da tarde.
The course starts at 8 in the morning and finishes at 4 in the afternoon.

Also, we use de to articulate days, months, years when we say the date:

Ontem foi 23 de fevereiro de 2021.
Yesterday was the 23rd of February, 2021.

Finally,  we use the preposition de to indicate the starting point of a time period (and the preposition a to indicate its end): 

Eu trabalho de segunda a sexta.
I work from Monday to Friday.

Means of transport

We use de (plain form) when referring to means of transport in general, much like we say by in English:

Vou para a escola de autocarro. 
I go to school by bus.

de comboio. 
by train.

de carro.
… by car.

But,

a cavalo. 
on horseback.

a pé. 
on foot.

Importantly, we say em, not de, when we indicate the specific train or bus:

Vou para Braga no comboio das 9h.
I’ll go to Braga on the 9 am train.

no autocarro 43. 
… on bus 43.

Verb + de

Several verbs, some of them rather frequent, are often followed by the preposition de:

Gostar

The verb gostar is always followed by de:

Gostas de pescar?
Do you enjoy fishing?

Gosto daquela* camisa ali.
I like that shirt over there.

* daquela = de+aquela

Ter

The verb ter  followed by de is the equivalent of the English modal verb* must

Tens de parar de fumar!
You must stop smoking.

* Learn more about Portuguese modal verbs: Portuguese Equivalents of English Modal Verbs.

Precisar

The verb precisar followed by de means need to:

Ele precisava de falar comigo.
He needed to talk with me.

Precisas de praticar mais o teu Russo.
You need to practice Russian more.

Acabar

Acabar de is a grammaticalized expression that means just

Acabei de fazer o jantar.
I just cooked dinner.

Ele acabou de sair.
He just left.

Other verbs

Falar
Talk

Estás a falar de quê?
What are you talking about?
Mudar
Change

Vou mudar de escola.
I will change schools.
Sair
Leave/go out

A que horas sais de casa?
What time do you leave home? 
Chegar
Arrive

Cheguei agora do trabalho.
I just came from work.
Lembrar-se
Remember

Lembras-te do Ricardo?
Do you remember Ricardo?

De + question word

The questions words onde, quem, que, and quando can be preceded by de

De onde
Where from

De onde vens?
Where do you come from?
De quem
Whom, who

De quem é este caderno?
Who does this notebook belong to?
De que
What

De que cor gostam mais?
What color do you like best?
De quando
How old, from which year/month

De quando é este carro?
How old is this car?

Reading tips! Learn more about Portuguese Question Words: Asking Questions in Portuguese: Question Words and Beyond.

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