This song is actually by Maximiano de Sousa (aka “Max”) but I don’t think there’s a video of him performing it so I went with this cover by Raul Solnado instead. Max is from Funchal, and he says his wife is from Ponta do Sol, a few miles up the south coast. Another nearby town – Camacha – is mentioned too.
As you can see – or maybe you can’t – Solnado is wearing a hat that I recognise as a Maderian style, and I think the clothes are specific to the island too. The set shows a traditional house and I’m pretty sure the musical instruments the guys at the back are using are Brinquinhos*. Solnado is a mainlander from Lisbon so this is definitely cultural appropriation and he would be cancelled if he did this today. Quite right too. Throw him in jail!
I am publishing this on the 3rd of February to commemorate the birthday of another island girl – my wife. Since my birthday is on the 6th of May, she is numerically an older woman for the next 3 months. Feliz Aniversário, velha linda!
Portuguese
English
Casei c’uma velha Da ponta do sol Deitei-a na cama e o raio da velha rasgou-me o lençol Tornei-a a deitar Tornou a rasgar Perdi a cabeça e atirei co’a velha de perna p’ró ar
I married an old lady From Ponta do Sol I laid her in bed but that blasted old lady Tore my sheet** I laid her down again She ripped the sheets again I lost my head and threw the old lady and she landed upside down
A tua mãe foi às lapas O teu pai aos caranguejos Ficaste sozinha em casa, fui*** dar-te abraços e beijos Ó menina da Camacha Diz de mim o que quiseres Menos que não tenho jeito p’ra agasalhar as mulheres
Your mother went to the limpets Your dad to the crabs You stayed at home alone, I went to give you hugs and kisses Oh girl of Camacha Tell me what you want from me Unless I’m just don’t have the knack of taking care of women
*More about traditional Madeiran instruments here if you’re interested.
**I had a little trouble following the action here: When he says “rasgou-me o lençol” did she actually make a hole in the sheets or just tear them away from him? I checked on r/portuguese just to be sure and it’s the former. And then how am I supposed to understand “atirei (com a) velha“? Is he throwing himself on her? No, apparently not. “Atirar com” isn’t in my handy guide to verbs with prepositions, but “atirar-se a” is, and that means to throw yourself at someone in an attack. No, my informant told me atirei com means that he just threw, shoved or otherwise propelled the old lady away. The “com” emphasises the force and “brusquidão” of the “sova” or “arremesso” he gave her (3 new items in the word hoard!), so she ended up “de pernas para o ar” – upside down. Probably not literally, but it wasn’t a graceful landing. Hmm… I think it’s one of those songs that’s really fun to listen to but just try not too hard to think about what it is he’s actually describing.
UPDATE – Well, i was joking about the violence and really imagining it as a kind of slapstick scene, but I am told I should consider it might be much more suggestive. That the legs in the air and the ripping of sheets and the warming up of the women could all be interpreted as taking about his sexual prowess, broadcast in an age when you couldn’t really say this sort of things directly. OK, well, that gives a whole new spin on things!
***Online lyrics say “foi” but I think that’s a typo because it doesn’t make any sense. Oh wait, it says fui in the subtitles doesn’t it! Oh well, glad to know I was right about that!
Everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame and I’ve just had three and a half of my minutes handed to me, courtesy of the “Say It In Portuguese” podcast, where I am the interlocutor in Episódio 147: Voltar à Carga. You can find it on the website or just search it on most podcast platforms. It’s definitely worth the subscription if you’re intermediate level or above because it explains a lot of useful portuguese expressions.
Remember you don’t need a horse to get back in the saddle.
Voltar à carga is similar to an expression I tried to use about 3 weeks ago, “Get back on the horse”, except that where getting back on the horse usually has a sense of confronting something that you’ve failed at and not letting yourself be put off by a setback, voltar à carga is more like returning to action after a pause. So it’s more like “get back in the saddle“.
When I first started listening to the podcast I could barely understand half of it, but now I’ve actually been able to take part in a recording so it feels a bit like I’ve won a chance to be an extra in the new Star Wars film or something. My acting probably isn’t going to win me a starring role in an RTP radio drama, but that’s OK. My biggest stumbling block was the phrase “carga de trabalhos”. I struggle with the lh sound at the best of times, but coming straight after a string of crunchy consonants – rg-d-tr-b – it felt like a real tongue twister and I had to have a few goes before I got it right.
Porquinho Mealheiro – a money box in the shape of a piglet. A piggy bank in other words. In fact, mealheiro on its own seems to show piggy banks if you google it, but there are definitely some other shapes there. Here’s Fátima Lopes talking about Moneyboxes in her lifestyle website a couple of years ago and as you can see she’s gone with a porquinho motif even though she doesn’t mention the word.
I was mercilessly teased yesterday for using the character map instead of setting my computer up properly. Mutter mutter… this constant drive for self-improvement is exhausting. I already have portuguese language input but when I had a closer look, d’oh! It still had a UK Qwerty keyboard linked to it.
I have a mousemat that tells me how to use the number pad and the alt key (basically, what Rafa is talking about here) but it’s a faff, so I have been using character map instead, plus a lot of autocorrect.
Practice Portuguese and Liz Sharma – two formidable knowers of things… Hm, did I just treat Rui and Joel as one person? Three. Three knowers of things – recommend using a US International keyboard. I found my keyboard didn’t work quite the same way as described though, so just for an experiment, I decided to follow their instructions but install a portuguese keyboard. Here’s how you make accents using that:
What is it?
How do you get it?
ãõ
~ followed by a or o
ÃÕ
(caps lock) ~ followed by a or o
ÂÊÎÔÛ
(SHIFT)~ followed by A,E,I,O,U
âêîôû
(caps lock)(SHIFT)~ followed by A,E,I,O,U
áéíóé
] followed by A,E,I,O,U
ÁÉÍÓÚ
(caps lock) ] followed by A,E,I,O,U
àèìòù
(SHIFT) ] followed by A,E,I,O,U
ÀÈÌÒÙ
(caps lock)(SHIFT) ] followed by A,E,I,O,U
ç
Just the ; key – easy!
1º, 2ª
Just the ‘ key ((SHIFT) for feminine)
The trouble with this is that it boogyrs up all the punctuation keys tooç see what I mean_ )that was supposed to be a question mark!= And those were supposed to be brackets! Hm, maybe that US International keyboard isnºt such a bad idea… To get question marks and the other things you might want, you need to follow this map. I’m going to try it for a few days and see how I get on.
Translation time! This one of from Cara de Espelho, the new band I mentioned in yesterday’s post about Perdo da Silva Martins. This is one of the singles from the album, or would be if singles were still a thing. It’s a track that got released early. I have to hold my hands up, I totally misunderstood the title, but if you follow the footnotes you’ll see how I gradually came to understand what they meant by Corridinho.
I also wasn’t sure at first what they were saying about “separating” all these different types of people. If you just read the first verse it sounds like he’s complaining about there being too many immigrants or tourists in the country. Of course, that doesn’t tend to be the way Pedro de Silva Martins thinks: his work with Deolinda gave the impression that he was fairly left wing and had quite an open attitude to other people, so it would be surprising if he was now backing CHEGA, but who knows, we all get more right wing as we get older. And of course he’s entitled to his point of view. By the end though, it seems pretty clear that he’s saying “there’s more that unites us than divides us”, which I think is probably a healthier way to look at life, and certainly more fun.
Português
Inglês
Separando o africano do cigano Do chinês, do indiano, ucraniano, muçulmano, do romeno ou tirolês Como vês Sobra muito, muito pouco português, ó pá
Separating the african from the gypsy From the chinese, the indian, ucranian, muslim, from the romanian or tirolean As you see There’s very, very little portuguese left, oh man!
Separando o cristão do taoista, do judeu do islamita, do ateu ou do budista, do baptista mirandês Como vês Sobra muito, muito pouco português, ó pá
Separating the christian from the taoist, from the jew, from the islamist, from the atheist or from the buddhist, from the mirandese baptist As you see There’s very, very little portuguese left, oh man!
E que tal juntar a malta numa boa* A um corridinho** de Lisboa Volta e meia*** e roda o par**** Triste é quem fica a ver dançar
And how about we get all the cool people together For a Lisbon corridinho From time to time and spin the pair Anyone who just watches the dance is sad
Separando o celta do visigodo, O huno do ostrogodo, o romano do suevo, ou o mouro do gaulês Como vês Sobra muito, muito pouco português, ó pá
Separating the celt from the visigoth, The hun from the ostrogoth, the roman from the suebian, or the moor from the gaul As you see There’s very, very little portuguese left, oh man!
Se tu queres ainda separar o gay, Da lésbica, do straight, da mulher, gente de bem, Ou de quem sofre de gaguez Como vês Sobra muito, muito pouco português, ó pá
If you stull want to separate the gay, From the lesbian, from the straight, from the woman, good people, Or from people who stutter As you see There’s very, very little portuguese left, oh man!
E que tal juntar a malta numa boa A um corridinho***** de Lisboa Volta e meia e roda o par Triste é quem fica a ver dançar
And how about we get all the cool people together For a Lisbon corridinho From time to time and spin the pair Anyone who just watches the dance is sad
Ora tenta separar o teu genoma, tu tens tanto de Lisboa como de Rabat ou Doha, tudo soma no que és Como vês Sobra muito, muito pouco português, ó pá Se ainda te faz muita confusão
Well try and separate your genome, You have as much of Lisbon as of Rabat or Doha, It all adds up to who you are As you see, There’s very, very little portuguese left, oh man!
Vai, separa o fótão do protão, do electrão Até desvaneceres de vez Como vês Sobra muito, muito pouco português, ó pá
If it still really confuses you Go, separate the photon from the proton, from the electron Until you disappear for good As you see There’s very, very little portuguese left, oh man!
E que tal juntar a malta numa boa A um corridinho de Lisboa volta e meia e roda o par
Pois…
And how about we get all the cool people together For a Lisbon corridinho From time to time and spin the pair
Sure…
* Numa boa seems to be an expression like “na boa” and “de boa” – basically, cool. OK, I hadn’t heard of that
**OK, I’ll put my hand up, I thought corridinho was related to corrida and that they were talking about some sort of group run. LOL. No, running is quite popular in portugal but in a song about bringing everyone together, a group run would be a bit of a weird way to do it.
***Volta e meia is another expression, meaning once in a while
****It took me a while to work this one out. Roda o par….? Wheel the pair? A pair of wheels? Are they going on a bike ride? What? It doesn’t even flow into the next line. Then I realised, obviously, roda is a verb, so it means “spin” or “rotate”. Rotating the pair: it’s a dance move, I think. I can only really find it in descriptions of brazilian dances like the chupim (part way down this page for example), but there aren’t that many written descriptions of dances so the fact that I couldn’t find an example from portugal doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
*****And so we come full circle: Corridinho is a kind of dance popular in the Algarve. The Wikipedia entry for it doesn’t include the phrase “roda(r) a par”, but both words appear individually multiple times. You can see examples on youtube like this one – which has some excellent saia rodada action.
I had a brief text exchange with a former teacher of mine who pings me occasionally on Skype when she’s at a loose end. She was always sending me very basic vocabulary lists – “Learn the name of portuguese animals: Pássaro, Cavalo, Gato, Peixe… etc” – even when I was working toward B2, so I don’t think she had a high opinion of my language acquisition skills. I mentioned I’d passed the DAPLE and she replied “O C1? Tu passaste o C1?” and then in the next text “Incrível” and I was wondering does she mean incrível as in “wow, that’s amazing” or incrível as in “I find that hard to believe”?
Well, hopefully the former, but I didn’t dare ask! Moved on too parabéns for her casamento instead. Safer ground.
incrível
(in·crí·vel)
adjectivo de dois géneros
1. Que não pode ser acreditado; em que não se pode acreditar.
You’d think I’d be used to it by now but I had a conversation about textbooks today and I kept having to remind myself that the books weren’t kept next to the baked beans.
Translation Time! I got interested in this song because of the audiobook I’m listening to. It’s a non-fiction book about a road-trip through Portugal. The writer pulls up in a town where there’s a big party in full swing and Tony Carreira is playing. He mentions this song being “The seventh encore” and says it is a huge favourite of emigrantes. OK, well, my curiosity is piqued.
(Edit) OK, I just finished the translation and I am sold. OK, I know it’s a bit sentimental, but I don’t care. It’s got heart, it’s got singalongability. What’s not to like?
Portuguese
English
Lembro-me de uma aldeia perdida na beira A terra que me viu nascer Lembro-me de um menino que andava sozinho Sonhava vir um dia a ser
I remember a lost village on the margin The land that saw my birth I remember a little boy who walked alone He dreamed one day he’d become
Sonhava ser cantor de cantigas de amor Com a força de Deus venceu Nessa pequena aldeia O menino era eu
He dreamed of being a singer of love songs With God’s strength, he won through In that little village I was that little boy
E hoje a cantar em cada canção Trago esse lugar no meu coração Criança que fui e homem que sou E nada mudou
And today singing each song I carry that place in my heart Child that I was, and man that I am And nothing has changed.
E hoje a cantar não posso esquecer Aquele lugar que me viu nascer Tão bom recordar aquele cantinho E os sonhos de menino
And today, singing, I can’t forget That place that saw my birth Its so good to remember that little place And the dreams of the little boy
Tenho a vida que eu quis Nem sempre feliz, mas é a vida que eu escolhi Infeliz no amor, mas, no fundo, cantor A vida deu-me o que eu pedi
I have the life that I wanted Not always happy but it’s the life I chose Unlucky in love but at heart a singer Life gave me what I asked for
Se eu pudesse voltar de novo a sonhar Faria o mesmo, podem crer E aquele menino Eu voltaria a ser
If I could go back to the dream again I’d do the same, believe me And that little boy I would be again
E hoje a cantar em cada canção Trago esse lugar no meu coração Criança que fui e homem que sou E nada mudou
And today singing each song I carry that place in my heart Child that I was, and man that I am And nothing has changed.
E hoje a cantar não posso esquecer Aquele lugar que me viu nascer Tão bom recordar aquele cantinho E os sonhos de menino
And today, singing, I can’t forget That place that saw my birth Its so good to remember that little place And the little boy dreams
E hoje a cantar em cada canção Trago esse lugar no meu coração Criança que fui e homem que sou E nada mudou
And today singing each song I carry that place in my heart Child that I was, and man that I am And nothing has changed.
E hoje a cantar não posso esquecer Aquele lugar que me viu nascer Tão bom recordar aquele cantinho E os sonhos de menino
And today, singing, I can’t forget That place that saw my birth Its so good to remember that little place And the little boy dreams
E hoje a cantar em cada canção Trago esse lugar no meu coração Criança que fui e homem que sou E nada mudou
And today singing each song I carry that place in my heart Child that I was, and man that I am And nothing has changed.
E hoje a cantar não posso esquecer Aquele lugar que me viu nascer Tão bom recordar aquele cantinho E os sonhos de menino
And today, singing, I can’t forget That place that saw my birth Its so good to remember that little place And the little boy dreams
E os sonhos de menino Meus sonhos de menino
And the little boy dreams My little boy dreams
In the first version of this I somehow confused my Carreiras and said David Carreira sang this. There is actually a singer with that name, but it’s a different guy!
What could be more basic than whether to say “The dog”, “A dog” or just “Dog”? It doesn’t get much simpler than that. The words “The” and “A” (or “An”) are called articles in grammar, and their portuguese equivalents are used in a roughly similar way, but there are a few areas where you can get tripped up if you’re not paying attention. So today’s blog post is one of those broccoli-and-good-intentions posts where I’m going to try and concentrate into one post everything I know (or think I know) about the use of articles.
OK, ground rules: I’ve copied the basic outline of this italki article to make sure I don’t miss anything. I’ve rewritten it though and given my own examples and ended up adding so many bits into it that even that outline is more-or-less unrecognisable. Point 6 was the hardest to rewrite because I think it’s a blind-spot for english speakers so I’ve gone off on a long digression, trying to tease it out and it’s been a very helpful exercise!
Introduction
First of all, what do we mean by definite and indefinite articles?
Definite
A definite article is used to signal that we are talking about a specific subject that is already known to the listener. If I say “the dog buried a bone”, it’s probably because you and I both know what dog we’re referring to. If not, you’d be thinking “ummm… what dog?”
Indefinite
An indefinite article is used when we’re discussing just some random thing – so in the example above, “the dog buried a bone“. So it’s just some random bone. If I’d already mentioned the bone but I referred to it as “a bone” again 10 seconds later, you’d be thinking “eh? What happened to the original bone?”
Neither
Words that don’t have an article at all are usually general ideas or generic categories of things like “love”, “humanity” or “animals”.
How is Portuguese Different from English?
The most obious way is that they are more variable because they tell you the gender and number of the noun:
Definite – Os homens, o homem, as mulheres, a mulher
Indefinite – Uns homens, um homem, Umas mulheres, uma mulher
Both types of article can be contracted with prepositions like de and em and por of course, and I’m not going to get into that but you can have a look at Mia Esmeriz’s video on the subject if that’s news to you.
When to Use Indefinite Articles in Portuguese
We use indefinite articles when:
1 Talking About Some Non-Specific Thing
Uma gaivota devorou as minhas batatas fritas
There are lots of seagulls. We’re not talking about specific one, or at least we couldn’t tell it apart from the others, it was just a casual acquaintance.
2 Mentioning The Thing For The First Time
Um homem caminhava ao longo da estrada.
The first time the man is introduced he’s just one of a mass of humans so he’s introduced as a man, “um homem”. Arguably, this isn’t really different from the first example, but in this case we’re singling out one example that will go on to be referred to using definite articles later on, whereas in the first example it’s just a passing event.
When to Use Definite Articles
3 Talking about specific things
I’m going to break this into three sections because I think there are different types here:
3a Where the Noun has Already Been Introduced or it’s Known Anyway
Um homem caminhava ao longo da estrada. O homem estava a ouvir um audiolivro
O Estado Novo foi uma ditadura
3b Possessives
This is the first difference between english and portuguese so far. Unlike in english you cant say “my dog” you have to say “the my dog”
O meu cão fala latim
Tenho de pagar uma multa à minha professora por causa das minhas erros de concordância*.
This ciberdúvidas article gives some exceptions, but these are all super-fancy and not the sort of thing that will come up every day.
Where the possessive goes after the noun, behaving like an adjective – ‘Aguardo notícias tuas‘
Where it forms part of a “forma de tratamento – ‘Sua Excelência’
When it’s part of a vocative (in other words, someone is calling to someone or trying to get their attention) – ‘meu amo’
When it’s part of a fixed expression – ‘por minha vontade’
When it follows a demonstrative pronoun – ‘Mostra-me esse teu sorrisotransparente.’
3c In Front of Ordinary Names (First) Names
O João é um humorista
There are lots of Joãos, but we’re talking about a specific one. And for the sake of completeness:
O João é um humorista?
This time I’m talking to João and asking if he’s a comedian.
Very famous people like Colombo (the sailor, not the detective), Jesus and Maria don’t need the article because they’re above all that.
Jesus é o meu co-piloto
You’ll also use them in front of certain forms of address
O senhor
A Sra Dona Amália Costa
4 Ahead of Continents, Rivers, Islands, Most Countries
A Madeira
O Tamisa
A Europa
5 In Front of Days of the Week
Odeio As Segundas-Feiras
6 When Talking About Generic Nouns
According to the article I started with, this is a straightforward case – where you’re talking about a generic class of something, you use a definite article. He gives the following examples
Os leões vivem em África.
O álcool é mau para a saúde
Note that we are not referring to specific lions here – this isn’t a discussion about Geoff the Lion and Timmy the Lion, and nor is he saying that the alcohol in the bottle in front of him is the only alcohol that’s bad for him. He’s talking about lions in general and alcohol in all its delicious but naughty forms.
It’s sheer hubris for me to disgree with a native speaker, but I am going to do it anyway: I don’t think it’s as simple as this. I’m sure the two examples are correct, but I don’t think he’s thought through every situation where these kinds of words arise. “Os leões vivem em África” is correct, but the Wikipedia page for “Leão” includes the sentence “Leões vivem por volta de 10-14 anos na natureza, enquanto em cativeiro eles podem viver por até 30 anos.” Why no definite article there? It seems like the exact same kind of sentence. And there are dozens of examples of the word appearing without a preposition to chaperone it, so what’s going on?
Checking my favourite grammar book, I find it says to drop the article “when you’re generalising” and gives two contrasting examples
“Eu adoro flores” and “au adoro as flores perfumadas”.
That’s more like what I was expecting, but it’s a textbook and it’s not very clear on what constitutes generalising. How can we differentiate these two things
This Ciberdúvidas article tries to explain using the examples of “Ricardim gosta de música popular” and “Ricardim gosta da música popular“. Using “de” makes it a generalisation; you’re just saying what he thinks of pop music. The second one is more focused though, and it might be the answer to a question like “what’s his favourite kind of music?” You need to pick out a genre from among many, and that makes it concrete enough that it needs an article. Whew! That’s not really a distinction that exists AT ALL in english grammar.
There’s a very similar example about horror films in this Ciberdúvidas article and a couple of slightly different ones that might help illustrate the difference further:
‘Adoro desportos.’ is a generic statement about my opinion of sports that can be used in any situation, but ‘Adoro os desportos e as atividades intelectuais.’ is a more concrete statement, maybe implying that of all the possible activities, those two are being singled out.
‘Odeio pessoas arrogantes.’ is just an opinion about arrogant people in general, but ‘Odeio as pessoas arrogantes como a Rita.’ sounds more like a judgement of some annoying people among a group.someone being catty about someone in their social circle.
In found a home-grown example in this post. The title is “Ansiedade de fimde ano” (End of year anxiety). That’s a mood that can arise at any end of any year. But in the first line I talk about being “perto do final do ano” – Close to THE end of THE year, ie, the current one.
So, returning to our lions, I think “Os leões vivem na África” would work in some situations, but “Leões vivem na África e comem turistas” seems like an acceptable sentence too.
If this all feels very unfamiliar, the last two paragraphs of the second Ciberdúvidas article offer some comfort:
Hoewever it’s said that, in everyday conversation, the speakers don’t usually associate the specific or general forms with the use or absence of an article. And besides, often a sequence of words with a definite article is interpreted as generic.
So we can conclude that this difference often depends on the preference of the speaker and with other variables that don’t always have anything to do with grammatical reasons.
We’ve already seen how some generic nouns sometimes go commando without a pronoun, but there are a few other cases to watch out for too:
7 Some Places On the Planet (Or Off It)
7a Most planets – but not the earth or the moon
Elon Musk quer viver em Marte
Infelizmente Elon Musk vive na Terra
7b A Few Countries
As it says in point 4, most countries DO need an article but there are some that don’t. Opinion seems divided on this one, but as far as I know the correct list is Portugal, Marrocos, Angola, Moçambique, Cuba, Israel. There are also a few where it’s optional: Espanha, Itália, França, Inglaterra
Lisboa é a capital de Portugal
Elas vivem na/em França
7c Most Towns
Most towns, on the other hand, DON’T need an article, unless they are names after some actual identifiable thing like O Porto (the Port) O Rio de Janeiro (The January River) O Funchal (the fennel patch)
Lisboa é a capital de Portugal
When is a town not a town? Well, sometimes it might be a football team. “Centenas de Adeptos Cantam Pelo Braga“. Why “Pelo” and not “Por”? Because Braga is a Clube as well as being a city, and Clube is masculine, so “o Braga” means The Football Club of Braga and that’s why it has the article.
And there’s another odd exception, given by Marco Neves in the course I took a few years ago: you can talk about “O Preston da minha adolescência” (The Preston of my youth), if you’re discussing a specific instance of the town at a point in time, for example. That’s a really niche use though and it won’t come up often.
7d Streets
Ainda há uma ciclovia na Avenida Almirante Reis?
8 When Talking About Academic Disciplines, Languages or an Instrument You Play
Falo português
O meu pai toca gaite de fole
A minha filha está a estudar informática
But if you’re talking about a specific object instead of a skill, it’s just like any other noun:
“Comprei uma gaita de fole.”
9 Means of Transport
Adoro andar de bicicleta
But of course if you’re talking about a specific vehicle, it’s just like any other noun:
Comprei uma bicicleta
10 Full Names
Since full names are more specific than first names, you don’t really need the article
Nuno Markl é o meu tio.
The grammar book says you can use an article if you want to be slightly disdainful and gives the example
O Gulbenkian tinha rios de dinheiro
11 After Other Words That Indicate Number
Words like “Qualquer” or “Vários” or just a number like “duas” usually (but not always) render the article unnecessary, just as they would in english. You don’t need to say “I’d like two the beers please” or “I drank some a beer earlier”
É provável que tenha feito vários erros neste post.
Oof, Well What a Palaver That Was!
Luckily, most of the weird stuff comes up very rarely, so don’t be put off by all the exeptions, but I am definitely going to look out for examples of abstract and generic nouns with or without articles.
Finally, I’d love to tell you that all the errors I have made have been the result of subtle linguistic distinctions like this, relating to abstract nouns, but I did an analysis and these are the facts:
* I think this is what’s called a self-fulfilling prophecy
Obrigada Cristina pelos correções, mas não corrigi o erro deliberada. 😉
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this app before but I’ve been using it much more consistently this year. I added it to my daily to do list and I’ve stuck to that as a habit along with my other wake up games, Termo and Quina. 20 questions per day until I have it down cold. I am trying to boost my knowledge of flags, boost my geography and of course learn the portuguese spellings of these places. Of course you’ll only get the portuguese lesson if you go into the settings and set the game language to portuguese. Impressively, you can choose between Portuguese Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.
My flag knowledge is pretty terrible, but iI think I’m a lot better at geography. I have my weak points though. There are lots of little republics in Europe that I know exist but don’t know how they fit together. I learned the map of Europe by doing a Jigsaw of European countries at primary school but… Well, a lot of those wooden shapes have been cut up into mush smaller pieces now! Central Asia is a bit of a blur, and most of the western part of Africa is a mystery too. I’m OK on the rest of Africa, or at least I thought I was, but I was a bit embarrassed to realise Swaziland had changed its name to Eswatini. I know Rwanda is a country and Kigali isn’t. Therese Coffey, take note!
Most of the spellings are pretty similar in portuguese, or they change in fairly predicatable ways. So for example, if you knew you wanted “Slovakia” but you didn’t know how to spell it in portuguese, you could make a fair guess: not many words begin with “S” followed by a consonant in portuguese, so it would probably have an E at the start (like “Espanha”).
Eslovakia.
Hm, well K isn’t very portuguese either so let’s lose that and put QU on its place.
Eslovaquia.
Close, but it wouldn’t be quite right either because it would be stressed on the penultimate syllable: eslovaQUIa. That would sound weird, so to make it right you’d need to whack an accent on the A.
Eslováquia. Boom!
Some are very different though. The most surprising one, for me, is Algeria which in portuguese is Argélia – the R and L swap places from one language to the other.
I’m really enjoying it. I grew up on Every Boy’s Handbook, before the Internet turned our brains to mush, and this sort of thing – flags and maps and all that boyscout stuff – seems like Proper Knowledge, and I’m glad there are apps that help me banish my ignorance. The fact that it’s building my Portuguese vocabulary is certainly a bonus.
Luso 