Portuguese for gringos

Tip of the day! In Brazil we don't usually use AM or PM to refer to hours before and after noon. Hours go from 1:00 to 23:59 and then midnight or "zero hora" or "meia noite". So if you ask for hours and it's 3pm somebody might say "são quinze horas" or "são três da tarde". After 6pm it's "noite", so "são seis da noite", "são sete da noite" and so on. From 1am to 4am more or less, we say "madrugada", therefore "são uma da madrugada", "são duas da madrugada". "Uma/duas/três da manhã" is also correct. Pay attention that the numbers "um/dois" go feminine because hour/hora is a feminine noun: uma da manhã/uma da tarde/duas da madrugada/duas da tarde.

Days of the week/dias da semana:
DOMINGO-SEGUNDA-TERÇA-QUARTA-QUINTA-SEXTA-SÁBADO

Momento gíria! Let's talk about two slangs commonly spoken by native-Brazilian Portuguese speakers to refer to someone during a conversation: "meu" or "cara". They both refer to "dude" and can be used to refer to a woman or a man. Usually used when you are close friends to someone! "Meu" is mostly used in São Paulo by Paulistas but everybody in Brazil will understand it. Ex.: "Meu, você viu a chuva que caiu hoje?" "Eu vi aquele cara beijando uma menina a noite passada" "Cara, como eu faço pra chegar no Leblon?" "Você assistiu aquele filme ontem, meu? É muito legal!"

Bom Dia!!! Good Morning!!!

Today's tip! Dica de Hoje!
Conserto (to fix something) X Concerto (music concert)

This one even native-Portuguese speakers get it wrong!

"Fique à vontade!" Make yourself at home! "Fique à vontade" or "sinta-se à vontade" can be used in many occasion. When you receive someone at your place, your office, your restaurante, with customers in a meeting, when you offer some coffee or food. So, "fique à vontade e vamos praticar português"!

Saudações! Due to the high number of people joining this page, I've decided to reactivate it! We have moved back to Brazil! However we will frequently post tips on Portuguese speaking to our fellow "gringos" abroad!

Want to practice some conversation in Brazilian-Portuguese? Meet us at Café Luna in Cambridge, MA this Thursday, August 26th, at 7pm. Show with Choro Democrático at 8pm! Message me for more info!