Language Reading – Lição 1

The verbs ser and estar – Os verbos ser e estar

Both of the verbs given above in the present tense mean “to be” and have special uses in Portuguese. In general terms:

SER is used for

1. equating
   1. Dois e dois são quatro. [Two and two are four.]
   2. São quatro e meia. [It is four-thirty.]
   3. Ele é médico. [He is  a doctor.]
2. With ‘de’ to indicate:
   1. Origin: De onde você é? [Where are you from?]
   2. Possession: De quem é aquela casa? [Whose house is that?]
   3. Material: De que é a porta? [What is the door made of?]
3. For locating:
   1. non-moveable entities: Luanda é em Angola. [Luanda is in Angola.]
   2. Events in time/space: O jogo é amanhã de tarde.[The game is tomorrow afternoon.]
4. With adjectives that describe a norm:
   1. O João é alto. [John is tall.]
   2. Meu carro é branco. [My car is white.]
5. In impersonal expressions:
   1. É necessário chegar cedo. [It is necessary to arrive early.]
   2. É impossível parar agora. [It is impossible to stop now.]

ESTAR is used for:

1. Health
   1. Nós estamos bem. [We are well.]
   2. A senhora Pontes está mal. [Senhora Pontes is ill.]
2. With ‘de’ to describe temporary situations:
   1. Todos estão de férias. [Everyone is on vacation.]
   2. Você está de acordo? [Do you agree?]
   3. O garçom está de pé. [The waiter is standing.]
3. For locating moveable entities:
   1. As chaves estão na mesa. [The keys are on the table.]
   2. Onde estão as moças? [Where are the girls?]
4. With adjectives that describe a change from the norm to a temporary, accidental, or variable condition:
   1. Ele está doente esta semana. [He is sick this week.]
   2. O Pedro está muito ocupado agora. [Pedro is very busy now.]*
   3. NOTE: ESTAR is used if there is no norm: O café está quente (frio). [The coffee is hot (cold).]
5. Idiomatic use (in the form of ESTAR COM)
   1. Eu estou com sede. [I am thirsty.]
   2. Vocês estão com fome? [Are you hungry?]
   3. Lélia está com frio. [Lélia is cold.]

1.1 Practice – Prática

Gender- Gênero

In Portuguese, nouns (persons, places, and things) are gendered. This means that nouns are designated one of two grammatical genders, masculine or feminine. Masculine nouns use the masculine definite (o and os) and indefinite articles (um and uns), while feminine nouns use the feminine definite (a and as) and indefinite articles (uma and umas). In English, all nouns use the same definite article “the” while the indefinite article varies depending on whether the noun begins with a noun “a” or a vowel “an”.

In general there are a few rules when deciding the gender of a given noun in Portuguese.

• Nouns that end in –o are generally masculine, while nouns that end in -a are generally feminine
• Nouns that end in –agem, –ção, –dade are generally feminine.
• Some nouns referring to people have only a single form, and therefore only vary in the article used with them.
• There are some nouns that end in –a, mainly of Greek origin, that are masculine. These should be memorized.
  • o mapa [the map]
  • o sistema [the system]
  • o problema [the problem]
  • o aroma [the aroma]
  • o programa [the program]
  • o tema [the theme]
  • o dia [the day]
  • o clima [the climate]

Dialogue – Diálogo

Listen and follow along with the dialogue. Then, answer the questions below.