Literal translation:

– I need to go, André.

– Ok…Then, until soon! *Italian greeting

– Ciao*!

Proper translation:

– I need to go, André.

– Ok…Goodbye, then! (or “so long, then”)

– Bye!

Saying goodbye (either formal or informal, informal only)

Tchau (Portuguese form of Italian “ciao”; used only when saying goodbye, not when meeting someone; the most used, together with “até logo”)

Até logo (“until soon”, very common in all situations; in a less formal speech, the “a” is not pronounced, and “até logo” is pronounced as if it were only one word: “telogo”)

Até mais tarde (“until later”, less used than its reduced form “até mais”)

Até mais (literally “until more”, but in fact the reduced form of “até mais tarde”)

Até breve (a less used synonym of “até logo”)

Até a próxima (literally “until the next”, but meaning “until the next time”; the word vez, that means “time” in this case, is assumed)

Adeus (melancholic form of “goodbye”, hardly used)

Boa Noite (used both when arriving and when leaving, since there’s no “good evening equivalent)

Gender of Nouns

Unlike English, Portuguese nouns have genders, i.e. they can be either masculine or feminine. This concept is easily understood when talking about people: man is masculine, woman is feminine, father is masculine, mother is feminine etc. But how to apply this to objects? How can a table be feminine and a sofa masculine, a computer masculine and a printer feminine? Well, by giving a table the feminine gender it doesn’t mean you consider the table physically or psychologically close to a woman…It’s just a grammar device. Gender seems to be illogical, specially when you know that the same object can have different genders in different languages. So, it’s better to learn the gender of every new word learned.

Portuguese nouns can be masculine or feminine (some languages have also the neuter gender). There’s no “rule” to determine the gender of a noun, but some tips can be observed:

– Words ending in o are usually masculine and words ending in a are usually feminine – o carro, o livro, o relógio, o corpo (the car, the book, the clock, the body) are masculine; a mesa, a porta, a casa, a janela (the table, the door, the house, the window) are feminine.

– Words ending in -ção when it corresponds to the English “-tion” are usually feminine, as you can notice: a emoção, a condição, a animação, a atração and so on.

– Words ending in –dade are usually feminine: a verdade, a felicidade, a idade (the truth, the happiness, the age).

– Words ending in –agem are usually feminine: a viagem, a passagem (the trip; the passage or the ticket).

Exercise

Try to “guess” the gender of the nouns below, by adding the correct article. (Pass the mouse forward the noun and check the answer, i.e. the article used with the word, and its translation).

__casa a, house __príncipe o, prince __espelho o, mirror

__gelo o, ice __princesa a, princess __televisão a, television

__poeta o, poet __carta a, letter (mail) __pessoa a, person

__poetisa a, poetess __medo o, fear __rádio o, radio

__vaca a, cow __boi o, ox __touro o, bull

__cavalo o, horse __égua a, mare __ovelha a, sheep

__cabra a, female goat __bode o, male goat __carneiro o, ram

__coração o, heart __pele a, skin __besouro o, beetle

__cabeça a, head __olho o, eye __braço o, arm

__orelha a, ext. ear __pé o, foot __nariz o, nose

__ouvido o, int. ear __clonagem a, cloning __mão a, hand

__vítima a, victim __sensação a, feeling __amizade a, friendship

__testemunha a, witness __povo o, people __ar o, air

__lápis o, pencil __caneta a, pen __abelha a, bee

__borboleta a, butterfly __perna a, leg __boca a, mouth

__razão a, reason __beleza a, beauty __dinheiro o, money

Some Portuguese nouns have one form for the masculine and one for the feminine: o menino (the boy), a menina (the girl); o homem (the man), a mulher (the woman). Others use the same form for the masculine and for the feminine, and the article makes the difference: o artista, a artista (the artist), o/a cliente (the client. And others have only one form that is used regardless the gender: a vítima (the victim), a criança (the child), a pessoa (the person), o indivíduo (the individual).

Lesson 06 Main Page Course Index Lesson 08