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PORTUGUESE
TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS
PORTUGUESE
PORTUGUESE
Manuela Cook
Advisory Editor: Paul Coggle
TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS
Long-renowned as the authoritative source for self-guided learning - with more than 30
million copies sold worldwide - the Teach Yourself series includes over 200 titles in the
fields of languages, crafts, hobbies, sports, and other leisure activities.
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library
Library of congress Catalogue Card Number: 92-82510
First published in UK 1987 by Hodder Headline Pic, 338 Euston Road, London
NWI3BH
First published in US 1993 by NTC Publishing Group
An imprint of NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company
4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois 60646-1975 U.S.A.
Copyright 1987 Manuela Cook
The 'Teach Yourself name and logo are registered trade marks of Hodder &
Stoughton Ltd in the UK.
In UK: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details
of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright
Licensing Agency Limited, of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE.
In US: All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, or otherwise, without prior permission of NTC/Contemporary Publishing
Company.
Typeset by Macmillan India Ud.
Printed in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ud, Reading, Berkshire.
Reissued 1992
Impression number 22 21 20 19 18 17 16
Year 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
Contents
Introduction
Pronunciation 4
Onde e a saida? Where is the exit? 16
2 Tem um quarto vago? Have you got a vacant room? 32
3 Muito prazer! Pleased to meet you! 52
4 Quanto custa um quilo de queijo? How much is a kilo of cheese? 72
5 Cheguei na quarta-feira passada I arrived last Wednesday 90
6 Virei amanhi I shall come tomorrow I08
7 Espero que a consulta seja hoje I hope that you may be able to 128
book me in for today
8 Gostaria de provar este prato I should like to try this dish 146
9 Tomara que estivesses aqui! I wish you were here! 162
10 Ao voltarmos, abrirei conta bancilria On ourreturn,l shall open 178
a bank account
Key to the Exercises 191
Appendices
A Regular Verbs 197
B Special Verbs 199
Portuguese-English Vocabulary 209
Index to Grammar and Problem Words 225
List of Topics 227
Introduction
This is a course for beginners and requires no previous knowledge of
the language.
The language presented in the course is the Standard Portuguese
used throughout the Portuguese-speaking world, and you will also be
able to become familiar with the particular aspects of Portuguese as
used in Brazil.
The aim of the course is to enable you to understand and
communicate in everyday situations such as finding your way
around, staying at an hotel, shopping, using public transport or
driving a car, eating and drinking, going to a bank or post-office,
making a telephone call, seeking help if things go wrong, pursuing
your interests and hobbies, and socialising and making friends. You
should also be able to understand the written language and be able to
write simple letters.
Pronunciation: In the pronunciation guide on pp. S-13 you can
learn the Portuguese sounds and their Brazilian variants. English
(and some French) sound-alikes are incorporated to help you.
How to Work on Each Unit
Each unit concentrates on a particular set of topics and on a few
specific language functions.
Dialogos: A unit begins with two short dialogues or one longer
dialogue. The dialogues introduce the main language features to be
studied. No new language features are introduced in the last unit
which contains material for overall revision of structures and for
lexical expansion. In each unit, start by studying the initial
dialogue(s) with the help of the boxed vocabulary. Then do Exercises
I and 2 which test your understanding of the dialogue(s). Check your
answers against the Key at the end of the book.
Comentario: These notes amplify the theme of the dialogue(s) and
provide related background information. Read them carefully. Do
the Trabalbos Praticos as you come across them. They are simple
tasks that give you practice on the material presented and will widen
2 Introduction
your scope. Answers to these questions do not appear in the Key to
the Exercises as they are usually self-evident.
Gramitica: Read the notes carefully and do the respective
Exercicios as you go along. The Exercises practise and reinforce the
grammatical points covered and introduce new vocabulary. They
also give you an opportunity to test your progress. Always write your
answers and check them against the Key at the end of the book. If
they are not right, go back and read again the preceding notes. As in
the Comentario, do the Trabalhos Praticos as you come across them.
Prova de Compreeosio: The comprehension test is based on either
a prose passage or a dialogue in Portuguese. You are not expected to
understand every single word but you should be able to grasp enough
information to answer the questions in English.
Appeodices: Here you will find an easy-reference table of endings
for all regular verbs, and information on irregular and other special
verbs.
Iodex: The index on Grammar and 'problem words' will refer you
to particular points dealt with in the notes throughout the book.
Tbe Cassette
The cassette contains both the dialogue(s) at the beginning of each
unit and the comprehension at the end of each unit.
Although the course is self-contained and can be worked through
without any additional aids, the use of the cassette will enhance your
learning, as follows:
(a) As a pronunciation guide for the Portuguese sounds in general
and the initial dialogue(s) in each unit.
(b) As a means of adding an extra challenge to the comprehension
test.
(c) For revision work. You can listen to the initial dialogue(s) and
do the respective exercises without looking at the text. This will be a
valid contribution in checking how well you can understand the
spoken Portuguese.
Tbe Portuguese of Brazil
Brazilian Portuguese differs from 'Standard' Portuguese much in the
same way that American English differs from 'Standard' English.
Introduction 3
Pronunciation and spelling: The accent is differeht but the sounds
are basically the same. Any relevant variants are pointed out in the
pronunciation guide.
Overall uniformity in spelling was established in 1945 by an
agreement signed between Portugal and Brazil and known as Acordo
Ortognifico Luso-Brasileiro. There are, however, still some minimal
but relevant differences, which will be explained to you at the end of
the pronunciation guide.
Grammar: There are only a few significant differences, particularly
in verbal forms and pronouns. These are dealt with in the grammar
notes in the units.
Vocabulary: In some cases a different word is used: e.g., comboio,
in Portuguese, and trem, in Brazilian Portuguese, for train. Lexical
alternatives are, however, not always: mutually exclusive. For
example, de nada circulates on both sides of the Atlantic as not at all,
but Brazilians also like the phrase nio por isso with the same
meaning. Brazilianisms will appear in the vocabulary lists and in the
commentary sections whenever required. The abbreviation Br. is
used to indicate a Brazilianism.
Pronunciation
Stress and Accentuation
Portuguese words in general are stressed on the penultimate syllable:
pa18a'porte (passport)
The chief constituent, or centre, of the syllable is a vowel element:
paiSa'porte
In words which do not end in a single vowel - a, e, o - the stress
usually falls on the last syllable:
ho'tel (hotel) (station)
Words which are exceptions to the above stress rules usually bear a
written accent:
al'finclega (customs)
In Portugal, contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables is
sharp. There is a tendency to linger on the stressed syllable and glide
over the intermediate sounds. As a result, unstressed vowels become
'neutralized'. Final e tends to disappear.
Brazilian stress and intonation (rise and fall of voice) are more
evenly spaced out, so a secondary stress often emerges in a single
word:
bamaal'dade (nwn/cind)
bum'aai'dade (Br.)
Portuguese Sounds
The chart on pp. S-13 will introduce you to Portuguese sounds.
In the first column you will see a letter or group of letters as used in
normal spelling. The sound that letter (or group ofletters) stands for
is visually represented in the second column by a phonetic symbol
from the International Phonetic Alphabet. You needn't worry if you
are not familiar with phonetic symbols. Just move on to the third
column. It compares the Portuguese sound with an English sound. In
some cases a French sound-alike is given too. The fourth column tells
you the position of the sound in the word. In the last column you will
be able to see an example of a Portuguese word including the
respective sound. Relevant Brazilian variants have also been entered.
Vowel Sounds
spell- IPA
ing symbol sound-a/ikes position example
(a] more open than English stressed falo (1 speak)
a, approaching ah
[11] like a as in among but longer stressed before nasal consonant cama (bed)
[a] between a and ah, as above, but before I or u in the mal (badly)
pronounced further back in the mouth same syllable
[a] between a and ah, as above stressed hi (there is)
i (11} like a in among, as above stressed Cimara (town-hall)
[ 111 like a in among unstressed, at the end of a mala (suitcase)
word, and elsewhere falamos (we speak)
e [&] like e in tell stressed perto (near) ela (she)
e [e) like ey in they stressed (in some cases) comer (to eat)
but without the final glide due to the origin of the ele (he)
(like the French word et) word and/or the influence
of the surrounding sounds
e [&] like e in tell stressed cafe (coffee)
f [e) like ey, as above stressed mfs (mo11th)
e [!] like i in cigarette unstressed, at the esta (it is)
beginning of a word
e like e in butter, or P. unstressed, at the end of a noite (night)
disappears word, and elsewhere
[i] like ee in meet Br. unstressed, at the end of a pesado (heavy)
word, and elsewhere
[i] like ee in meet stressed dlzer (to say)
[!I like i in cigarette unstressed cigarro (cigarette)
[I] like i in pill before I in the same syllable mil (a thousand)
[i] like ee in meet stressed (/came/went out)
[j] like yin yet before another vowel (he/she/it left)
0 [:1) like o in jolly stressed posso (/may) ovos (eggs)
come (you eat)
0 [o] a bit like o in note; stressed (in some cases) porto (port) ovo (egg)
(like French au in chaud) due to the origin of the word Londrest{London)
and/or the influence of como(/ eat)
the surrounding sounds como (how; as)
0 like o in jolly stressed proximo (next)
6 [o] a bit like o in note, as above stressed avo (grandfather)
0 (o] a bit like o in note, as above when followed by a Lisboa (Lisbon)
0 (u] like u in put unstressed, at the end barco (boat)
of a word and elsewhere comercio (commerce)
[u] a bit like oa in soon; stressed tudo (all)
(like French ou in mi)
i [u] a bit like oo in soon, as above stressed numero (number)
like ou in could
-[J before I in the same syllable azul (blue)
[w] like w in water before a oro quando (when)
[ ] silent after 1 or q and before e or i quero (/ want)
(in general)
al [aj] like yin my any position mais (more)
[au] like ow in how any position mau (bad)
el (l!j] like ay in pay P. any position direlta (right)
[ej] like ey in they Br. any position
eu [eu] a bit like ey in they plus QO in soon any position eu (1)
(like the French word et plus meu (my, mine)
the French spelling ou)
ol [oj] a bit like o in note (French any position dois (two)
au in chaud) plus y in yet
ou [o] a bit like o in note (like P. any position outro (another)
French au in chaud)
[ou] like o in note Br. any position
ui [uj] a bit like oo in soon plus any position, but in the word ful (/went)
yin yet muito (much; very) it is pro-
nounced more like ui in ruin
Nasal Vowel Sounds
a } [el amanhi (tomorrow)
am a bit like an in anchor any position ambos (both)
an (am, before p or b) banco (bank)