MP3 Audio (Lesson) | MP3 Audio (Dialog)
Of course we’d like to say that we are always productive with our time. But sometimes it’s nice just to chill in front of the TV and let the evening pass away in 100% rest and relaxation. Don’t make it a daily habit, but now and again, why not? And why not in Portuguese?
| A: | Você fez o dever de casa? Did you do your homework? | |
| B: | Ainda não. Not yet. | |
| A: | E o piano, você praticou alguma coisa? And the piano, did you practice it at all? | |
| B: | Ainda não. Not yet. | |
| A: | E o gato, você deu alguma coisa para ele comer? And the cat, did you give the cat any food? | |
| B: | Ainda não. Not yet.. | |
| A: | O que você estava fazendo esse tempo todo? What have you been doing all this time? | |
| B: | Nada, quer dizer, assistindo a televisão. Nothing, that is, watching television. |
Is “homework” the right translation for “dever de casa,” or should it be “housework”? I’m defining “homework” as an assignment from school for the student to do at home, and “housework” as cleaning and maintenance chores for a house, such as dusting, sweeping, mopping, laundry, etc.
I never thought of this before, how interesting. Chances are that housework would really be defined as “trabalho doméstico” so homework is limited to school assignments, dever de casa. Cool question.
My question was prompted by some elements in the dialogue:
– the wife asks the husband if he’s fed the cat, which sounds like it might be an item on the list of deveres de casa mentioned earlier, the way we think of feeding the cat as a chore. (This is a little confused by practicing piano, which sounds more like schoolwork, in this case music school.)
– the couple sound like they are in their mid-sixties. It would be unusual (though not impossible) for a man that age to be in school with homework assignments to complete.
And for the record, your dialogue was much cooler than my question!
Actually, the couple sound more like they are in their seventies, so it’s even more unusual that the man would be going to school.