MP3 Audio (Lesson) | MP3 Audio (Dialog)
We can’t change the weather by talking about it, but at least it feels good to vent a little bit. Too hot, too cold, too rainy, today you will learn how to talk about the weather in Portuguese, even if nothing actually changes.
| A: | Ai, que calor, não aguento mais! Oh, it’s so hot, I can’t take it anymore! | |
| B: | Realmente, está insuportável. Really, this is unbearable. | |
| A: | Vai chover essa semana? Is it going to rain this week? | |
| B: | Nada, mas, fazer o quê? Not at all, but what can you do? |
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My wife and I just returned from 10 days in Piracicaba, and after the obligatory “Bom dia!/Boa tarde!/Boa noite!” and/or “Tudo bem?” greetings from the people we met, I can’t tell you how many times we heard “Está muito quente!” or “Está muito calor!” (or simply, “Muito quente!” or “Muito calor!”). The daytime high temperatures ranged from 98-104°F, 37-40°C, while we were there, and the São Paulo state is currently experiencing a drought, so it definitely didn’t rain this week, or last week.
I guess what I am really saying is that this lesson is not only practical (though what I heard varied a little from the lesson dialogue); it is also very timely…
Hi Stephen, ahh Piracicaba, you probably were surrounded by miles and miles of sugarcane! Indeed, I’m sure that you heard “muito quente” a bunch of time! Thanks for joining us.
Orlando
Oh! Is Brazil really that hot? What is the best city to live in Brazil? Not too hot in summer? Because the electricity is also calor, não é? I wonder if I can afford the water or the electricity bills when I get there. =)
It’s not that it is sooooo hot, but Brazilians are sensitive to running the air conditioning, which are generally individual units per room, as opposed to central air. Just keep in mind to turn on the unit in the room where you are located, and turn things off when you leave the apartment.
Hi, Orlando & Andreia,
I started studying Portuguese about two months ago, and your podcast has been an invaluable part of my Portuguese learning journey! I have a question about pronunciation. I understand that “que” can be pronounced as [ki], but is it the same when it’s at the end of the question and is spelled “quê”? Or is “quê” always pronounced [ke]? Thank you very much!
Wow Keiko, you’ve got a pretty “advanced” question and it shows you are really catching on to Portuguese. Indeed you are correct, when the spelling is quê, as in “e quê? the pronunciation is [ke]. Way to go.
Thank you so much for your response, Orlando. It’s amazing I get to communicate with you like this, and it motivates me to work harder. Thank you!
I have studied Portuguese for about three months and I am still baffled by the pronunciation. I appreciate very much the discussion about [ki] vs. [ke] for que (and quê). I’m wondering about “arguento”. I want to pronounce the middle syllable with the [e], like quê instead of the [we]. I know there was a recent spelling reform and I’m wondering if it used to be “argüento” instead, but after the reform we must simply memorize the pronunciation.
Thanks so much for your work!!!
Indeed, a few years ago the official orthography of words was changed, and many words that used to have a diacritic mark no longer do. I assume you mean “aguento” that is pronounced “agwento” and used to be spelled “Agüento” Truth told, the old system used to help us to know the pronunciation, but that is no longer the case, to our detriment. I miss the old accent marks (ideia x idéia, etc.)