MP3 Audio (Lesson) | MP3 Audio (Dialog)
We hate to say it, but unfortunately things are more expensive. That’s just the way it’s going to be. At least in this lesson we can moan and groan about it a little bit in Portuguese.
Beginning 14: Everything is More Expensive
Why does the guy in the dialog say “Sei, mas infelizmente está tudo mais caro” and not “Sei, mas infelizmente tudo está mais caro”. He switched tudo and está ! Obrigado.
Maybe the best way to think of this is to say that the normal word order in Portuguese is Subject – Verb – Object. As such, Tudo está mais caro is your default way to say the phrase ‘everything is more expensive.’ When speakers change word order, it’s kind of a way to give extra emphasis to some part of a sentence. So by saying ‘está tudo mais caro’ it just makes things jump out a bit more.
We do similar things in English, often with a change in pitch or loudness, adding extra stress. Brazilians can do this too, but sometimes changing word order has the same effect.
Brazilians really prefer the verb, don’t they. They put verbs first, many times. 0.0
It is how Brazilians respond to question, e.g, falo, sim. quero, sim. vejo, sim. etc.