MP3 Audio (Lesson) | MP3 Audio (Dialog)
João has been trying to quit smoking. He’s not quite there yet, but looks like he is still motivated to kick the habit. Good thing for João. And good thing for us too, because we learn to talk about it in Portuguese.
| A: | Ô João, então você já largou do cigarro? Hey João, so have you already quit smoking? | |
| B: | Ainda não, que bom saber que você nunca entrou nessa. Not yet, it’s a good thing you never got into that. | |
| A: | Quer dizer que ainda está tentando? So that means that you are still trying? | |
| B: | Tentando, falhando, mas não desisto não, eu vou conseguir. Trying, failing, but I’m not giving up, I’m going to win out. | |
| A: | Eu admiro o esforço, viu? Deve ser muito difícil mesmo. I admire your effort, you know? It must really be very difficult. | |
| B: | Ah, se você soubesse..., é terrível, mas eu vou conseguir. Ah, if you knew.., it is terrible, but I’m going to beat it. |
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I’m a English speaker learning Portuguese & I’ve learned useful expressions that can be expressed in multiple ways. I struggle with the verb conseguir because it can mean so many things that i feel can be expressed by othe words or verbs. For example here Joao says “he will succeed or find a way” to quit. I learned the phrase vou dar um jeito, which I believe would work. But when I speak to Brazilians I always hear conseguir. I suppose more practice and eventually I’ll understand it. Thanks for the great lesson, Vou conseguir
I love your question Joe. You’ll notice that at beginning stages we just use the verb “poder” (to be able to). And then we branch off to other options (dar para, conseguir, etc.). Part of this is similar to what we do in English as well. What you are catching on to is the verb “conseguir’ has a broader use than simply our English translation of “to obtain, to achieve.” This is actually common when from one language to another we have a word that we basically understand, but which has a different range of meaning. Concordo, você vai conseguir.
I know this answer is waaay late, but for those others out there who may be wondering the same, here is my take (as an English speaker learning Portuguese):
I see the phrase “eu vou conseguir” as “I can make it,” or “I can do this.” It doesn’t translate exactly but has the same feeling.
“Vou dar um jeito” is more like, “I’ll find a way.”
I hope that helps someone out there in internet-land. 🙂
Hi again Sam. Exactly, “dar um jeito” gives a sense of “finding a way” and “working around things.”
Best, Orlando
I think this is one of the best lessons. I love the help we get on things like the use of “ainda,” “quer dizer,” “entrou em essa (nessa)”, and how to say “admiro” (tipo adimiro).
I just had to comment. So much value in this lesson.
Would you mind expanding on the verb “Falhar?” I understand it’s use in “to fail,” but is it also used in, say, “a mistake?”
Thank you guys for this content, this is a fantastic lesson!!!
Obrigado Sam… OK, falhar and how it means “to fail”
Perhaps I can compare it to the verb “não conseguir.” That is to say, if I were to say something like, “I failed to talk with him” I would probably say, “Eu não consegui falar com ele.” Compare that to something like, “I failed the test” where I would say “Falhei no exame.”
So, if “failed” really just means “not able to” try using the verb “não conseguir” and not “falhar.”