Learn European Portuguese together

Twenty-six letters with their Portuguese names, the accents that change a word, and the ç.

1. A to L: the first letters and the silent h
2. M to Z: the second half of the alphabet
3. Accents, the til and the ç
4. Checkpoint: The Portuguese Alphabet
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Swallowed vowels, open and closed e and o, nasal sounds, the s that sounds like sh, lh and nh.

1. Vowels: open, closed and swallowed
2. Nasal vowels: ã, õ, ão and the m at the end
3. Consonants: s like sh, lh, nh, ch and the two r sounds
4. Checkpoint: The Sounds of European Portuguese
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Olá, bom dia! Chamo-me … – names, origins, tu and o senhor.

1. Olá! Chamo-me …: greetings and your name
2. De onde és?: countries, cities and languages
3. Tudo bem? – how you are, tu, você and o senhor
4. Checkpoint: Greetings and Introductions
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

O livro, a mesa, os amigos – every noun is masculine or feminine, and the article shows which.

1. O, a, um, uma: gender and the articles
2. Plurals: livros, lições, papéis
3. Adjectives: agreement and position
4. Checkpoint: Nouns, Gender and Articles
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Two verbs for “to be”: who you are with ser, how and where you are with estar.

1. Ser: identity, origin and character
2. Estar: states, feelings and location
3. Ser or estar?
4. Checkpoint: Ser and Estar
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Counting to a thousand the European way, telling the time, the days and the months.

1. Numbers from zero to a hundred
2. Que horas são? Telling the time
3. Days, months and dates
4. Checkpoint: Numbers, Time and Dates
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

A minha mãe, o irmão da Ana – the people around you and whose they are.

1. My family
2. My, your, our
3. His car, Ana’s house
4. Checkpoint: Family and Possession
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Falar, comer, abrir – the three verb groups with tu, and how to say no and ask.

1. -ar verbs: speak, work, study
2. -er and -ir verbs: eat, open
3. Não and questions
4. Checkpoint: Regular Verbs and Negation
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Uma bica e um pastel de nata, se faz favor – food, ordering and paying.

1. At the pastelaria: querer and gostar de
2. Breakfast, lunch and dinner
3. At the restaurant: the bill, please
4. Checkpoint: Food, the Pastelaria and the Café
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Onde é a paragem? Vou de autocarro – places, há, transport and directions.

1. Places in the city: há, fica, no, na
2. Ir and vir: by bus, metro and train
3. Directions: go straight on
4. Checkpoint: The City, Transport and Directions
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Acordo cedo, levanto-me, saio às oito – the day from morning to night.

1. Fazer, poder, saber: the irregular core
2. My day: from waking up to going to bed
3. Housework and weekends
4. Checkpoint: Routine and Irregular Verbs
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

A cozinha, o quarto, em cima da mesa – rooms, furniture and prepositions of place.

1. My house, my flat
2. Furniture and where things are
3. This, that, that over there
4. Checkpoint: At home
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Vou à praia no sábado – free time, clothes, colours and ir + infinitive.

1. Ir + infinitive: plans
2. Clothes, colours and sizes
3. Futebol, música and the weather
4. Checkpoint: Leisure, Shopping and Plans
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Falei, comi, fui – the past tense of what happened.

1. Regular verbs: falei, comi, abri
2. Irregular verbs: fui, fiz, tive
3. Telling what happened
4. Checkpoint: The Pretérito Perfeito
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Quando eu era pequeno … – background, habits and the pair with the perfeito.

1. Quando eu era pequeno: habits in the past
2. Background and interrupted actions
3. Perfeito or imperfeito?
4. Checkpoint: The Imperfeito and the Past in Contrast
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Liga-me, vi-o ontem, não te esqueças – the pronoun after the verb, and the words that pull it before.

1. Me, te, nos, vos: after the verb
2. O, a, os, as: things and people you mention
3. Lhe, lhes and the joined pronouns
4. Checkpoint: Object Pronouns and Enclisis
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Maior, melhor, tão bonito como – comparing people, places and things.

1. Mais … (do) que, menos … (do) que
2. Melhor, pior, maior and mais pequeno
3. Tão … como and the superlative
4. Checkpoint: Comparison
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Levanto-me, estou a fazer – verbs with se and actions in progress, the European way.

1. Reflexive verbs: levanto-me, sentas-te
2. Estou a fazer: estar a + infinitive
3. Acabar de, começar a, continuar a
4. Checkpoint: Reflexive Verbs and Estar a + Infinitive
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Fala mais devagar, se faz favor – asking, telling and advising.

1. The imperative for tu and for o senhor
2. Polite requests
3. Advice and obligation
4. Checkpoint: The Imperative, Requests and Advice
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

O bilhete, o comboio, a pousada – moving around Portugal.

1. Planning a trip
2. At the hotel and the alojamento local
3. Holidays and sightseeing
4. Checkpoint: Travel and Holidays
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Dói-me a cabeça – the body, symptoms and the doctor.

1. The body and dói-me
2. At the doctor
3. At the pharmacy: advice for health
4. Checkpoint: Health and the Body
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Os Santos Populares, o jogo da seleção, Parabéns a você – how Portugal celebrates.

1. The Santos Populares
2. Football: the match and the fans
3. Birthdays, Christmas and New Year
4. Checkpoint: Festivals, Football and Celebrations
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Espero que venhas – wishing, needing and feeling with the conjuntivo.

1. Forming the presente do conjuntivo
2. Wishes, requests and feelings
3. É importante que…: impersonal phrases and doubt
4. Checkpoint: The Present Subjunctive
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Farei, faria, gostaria – the future of writing and the polite conditional.

1. The futuro simples
2. The condicional: polite and hypothetical
3. Plans, promises and predictions
4. Checkpoint: The Future and the Conditional
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Se eu tivesse tempo, viajava – the unreal present and wishes.

1. Forming the imperfeito do conjuntivo
2. Se eu fosse a ti…: unreal conditions
3. Como se, quem me dera, embora: the past conjuntivo
4. Checkpoint: The Imperfect Subjunctive and Hypothesis
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Quando eu for, se puderes – the tense Portuguese kept for the future.

1. Quando eu chegar…: the future subjunctive
2. Se puderes…: real conditions
3. Quem quiser, onde for, como puder
4. Checkpoint: The Future Subjunctive
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

O livro que li, a cidade onde nasci, o autor cujo nome esqueci – joining two sentences into one.

1. Que and quem: relative pronouns
2. Onde, o que, o qual
3. Cujo and the relatives of writing
4. Checkpoint: Relative Pronouns
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Foi inaugurada em 1966, arrenda-se, vendem-se casas – when the doer does not matter.

1. Ser + particípio: the passive
2. Vende-se, arrenda-se: the passive with se
3. Está fechada: estar + participle and the unknown “they”
4. Checkpoint: The Passive and the Impersonal Se
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Para perceberes, antes de sairmos – an infinitive with a person.

1. Para eu, para perceberes: the personal infinitive
2. Antes de sairmos: after prepositions
3. É melhor irem: impersonal expressions and perception verbs
4. Checkpoint: The Personal Infinitive
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

O currículo, a entrevista, Exmo. Senhor – professional Portuguese.

1. O currículo: the CV and the job ad
2. The job interview: Fale-me um pouco de si
3. Formal e-mails: Exmo. Senhor
4. Checkpoint: Work, Studies and Formal Contact
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Acho que sim, não acho que seja – saying what you think and why.

1. Acho que, não acho que: giving an opinion
2. News and social media
3. Arguing a point: em primeiro lugar, no entanto
4. Checkpoint: Opinion, Media and Argument
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Tenho estudado, tinha saído – the perfect tenses of Portuguese.

1. Tenho feito: the present perfect of repetition
2. Tinha feito: the past before the past
3. Terei feito and the future perfect
4. Checkpoint: Compound Tenses
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Se eu tivesse sabido, teria ido – regret and the unreal past.

1. Tenha feito: the perfect subjunctive
2. Se eu tivesse sabido: the unreal past
3. Quando tiver terminado: the future perfect subjunctive
4. Checkpoint: The Compound Subjunctive and Past Hypothesis
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ele disse que viria – repeating what others said.

1. Disse que…: reporting what someone said
2. Perguntou se…: reported questions and commands
3. Reporting verbs: admitir, negar, garantir
4. Checkpoint: Reported Speech
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Embora chova, portanto, uma vez que – the logic of a text.

1. Cause: porque, como, já que
2. Concession: embora, apesar de
3. Consequence and purpose
4. Checkpoint: Cause, Concession and Consequence
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Não me disseram, já lho dei, quero-te ver – where the pronoun goes, and why.

1. The words that pull the pronoun forward
2. Joined pronouns: mo, to, lho, no-lo
3. Pronouns with two verbs
4. Checkpoint: Pronoun Placement in Depth
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

A realização do evento, o aumento dos preços – how written Portuguese turns verbs into nouns.

1. Verb to noun: -ção, -mento, -agem
2. Headlines and news style
3. Formal and informal register
4. Review: nominal style and register
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Tese, argumentos, conclusão – building an opinion text.

1. The thesis and the introduction
2. Development: arguments and evidence
3. Conclusion and proposal
4. Review: the opinion text from start to finish
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Emigração, fado, petiscos – talking about Portugal today.

1. A country of emigrants and immigrants
2. Inequality and rights
3. Fado, music and cinema
4. Review: society, culture and identity
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Tu, você, o senhor, o senhor doutor – who you are talking to, and how.

1. Tu, o senhor and the third person
2. Titles: o senhor doutor, o senhor engenheiro
3. Você, vocês and vós
4. Checkpoint: Forms of Address in Portugal
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Pá, tipo, bué, pronto – the Portuguese people speak and the Portuguese they write.

1. How the Portuguese really speak
2. The norm
3. Variation and linguistic prejudice
4. Checkpoint: Spoken European Portuguese and the Norm
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Dir-te-ei, far-se-á, dar-lho-ia – the pronoun inside the verb.

1. Dir-te-ei: forming the mesoclisis
2. Where mesoclisis lives
3. Avoiding it: ir + infinitive, the imperfeito and proclisis
4. Checkpoint: Mesoclisis and the Formal Future
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Desfazer, pastelaria, rapazito – prefixes, suffixes and new words.

1. Prefixes
2. Suffixes of place, profession and quality
3. Diminutive and augmentative
4. Checkpoint: Word Formation
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Meter água, ficar a ver navios, estar-se nas tintas – the Portuguese of native speakers.

1. Idioms of everyday life
2. Collocations
3. Proverbs
4. Checkpoint: Idioms and Collocations
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Deve ser, pode ser que, será que – certainty, doubt and attitude.

1. Dever and Poder: How Sure Are You?
2. Doubting and Guessing
3. Little Words with Attitude
4. Checkpoint: Certainty and Attitude
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

O mesmo, tal, sendo que, o qual – keeping a long text together.

1. Referring Back
2. Long Sentences Under Control
3. Building a Paragraph
4. Checkpoint: Cohesion
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Senhoras e senhores – speaking to convince.

1. Opening and Closing a Speech
2. Rhetorical Devices
3. Debating
4. Checkpoint: Rhetoric
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Camões, Eça, Pessoa – the canon read for its language.

1. Camões: Os Lusíadas and the sonnets
2. Eça de Queirós: irony and realism
3. Fernando Pessoa and the heteronyms
4. Checkpoint: Reading Portuguese Literature
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Autocarro or ônibus, estou a fazer or estou fazendo – one language, many norms.

1. Regional Portugal
2. Portugal and Brazil
3. Portuguese in Africa and Asia
4. Checkpoint: Variation: Portugal, Brazil and Africa
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

From Latin to the Acordo Ortográfico – why Portuguese looks as it does.

1. From Latin to Galician-Portuguese
2. Portuguese goes to sea
3. Spelling reforms and the Acordo
4. Checkpoint: History of the Portuguese Language
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Fizera, houvesse feito, tendo chegado – Portuguese at its full stretch.

1. The simple pluperfect and literary tenses
2. Gerund and participle clauses
3. Word order and emphasis
4. Checkpoint: Complex Syntax and Literary Tenses
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Puxe não é push – rendering meaning between Portuguese and other languages.

1. False friends
2. Untranslatable words
3. Translation techniques
4. Checkpoint: Translation and Interpretation
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Logo se vê, aparece lá em casa – what the Portuguese mean and do not say.

1. Indirectness and politeness
2. Social codes
3. Irony and humour
4. Checkpoint: Pragmatics and the Implicit
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Reading, writing and speaking like an educated speaker from Portugal – the last mile.

1. Reading at full speed
2. Writing with precision
3. Speaking with nuance
4. Checkpoint: The Summit: Mastery in Practice
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions