I mentioned in a previous post that English has a great range of vocabulary, words that have been added over the centuries, borrowed from most of the world's languages both old and new.
It is very common when Brazilians begin to learn English, that they take their own vocabulary and use a single word in English as being the equivalent when in actual fact there are two or more words that can have similar or very different meanings. Examples include Leave and Let, Then and So.
On other occasions, the Portuguese word seems so similar to AN English word that this word is mistakenly chosen to represent the same meaning, but in fact has very little to do with the meaning implied in Portuguese. Examples include Actual, Sympathetic among others.
I will now list a few of the more common Portuguese words and their English equivalents.
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Fazer - DO/MAKE
I looked at the differences between DO and MAKE in a previous post.
Essentially, DO refers to performing an action and MAKE to constructing something. Please see my January post for a fuller description of the two. I DO recommend in that post that because of the frequent misuse of these two that more appropriate verbs be found instead.
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Então - THEN/SO
For Brazilians, THEN is often the preferred translation and it is the least accurate.
THEN always refers to a sequence of events.
The company started investing in small businesses. THEN it invested in startups where it THEN began a process of restructuring.
I went to the Supermarket, THEN I went to get my hair cut.
SO, on the other hand, refers to a conclusion.
It was raining, SO I took a taxi.
SO in place of because.
We took a taxi SO we wouldn't get wet. (We took a taxi because we didn't want to get wet.)
As can be seen here, SO means easier structures than because.
If ever in doubt, stick to SO. Never use THEN unless you wish to refer to a real sequence of events.
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Deixar - LEAVE/LET
For Brazilians, LET is often the preferred translation here.
LET means to permit or give permission in most cases.
LEAVE means to not stay as in "We need to LEAVE now."
LEAVE also means remain. "We need to LEAVE the passenger AT the airport." "They have to LEAVE enough money to buy the tickets."
SO, you CANNOT LET someone AT the Airport. But you can TAKE someone TO the Airport and LEAVE them there.
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Para - TO/FOR
For Brazilians, TO is the preferred translation and once again it is almost always wrong. TO as a preposition must ONLY be used with VERBS that indicate a movement as in; Drive, Take, Walk, Give, Send, Reply etc.
TO is part of the infinitive structure in sentences like, "I need TO drink, TO study." etc.
In these sentences TO is the infinitive and preposition, "I need TO talk TO James TO ask him TO give the book TO Mary."
FOR is a REASON or ON BEHALF OF/IN PLACE OF
I bought this gift FOR you. This answers the question WHY.
LET me do that FOR you. In your place.
What is this FOR?
I have already given a more detailed explanation of the differences between TO and FOR in a past post.
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Nervoso - ANGRY/UPSET
Nervoso is ALWAYS believed to be Nervous. IT IS NOT.
Nervous is the way we get when we begin to do something we are not familiar with, especially when other people are watching. Actors get very nervous just before getting on stage. We are usually very nervous during a Job interview.
Nervoso is always used when referring to getting ANGRY or UPSET.
(NB; While nervoso is described here to mean angry, there is another word in Portuguese - bravo, which I have been told is more appropriate, however, it seems that bravo and nervoso are interchangeable and result in exactly the same mistaken translation.)
I was so ANGRY when the man crashed into my car. I was so UPSET with my boss when he made me stay late on my birthday.
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Atual - CURRENT
Atual is often thought to mean ACTUAL.
ACTUAL means real or refers to something that exists.
This is the ACTUAL pen used to sign the Constitution. The ACTUAL time of the meeting is 10 o'clock not 9 o'clock. REAL can be used in place of ACTUAL but CURRENT can not.
CURRENT refers to now, at this time. We talk about CURRENT events, events occurring now.
The CURRENT exchange rate is 2.707889. The CURRENT report refers only to this quarter. The REAL report was released last week, but it does not have the CURRENT figures.
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Simpático / Simpática - FRIENDLY/KIND
If someone is SYMPATHETIC, the usual translation, then the person is willing to listen and console a person who needs to talk about their problems.
When Simpático is used it is usually used to mean someone who is FRIENDLY and quite often KIND.
A person who is nice to get on with isn't always SYMPATHETIC but can be FRIENDLY, simpático.
There are so many other examples that I am sure to include them in future posts
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