English this way!

easier said than done – falar é facil

Hey, guys! I am back with a new post for you. Sorry for taking long to update here.  It’s this scorching heat that makes me lazy. It’s killing me, although I like summer. I got the idea of today’s post while watching a cartoon. I remember my translation teacher saying that the translation of old tv shows were much better than today. Maybe because today the amount of things to be translated has increased a lot, maybe because today’s translators are lazier. I don’t know. Anyways, the expression I heard in the cartoon was easier said than done which was translated literally é mais fácil falar do que fazer, buuuut we have an equivalent in Portuguese, which is falar é fácil. Sometimes you will hear a né? at the end. I never thought about it, but If I was a foreigner, I would find this né a bit strange. I mean the sound.  Gauchos even make it longer by saying néééé? What do the gringoes who live or have lived in Brasil think?

I can tell -  dá pra ver

As you have noticed, this blog was created to teach/show my students phrases in English that have a correspondent in Portuguese. Sometimes these expressions have an almos literal correspondent in Portuguese. Sometimes they are pretty different. Case in point, “I can tell“. Although the words are different in both languages, the meaning makes sense in Portuguese, but for some reason we say it using other words.  Sometimes students of English don’t associate expressions in English with their correspondent in Portuguese. And that’s when my blog comes into action.

Ok, without further ado, let’s go the explanation in case you haven’t figured it out yet. We use I can tell to show that you have already noticed something someone else told you. Because it’s obvious.

This is a real converastion that my friend and I had over Gtalk.

D. – Hey, what’s up?

F. – Hey, I was just drinking caipirrnha!

D. – I can tell!

F. – how?

D. – caipirrrrrnha

F. – I’m NOT drunk yet!

D. – Getting there, I assume.

F. – hehehe

To observe a holiday -   guardar um feriado

Today’s January,  20th. It’s the holiday of São Sebastião, the Patron saint of the city of Rio de Janeiro and I will tell you the story of how of I learned the word “observe”. It happened last year. I was talking to a friend from the US and halfway through the conversation he told me he didn’t work because it was a holiday there. He worked at bank and stuff. So, on the same day I talked to another friend from the US and asked her how she was enjoying the holiday and she said: “oh, no. It’s not a holiday for me. Only banks and few a other companies observe this holiday.” Wait! observe?? I thought. I had never heard this word in this context before and couldn’t understand it. She tried to explain, but I have to say that it’s a difficult word for a foreigner to understand. So let it go. A few weeks later I was talking to my father and I told him that it was a holiday in his home state. He told me: “É, eles guardam ele feriado lá. BINGO! That’s the word. Funny thing is that I never heard this word before. I even asked my friend and he never heard it either. So I figure it was either an old word or a word more popular in other parts of Brazil, like his home state.

She’s out of my league -  ela é muita areia pro meu caminhão

Today’s post falls in the love category. The equivalent in English to ela é muita areia pro meu caminhão is related to Baseball or other sport (I never really asked about it). League means liga, like in Liga dos Campeões (I am not soccer fan, but I am sure I heard this term before, especially concerning European teams).

— Man, why don’t you talk to Vanessa? She is gorgeous!

— I don’t know, man. She is so out of my league.

I wish -  quem me dera

Howdy! I’ve been a away for quite a long time, huh? I know. Now I am back with more words and expressions. Today’s post is related to when you wished something was true, but it’s not.

- Are we going to Paris this summer?

-I wish!  I won’t have any vacation this summer.

in installments -  a prestação

Ever wondered howv to say “a prestação” in English? You don’t need to worry anymore. You buy something in installments. But you need to know that it works a little bit different in the States than it does here. When you buy sometihng in installments there, you have 6 months to pay it. You decide how much you pay each month. For example, if you buy something for $500.00. You can pay $50.00 in the first month, $100.00 in the second etc.

Merry Christmas, everyone! To celebrate this speacial date, I have chosen a few special words.

Christmas lights – pisca-pisca

Secret Santa – amigo oculto/amigo secreto

Reindeer – rena

Sleigh – trenó

Santa Claus – Papai Noel

Christmas Eve – véspera de natal

ornaments – enfeites de natal

garland – guirlanda

egg nog – gemada (in cold places they like to drink around xmas)

That’s all I can think for now. Enjoy and happy holidays!

Potluck -  festa americana

Potluck is that kind of party in which everyone brings food or drink to share with the others. When the money is short, this is the best way to have a party or get together.

He’s such a character -  ele é uma figura

Man, your dad is such a character! He’s always making us laugh.

what do you mean? -  como assim?

I decided to write this post when I realized that most of my students don’t use this expression in English. They probably know what it means, but for some reason, they refuse or aren’t used enough to use it. It’s mostly used when you ask someone to explain something  he/she just told you because you didn’t understand.  It’s not used when you don’t understand the pronunciation or because you are in a noisy place and can’t hear very well.

You can also use it to show that you are shocked or annoyed about something someone has told you.

What do you mean you can’t find the keys?