Note from Janelle
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet
The verb to be. Could there be a more philosophical verb? It’s the foundation of how we express our life. Who we are. What truth is. What state we are in.
In Portuguese, as we learn below, there are two forms of “to be,” one representing a permanent form of being, and one representing a temporary form of being.
Miguel, our correspondent from Lisbon, recorded examples of each form of the verb “to be” for us below.
He also recorded how to respond to basic conversational questions such as, “How are you?” and “Where are you from?”
To my great joy and amusement, to say, “I am an American” in Portuguese sounds very similar to ordering an Americano coffee made with soy milk in English.
I’m finding that the more I can attach a Portuguese phrase to something meaningful, and then repeat it, the easier it is to remember.
Miguel is an excellent teacher, and I’m looking forward to using these recordings to practice saying in Portuguese, “I recently moved from the U.S. to Portugal!”
I hope you enjoy Miguel’s audio Portuguese lessons.
Obrigada Miguel.
📢 Teaching Style
by Miguel Abambres
No grammar rules. No books. No formalities. It’s just like learning from experience as if you were living in Portugal. The advantage is that you don’t need to be in Portugal since I’m Portuguese and we’ll meet on video group calls every month. There you will learn, practice, and ask anything about plenty of different real life scenarios.
There will be 1 or 2 online interactive quizzes per month to assess your knowledge in a funny way (and you can answer them anonymously if you want).
📢 A more comprehensive teaching will be always provided through the live lessons on Signal.
Verb To Be
Verb To Be → Verbo Ser / Estar
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