Portuguese · Intermediate (B1) · Chapter 12 of 12
Review: telling your story
Contando a sua história
Review B1 Portuguese with a life story: all the past tenses, the three subjunctives, the personal infinitive and time expressions like aos dez anos.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Tell a life story with the preterite, imperfect and pluperfect
- Place events in time: aos dez anos, em 1975, no começo, desde então
- Use the three subjunctives: espero que, quando eu tiver, se eu pudesse
- Use the personal infinitive: para eu poder trabalhar
Listen
On a local radio programme in Ribeirão Preto, the presenter Fábio interviews Maria Aparecida Santos, 74, who ran a small restaurant for forty years. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Fábio
Boa tarde, ouvintes. A nossa convidada de hoje é a Dona Maria Aparecida Santos, que acaba de publicar um livro de receitas. Seja bem-vinda, Dona Cida.
Good afternoon, listeners. Our guest today is Maria Aparecida Santos, who has just published a recipe book. Welcome, Dona Cida.
Cida
Boa tarde, Fábio. Obrigada pelo convite.
Good afternoon, Fábio. Thank you for inviting me.
Fábio
A senhora nasceu aqui em Ribeirão Preto?
Were you born here in Ribeirão Preto?
Cida
Não, nasci numa fazenda no interior de Minas. Aos dez anos, eu já cozinhava para a família toda.
No, I was born on a farm in the countryside of Minas Gerais. At ten, I was already cooking for the whole family.
Fábio
E como a senhora veio parar aqui?
And how did you end up here?
Cida
Em 1975, eu me casei e a gente se mudou para cá, porque o meu marido tinha conseguido um emprego numa usina. No começo foi difícil, eu não conhecia ninguém.
In 1975 I got married and we moved here, because my husband had got a job at a sugar mill. At first it was hard, I didn't know anyone.
Fábio
E a pensão? Como começou?
And the restaurant? How did it start?
Cida
Os vizinhos sentiam o cheiro da minha comida e pediam para almoçar lá em casa. Um dia, decidi abrir uma pensão. Desde então, nunca mais parei.
The neighbours used to smell my cooking and ask to have lunch at my house. One day, I decided to open a little restaurant. I've never stopped since.
Fábio
Quarenta anos cozinhando e criando os filhos ao mesmo tempo. Como a senhora conseguiu?
Forty years of cooking and bringing up your children at the same time. How did you manage?
Cida
Com muito trabalho e muita ajuda. A minha mãe cuidava das crianças para eu poder trabalhar.
With a lot of work and a lot of help. My mother looked after the children so that I could work.
Fábio
Se a senhora pudesse voltar no tempo, faria alguma coisa diferente?
If you could go back in time, would you do anything differently?
Cida
Não, faria tudo igual. Agora espero que os ouvintes gostem do livro. E quando eu tiver mais tempo, quero escrever outro.
No, I'd do everything the same. Now I hope the listeners like the book. And when I have more time, I want to write another one.
Understand
A life in the past
A life story uses all the past tenses from B1. The preterite gives the events (); the imperfect gives habits and background (); the pluperfect goes back one step ().
Years are read as normal numbers: is ; is . Ages use : (at the age of ten).
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| at (the age of) ten | |
| in 1975 | |
| at first, at the beginning | |
| one day | |
| since then, ever since | |
| years later | |
| nowadays |
The three subjunctives
In B1 you've learned three subjunctives. The present follows wishes, feelings, doubts and advice. The future follows and about the future. The imperfect follows for unreal situations. Brazilians use all three every day.
| Subjunctive | Typical trigger | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present () | ||
| future () | + future | |
| imperfect () | + unreal situation |
The personal infinitive, once more
After and , the personal infinitive (ch 8) shows who does the action: (so that I could work). With and / it has an ending: , (after the children grew up). It's the everyday alternative to + subjunctive.
- Trabalhei muito para os meus filhos estudarem.I worked hard so that my children could study.
- Depois de eles se formarem, eu fiquei mais tranquila.After they graduated, I felt calmer.
More in the grammar: The future subjunctive
New words
- o ouvinte / a ouvintelistener
- o convidado / a convidadaguest · from : to invite
- o livro de receitasrecipe book, cookbook · : recipe; also a doctor's prescription
- nascerto be born · : I was born in Minas
- a fazendafarm · : in the countryside of Minas Gerais
- vir pararto end up (somewhere) · : how did you end up here?
- o empregojob
- a usinasugar mill; power plant
- ninguémnobody, anybody (after não) · : I didn't know anybody
- o cheirosmell · : to smell
- a pensãosmall home-style restaurant; guesthouse; pension
- desde entãosince then, ever since
- criar os filhosto bring up the children
- cuidar deto look after, to take care of · : to look after the children
Practise
1.Complete: “Quando eu … mais tempo, quero escrever outro livro.”
2.Complete with the pluperfect of : “My husband had got a job at a sugar mill.”
My husband had got a job at a sugar mill.
3.Complete with the present subjunctive of : “I hope the listeners like the book.”
I hope the listeners like the book.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.My mother looked after the children so that I could work.
5.Match the Portuguese with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.Complete: “Se eu … voltar no tempo, faria tudo igual.”
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Nasci no interior e me mudei para a cidade aos vinte anos.
I was born in the countryside and moved to the city at twenty.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.