Portuguese · Upper intermediate (B2) · Chapter 3 of 12
Film, books and media
Cinema, livros e mídia
Talk about films and books in Portuguese: summarising a plot, o melhor é que, the perfect subjunctive, and literary past forms like dissera.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Summarise the plot of a film or book
- Give a nuanced opinion with o melhor, o pior é que and valer a pena
- Use the perfect subjunctive: espero que você tenha gostado
- Recognise literary forms like fizera, dissera and disse-lhe
Listen
After a screening at the Gramado Film Festival, Helena and Vítor, friends from São Paulo, discuss the film and the novel it's based on. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Vítor
E aí, Helena, o que você achou? Espero que você tenha gostado, porque fui eu que escolhi o filme.
So, Helena, what did you think? I hope you liked it, because I was the one who chose the film.
Helena
Gostei, sim, mas achei um pouco lento. O melhor foi a atuação da protagonista: sem dúvida ela vai ganhar algum prêmio.
I did like it, but I found it a bit slow. The best thing was the lead actress's performance: she's going to win some award, no doubt.
Vítor
Concordo. E você sabia que o filme é baseado num romance? Eu li o livro no ano passado.
I agree. And did you know the film is based on a novel? I read the book last year.
Helena
Sério? Não fazia ideia. É muito diferente do filme?
Really? I had no idea. Is it very different from the film?
Vítor
A história é a mesma. Se passa numa cidade pequena da serra gaúcha, nos anos setenta, e conta a história de uma professora que volta para a cidade onde nasceu depois que o pai morre.
The story is the same. It's set in a small town in the mountains of Rio Grande do Sul in the seventies, and it tells the story of a teacher who goes back to the town where she was born after her father dies.
Helena
E lá ela descobre as cartas que o pai tinha escrito para a mãe, não é?
And there she finds the letters her father had written to her mother, right?
Vítor
Isso. Mas o livro trata muito mais da relação dela com o irmão. O pior é que o roteiro cortou quase tudo sobre ele.
That's it. But the book deals much more with her relationship with her brother. The worst thing is that the script cut almost everything about him.
Helena
Talvez por isso o final tenha me parecido tão estranho. Duvido que quem não leu o livro tenha entendido por que ela vende a casa.
Maybe that's why the ending seemed so strange to me. I doubt that anyone who hasn't read the book understood why she sells the house.
Vítor
É verdade. Sem contar que o livro é bem mais difícil. A autora escreve de um jeito meio antigo, com frases como “Olhou-a e disse-lhe que nunca a esquecera”.
That's true. Not to mention that the book is much harder. The author writes in a rather old-fashioned way, with sentences like “He looked at her and told her he had never forgotten her”.
Helena
Hoje em dia ninguém fala assim. E a crítica, gostou do filme?
Nobody talks like that nowadays. And the critics, did they like the film?
Vítor
Gostou muito. Dizem que é o favorito para o Kikito de melhor filme. Mas, na minha opinião, vale mais a pena ler o livro.
They loved it. People say it's the favourite for the Kikito for best film. But in my opinion, the book is more worth reading.
Helena
Então me empresta? Quero ver se o final faz mais sentido no romance.
Will you lend it to me, then? I want to see if the ending makes more sense in the novel.
Understand
Summarising a plot
To tell the story of a film or book, Portuguese uses the present tense, as English does: . Use the pluperfect for what happened before the story starts: .
+ adjective turns an adjective into “the … thing”: (the best thing), … (the worst thing is that…), … (the strange thing is that…). It's a very natural way to give a nuanced opinion.
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| … / … | The film is about… |
| … | The book deals with… |
| … | It tells the story of… |
| … | It's set in… |
| … | It's based on… |
| … | At the end… |
| … / … | The best / worst thing is that… |
The perfect subjunctive: tenha gostado
The perfect subjunctive is the present subjunctive of + a participle: . Use it after the usual subjunctive triggers () when you talk about something that has already happened or may have happened.
Compare: (I hope you'll like it, before the film) and (I hope you liked it, after the film).
- Espero que você tenha gostado do filme.I hope you liked the film.
- Duvido que ele tenha lido o livro.I doubt he's read the book.
- Não acho que eles tenham entendido o final.I don't think they understood the ending.
- Talvez ela tenha ganhado o prêmio.Maybe she's won the award.
Literary forms: dissera and disse-lhe
Novels and older texts use forms you will read but rarely hear. The simple pluperfect means the same as + participle. It comes from the preterite with -ram changed to -ra: → (had said), → (had done), → (had forgotten).
In literary and formal writing, object pronouns often go after the verb, joined with a hyphen: (told him / her), (looked at her). In everyday speech a Brazilian would say or and .
| Literary | Everyday speech | English |
|---|---|---|
| She had never forgotten him. | ||
| He told him the truth. | ||
| He looked at her in silence. |
More in the grammar: Tenho feito and tinha feito · The present subjunctive
New words
- escolherto choose · : I was the one who chose
- lento / lentaslow
- a atuaçãoperformance, acting · feminine
- o / a protagonistamain character; lead actor or actress
- ganharto win; to earn; to get · : to win an award
- o prêmioaward, prize · masculine
- baseado embased on · for a feminine noun
- o romancenovel · masculine; also “romance”
- morrerto die
- tratar deto deal with, to be about
- o roteiroscript, screenplay · masculine; : to cut
- parecerto seem · : the ending seemed strange to me
- a críticathe critics; review · feminine; : a critic
- emprestarto lend · : Will you lend it to me?
Practise
1.After the film, you say: “I hope you liked it.”
2.Complete with the perfect subjunctive: “I doubt he's read the book.”
I doubt he's read the book.
3.Complete: “The film is set in a small town.”
The film is set in a small town.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.The worst thing is that the script cut almost everything.
5.Match the Portuguese with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.In a novel you read: What does mean?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Espero que você tenha gostado.
I hope you liked it.
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.