Portuguese · Upper intermediate (B2) · Chapter 4 of 12
Science and technology
Ciência e tecnologia
Explain how things work in Portuguese: the passive in all tenses, passive se, impersonal você and a gente, and cause and effect with graças a and portanto.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Explain how something works, step by step
- Use the passive with ser in all tenses, and estar + participle for a result
- Use passive se and impersonal você and a gente
- Link cause and effect with devido a, graças a, portanto and fazer com que
Listen
Clarice, a guide at a wind farm in Rio Grande do Norte, shows a group round. Evandro, a retired teacher, and Kauã, an engineering student, ask questions. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Clarice
Bom dia, pessoal, sejam bem-vindos. Esta usina eólica foi inaugurada em 2014 e hoje tem sessenta aerogeradores: são essas torres brancas que vocês estão vendo.
Good morning, everyone, welcome. This wind farm was opened in 2014 and today it has sixty wind turbines: they're those white towers you can see.
Evandro
Com licença, moça. Por que é que se constroem tantas usinas aqui no Rio Grande do Norte?
Excuse me, miss. Why are so many wind farms built here in Rio Grande do Norte?
Clarice
Boa pergunta, seu Evandro. É devido ao vento: aqui ele é forte e constante quase o ano todo. Graças a isso, o estado é hoje um dos maiores produtores de energia eólica do Brasil.
Good question, Mr Evandro. It's because of the wind: here it's strong and steady almost all year round. Thanks to that, the state is now one of the biggest producers of wind power in Brazil.
Kauã
E como a energia é gerada, exatamente?
And how exactly is the energy generated?
Clarice
O vento faz com que as pás girem. Esse movimento é transformado em eletricidade por um gerador que fica no alto da torre. E todas as torres estão ligadas a uma central de controle.
The wind makes the blades turn. That movement is turned into electricity by a generator at the top of the tower. And all the towers are connected to a control centre.
Evandro
E essas pás são enormes, não são? Daqui de baixo, você nem imagina o tamanho.
And those blades are huge, aren't they? From down here, you can't imagine the size.
Clarice
São, sim. Cada pá tem mais de cinquenta metros, e a torre tem cerca de cem. Elas são fabricadas aqui mesmo no Nordeste e trazidas de caminhão.
Yes, they are. Each blade is more than fifty metres long, and the tower is about a hundred. They're made right here in the Northeast and brought by lorry.
Kauã
E onde a energia é armazenada? Tem bateria?
And where is the energy stored? Are there batteries?
Clarice
Por enquanto, quase nada fica armazenado aqui. A energia vai direto para a rede elétrica e é distribuída para o país inteiro. Nos últimos anos, têm sido testadas grandes baterias, mas ainda são caras.
For now, almost nothing is stored here. The energy goes straight into the power grid and is distributed to the whole country. Large batteries have been tested in recent years, but they're still expensive.
Evandro
E para nós, consumidores, isso serve para quê? A minha conta de luz continua bem cara.
And what good does it do us consumers? My electricity bill is still very expensive.
Clarice
Entendo. Mas, graças às eólicas, as usinas térmicas, que são mais caras e poluem mais, são menos usadas. Portanto, isso ajuda a segurar o preço da energia.
I understand. But thanks to wind power, thermal power stations, which are more expensive and pollute more, are used less. So it helps to keep the price of energy down.
Kauã
Que interessante. Eu adoraria fazer um estágio numa usina dessas. Vou mandar o meu currículo.
How interesting. I'd love to do an internship at a wind farm like this. I'm going to send my CV.
Understand
The passive in all tenses
The passive is + participle, and the participle agrees with the subject: , . You can use it in any tense by changing . Add () for who or what does the action: .
+ participle describes the action; + participle describes the result, the state afterwards: (someone closed it at six) vs (it's closed now). + participle is also common: .
| Tense | Passive | English |
|---|---|---|
| present | The energy is generated by the wind. | |
| preterite | The wind farm was opened in 2014. | |
| compound perfect | Batteries have been tested (lately). | |
| future | The wind farm will be expanded. | |
| in progress | A new tower is being built. | |
| result | The towers are connected to the grid. |
Passive se and impersonal subjects
With , you don't say who does the action: (energy is produced). In writing, goes after the verb at the start of a sentence and the verb agrees with the noun: , . In everyday speech, goes before the verb and many people don't make the agreement: . It's very common, but avoid it in formal writing.
In conversation, Brazilians often use , or the form as a general “you, people”: (you can't imagine the size), , .
- Produz-se muita energia eólica no Nordeste.A lot of wind power is produced in the Northeast.
- Vendem-se casas.Houses for sale.
- Por que se constroem tantas usinas aqui?Why are so many power stations built here?
Cause and effect
(because of, due to) sounds more formal than . means “to be for”: (What's that for?). (thanks to) is for good results. (therefore, so) and (so that, with the result that) introduce a consequence.
+ subjunctive means “to make something happen”: (The wind makes the blades turn). After a past verb, use the imperfect subjunctive: .
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| / | because of, due to |
| thanks to | |
| therefore, so | |
| so that, with the result that | |
| + subjunctive | to make (something happen) |
More in the grammar: The passive and se · Connectors and discourse markers
New words
- a usina eólicawind farm · feminine; also ; : power station
- o aerogeradorwind turbine · masculine
- devido abecause of, due to
- o ventowind · masculine
- graças athanks to
- gerarto generate · : the energy is generated
- a páblade (of a turbine); shovel · feminine
- girarto turn, to spin
- cerca deabout, around (a number) · : about a hundred metres
- o caminhãolorry, truck · : by lorry; Portugal:
- armazenarto store
- a rede elétricapower grid · feminine
- segurarto hold · : to keep the price down
- portantotherefore, so
Practise
1.Which sentence means “The wind farm will be expanded”?
2.Complete with the subjunctive of : “The wind makes the blades turn.”
The wind makes the blades turn.
3.Complete with the participle of : “The wind farm was opened in 2014.”
The wind farm was opened in 2014.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.The energy is generated by the wind.
5.Match the Portuguese with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.Which sentence is correct in formal writing?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
O vento faz com que as pás girem.
The wind makes the blades turn.
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.