By Linas
Could you guess the Portuguese word for smart or, hint, inteligent:
Now, the Portuguese word for person is similar as in English except it has a few changes:
Portuguese for person is pessoa.
So, how would you say:
Now, say:
What if you wanted to say "smarter"? That’s very simple - you say more smart (or more inteligent).
The Portuguese word for more is mais.
There is a very famous Portuguese saying mais ou menos which means more or less. You hear it all the time if you listen to Portuguese.
So, how would you say:
Now, English only uses more for certain words. You can say more interesting but you can’t say more fast. In Portuguese, you use mais all the time (except maybe 3 words or something).
It is handy to know that the Portuguese word for than is the same as the Portuguese word for that - que.
Say:
The Portuguese word for that (as in: that thing) is esse (or, of course, essa if it’s feminine).
So, say:
Now, if you remember, the saying was more or less - mais ou menos. Guess how you would say:
Alright, what if you wanted to say better? You could say mais bom but that’s not how it works (you don’t say more good in English as well). There is a special word for Portuguese in it:
The Portuguese word for better is melhor.
Now, know that:
Portuguese for book is livro.
The word is almost impossible to forget because of the existance of the word library.
So, how would you say:
For the fun of it, I’ll tell you the word big and bigger (both of them you already know indirectly).
The Portuguese word for big is grande.
Think of grandeur and you got it. Say:
Now, what do you think bigger would be? Mais grande? It should be that but the Portuguese have another word for it as well:
The Portuguese word for bigger is maior.
You know this word already because the English word mayor is the same word, and, mayor means in fact bigger (a thing to note: that a in Portuguese maior is pronounced differently than in mayor but otherwise the words are the same).
So, how would you say:
Alright. Last thing for today. What if you wanted to say the most interesting, the smartest, the biggest etc.? Well, you say it by saying the more interesting, the more smart, the better, etc.
So, how would you say:
If you wanted to say the most interesting book, you would say the book the most interesting:
What about the best? Well, it’s simply the more good or, as it works in Portuguese, the better. Say it:
In conclusion: comparing this is very easy in Portuguese.
And this is the end of the Portuguese course (for now). Hopefully you found it fun and instructive!