Descrever pessoas e animais em português - Como é ele? - What is he like?

Every week we send out an email with a weekly theme containing: words; a link to a Quizlet set to practise and play with the words; stories or dialogues at 3 different levels and an invitation to join the weekly chat group. Estava a pensar - I was thinking - that it would be good to put the content of this email online in an easy to access place for everyone to see, so thought I would revive the blog! ** If you’d like to sign up to the email, you can do so here.

This week’s theme is describing people - descrever pessoas.

We might want to say something about what people or animals look like in European Portuguese.

Por exemplo - He´s blonde, she’s got dark hair, their chldren are tall, my cat is black etc (Ele é loiro, ela tem cabelo escuro, os seus filhos são altos, o meu gato é preto )

Here we need to know the words, and use the correct verb (usually ser) and, for describing words, to ensure the endings are correct. So this week’s vocabulary is phrases rather than just words to exemplify this.

ele tem olhos azuis - he has blue eyes

ela tem olhos castanhos - she has brown eyes

ele tem barba - he has a beard

ela tem cabelo curto - she has short hair

ela tem cabelo comprido - she has long hair

ele é alto - he is tall

ela é baixa - she is short

ele usa óculos - he wears glasses

ela é loira - she is blond

ele é moreno - he is dark haired

Here’s a link to a Quizlet set with the phrases for you to play about with. Enjoy!

If you would like to join one of the weekly chat groups - we run two weekly - A0/A1 Weds 13h-13h30, A2/B1 - Thurs 13h-13h45, all details are in the weekly newsletter - sign up here.

AND because we learn really well from stories and seeing examples of correct language, every week I put together 3 stories on the week’s theme with examples of the week’s words and phrases in a useful context. I strongly believe that we can learn a lot from reading, these mini-texts with translations are just the right length for you to digest easily. (look at the translations first if that helps!)

The stories for this week with the translations below are here:

A1 – Na escola

Na minha turma há muitos colegas diferentes. O João é alto e moreno. Ele tem olhos azuis e usa óculos. A Inês é baixa e loira. Ela tem cabelo curto e olhos castanhos. O professor é simpático e tem barba. Ele fala devagar e ajuda todos os alunos. Na aula de português, nós falamos, lemos e escrevemos. Eu gosto muito da minha turma. Todos são amigos e gostam de aprender. Depois da aula, vamos ao café perto da escola. Lá, bebemos sumo ou café e falamos da lição. É um dia normal, mas eu fico contente porque gosto de estudar com os meus amigos.

A2 – Um encontro no parque

No domingo, o Miguel encontra a Sofia no parque. Ele é alto, moreno e tem barba. Usa óculos escuros porque há muito sol. A Sofia é baixa e tem cabelo comprido e olhos castanhos. Ela é muito sorridente. Eles falam sobre o trabalho e os planos para o verão. Miguel quer fazer férias na praia e Sofia prefere ir às montanhas. Depois de caminhar um pouco, sentam-se num banco e compram gelados. O Miguel pede um de morango e a Sofia um de chocolate. É uma conversa simples, mas divertida. No fim, trocam números de telefone e combinam ver-se outra vez.

B1 – Uma nova colega no escritório

Ontem chegou uma nova colega ao escritório, chamada Marta. Ela é loira, tem cabelo comprido e olhos castanhos. É bastante simpática e fala com todos logo no primeiro dia. O Pedro, que é alto e tem barba, ajuda-a a instalar-se no computador. A Marta diz que gosta muito de trabalhar em equipa. À hora de almoço, o grupo vai comer a um restaurante perto. Conversam sobre viagens, hobbies e filmes. Descobrem que têm muito em comum. No final do dia, todos ficam com a sensação de que a Marta vai ser uma excelente colega. O ambiente no escritório torna-se mais alegre e positivo.

Translations : )

A1 – At school

In my class there are many different classmates. João is tall and dark-haired. He has blue eyes and wears glasses. Inês is short and blond. She has short hair and brown eyes. The teacher is nice and has a beard. He speaks slowly and helps all the students. In the Portuguese lesson, we speak, read, and write. I like my class very much. Everyone is friendly and likes learning. After class, we go to the café near the school. There, we drink juice or coffee and talk about the lesson. It’s an ordinary day, but I’m happy because I like studying with my friends.

A2 – A meeting in the park

On Sunday, Miguel meets Sofia in the park. He is tall, dark-haired and has a beard. He wears sunglasses because it’s very sunny. Sofia is short and has long hair and brown eyes. She smiles a lot. They talk about work and their plans for the summer. Miguel wants to go on holiday to the beach, and Sofia prefers the mountains. After walking a bit, they sit on a bench and buy ice creams. Miguel orders strawberry and Sofia chocolate. It’s a simple but fun conversation. At the end, they exchange phone numbers and agree to see each other again.

B1 – A new colleague in the office

Yesterday a new colleague arrived at the office, called Marta. She is blond, has long hair and brown eyes. She is very friendly and talks to everyone on her first day. Pedro, who is tall and has a beard, helps her set up her computer. Marta says she really enjoys working in a team. At lunchtime, the group goes to eat at a nearby restaurant. They talk about travel, hobbies and films, and discover they have a lot in common. By the end of the day, everyone feels that Marta will be an excellent colleague. The atmosphere in the office becomes more cheerful and positive.