When planning your trip or even moving to Portugal, absolutely everyone is faced with the question of choosing a hotel, apartment or house to stay. We can talk about this topic endlessly, but we want to focus on the basics, such as the necessary vocabulary and the minimum necessary grammar, in order to navigate both in the description of the premises and when visiting the property in person.
Parts of the apartment / house
First you need to find out what floor the apartment is on or how many floors are in the house. Floor in Portuguese – o andar.
The most necessary rooms in the apartment fit in three words: o quarto (room/bedroom), a cozinha (kitchen), a casa de banho (toilet/bathroom). Most Portuguese apartments also have a room called “a sala” (living room). In the description you can see the typology of the apartment: T1, T2 and so on. The figure shows the number of bedrooms, but in such apartments there is always a living room.
As a nice addition, the apartment can also have a varanda (balcony), o terraço (terrace), a despensa (storage room), a garagem (garage). The bathroom may have an o duche (shower) or a banheira (bath).
Furniture
The main necessary furniture in the room is a cama (bed), o roupeiro (wardrobe), a secretária (desk), a cadeira (chair). To fill the living room space, we need to learn words such as sofá (sofa), mesa de centro (coffee table), a estante (shelving) and, for example, a televisão (TV).
By the way, the table in the kitchen will be called “a mesa“, the refrigerator – o frigorifico, and the stove – o fogão. And, of course, you will need an o espelho (mirror) in any part of the apartment. Now you know what to look for on Portuguese furniture sites.
Needed verbs
In this topic, we will need five basic verbs. These are “ser” (to be), “estar” (to be), “haver” (to be), “ficar” (to be situated), and “ter” (to have). No, we weren’t wrong. The first three verbs are indeed translated in the same way, but have a semantic difference. So, for example, the verb “ser” describes a constant characteristic of an object (material, color, shape, size):
- É uma mesa redonda, branca e de madeira. (It is a round, white wood table.)
- O roupeiro é alto e moderno.(The wardrobe is tall and modern.)
At this time, the verb “estar” describes the temporary position of furniture and objects. Temporary, because at any time you can make a permutation:
- O espelho está na casa de banho. (Mirror is in the bathroom.)
- O frigorífico está na cozinha. (Refrigerator is in the kitchen.)
But the verb “haver” speaks of the existence of objects, but does not characterize their quality and location. By the way, the verb “haver” has only one conjugation form for any number of objects: há.
- Neste apartamento há uma varanda? (Does this apartment have a balcony?)
- No apartamento há duas casas de banho. (The apartment has two bathrooms.)
In this case, the verb “haver” can be replaced by the verb “ter” (to have), but for this you need to know all the forms of its conjugation.
- Aquela casa tem o aquecimento central? (Does that house have central heating?)
- Quantos quartos tem o apartamento? (How many rooms are there in the apartment?)
We can use the verb “ficar” to indicate the address of the desired object or the floor on which it is located:
- O Hotel fica na praça central. (The hotel is located on the main street.)
- O apartamento fica no segundo andar. (The apartment is on the second floor.)
Comparison
To choose the best at a nice price, you must not stop at one option, but consider several, compare them and make a decision. In order to learn how to compare two places to live, you need to learn a few simple rules. For example, by adding the word “mais” (more), we emphasize the quality of the object:
- Este sofá é mais conveniente. (This sofa is more comfortable.)
- Aqui a sala é mais soalheira. (The living room is sunnier here.)
In order not only to highlight the quality of an object, but also to enhance its quality in relation to another object, we add “do que” to “mais”:
- A cozinha desta casa é mais espaçosa do que a cozinha da outra. (The kitchen of this house is larger than the kitchen of another house.)
- A casa de banho deste apartamento é mais seca do que a do outro. (The bathroom in this apartment is drier than the other.)
There are four important exceptions to remember because they allow for a broad characterization, an opinion, and no detail. This:
- melhor (better), pior (worse), maior (bigger), menor (smaller)
Aqui a casa de banho é maior, mas é pior, porque tem humidade. (Here the bathroom is bigger, but worse because it has moisture.) - Esta opção é melhor, mas é mais cara. (This option is better, but more expensive.)
If we want to make the object the most-most, that is, to use the superlative degree of comparison, then we just need to add the suffix “-íssimo“. We must also change the ending depending on the type and number of objects.
- A fachada do prédio é lindíssima. (The facade of the building is the most beautiful.)
- Os preços dos apartamentos são altíssimos. (Apartment prices are the highest.)
Here, too, there will be some exceptions that you just need to learn by heart so as not to say some stupidity:
- ótimo (excellent), péssimo (worst), felicíssimo (happiest), facílimo (simplest), dificílimo (hardest)
- A localização do hotel é ótima. (The location of this hotel is excellent.)
- Estamos felicíssimos, porque comprámos o melhor apartamento! (We are the happiest because we bought the best apartment!)
There is another special word – enorme (huge). It can hardly be called a superlative form of comparison, but it fulfills its role for the word “grande” (big).
Conclusion
The basic information of this article allows you to understand in which direction to move for further study of this topic. Moreover, it helps to describe the property or furniture for sale, ask the right question to decide on a booking or purchase, understand the description of the ad and comments. As you can see, the whole topic can be covered with just five verbs, and the vocabulary can be replenished on your own using constructions and ideas from the examples. In addition, for example, the comparison skill is suitable for a large number of topics.
Do you want to be able to speak about this and other useful subjects 100% in Portuguese? Just do a Portuguese course in one of our language schools in Portugal and it will be easy!