In the era of high speed development of digital technologies, there is no problem to see a person even from a distance. However, many acquaintances still take place through correspondence or telephone communication.
Therefore, one of the important aspects when dating in Portuguese is the ability to describe your appearance or that of another person.
This will be the topic of our article today.
Adjectives
What information can we share about ourselves, family members, friends, and co-workers regarding our appearance? Of course, we start with height and body type:
| alto* | tall |
| baixo* | short |
| gordo* | fat |
| magro* | thin |
Then we can add a description of the age, without using specific numbers, and give an estimate:
| jovem, novo * | young |
| velho* | old |
| bonito* | beautiful |
| giro* | pretty |
Here are some examples:
A: O teu irmão é bonito. É alto e magro. (You brother is beautiful. He is tall and thin.)
B: Obrigada. Mas tu também tens um irmão muito giro. E é jovem. (Thank you. But you have a pretty brother too. And he is young.)
A: Sim, tenho. Mas ele é baixo e gordo. (Yes, I have. But he is short and fat.)
And also, starting from the top, we can describe the color of a person’s hair:
| loiro * | blond |
| moreno * | brown-haired |
| ruivo * | redhead |
* – Remember to change the masculine ending “o” to the feminine ending “a” when talking about a female object.
That is:
A: Este é o Miguel? (This is Miguel?)
B: Não, não é. Esse homem é moreno. Mas o Miguel é ruivo. Se calhar é o André. (No, he isn’t. This man is brown. But Miguel is … Maybe he is André.)
Agree, the portrait of a person is starting to become more understandable?
Verbs
The description of the person’s appearance adds details to the story that shape the person’s image. Therefore, it is important to know how to be more specific about physical features. Besides the verb “ser” (to be), we need the verb “ter” (to have).
| TER + | |
| CABELO | |
| curto comprido branco liso encaracolado |
short long grey straight curly |
| OLHOS | |
| claros escuros |
light dark |
| OTHER DETAILS | |
| barba bigode |
beard mustache |
Let’s use these words in sentences:
A Inês tem cabelo curto. A Anna tem cabelo comprido. O Mário tem cabelo branco.
A Vera tem olhos claros. A Vanda tem olhos escuros.
O Tiago tem barba. O Diogo tem bigode.
At the same point, we can make an addition. That is, for the adjectives “alto” and “baixo” we use the verb “ser“, and to say “he is of medium height” we use the verb “ter“: Ele tem altura média.
And only the word “óculos” (glasses) requires the verb “usar” (to use): O António usa óculos.
By the way, the verb “usar” is regular verb and is conjugated according to a rule that works for all regular verbs, namely:
| Verbo “usar” | |
| Eu | uso |
| Tu | usas |
| Ele, ela, você | usa |
| Nós | usamos |
| Eles, elas, vocês | usam |
Condition
In previous articles, we have repeatedly mentioned the difference between the verbs “ser” and “estar“, which have the same translation (to be). Namely, the verb “ser” describes a permanent state, and the verb “estar” describes a temporary state.
In addition to describing the appearance, we can also add a description of the state of the person, and for this we need the verb “estar“.
| ESTAR + | |
| preposition “com“ |
calor / frio hot / cold |
| fome / sede hungry / thirsty |
|
| sono sleepy |
|
| without preposition | doente / cansado ill / tired |
That is:
A Helena está com frio /calor.
A Sofia está com fome / sede.
O Paulo está com sono.
O Luís está doente / cansado.
Hobbies
Information that characterizes a person in a different way is his hobbies. In order to describe the basic activities of a person, we need to learn a few more verbs.
These verbs are regular and conjugated in the same way as “usar”: fumar (to smoke),dançar (to dance), cozinhar (to cook), cantar (to sing).
Look at the examples of their use:
A: Gostas de cantar? (Do you like singing?)
B: Cantar? Não muito. Porquê? (Singing? Not really. Why?)
A: Eu gosto de cantar fado. Tu gostas de quê? (I like singing fado. What do you like?)
B: Gosto de dançar zumba e cozinhar. Gostas de cozinhar? (I like dancing Zumba and cooking. Do you like cooking?)
A: Sim, gosto muito! (Yes, very much!)
And you will see the conjugation forms of two more irregular, but very important verbs below in the tables:
| Verbo “ler” | |
| Eu | leio |
| Tu | lês |
| Ele, ela, você | lê |
| Nós | lemos |
| Eles, elas, vocês | leem |
| Verbo “ver” | |
| Eu | vejo |
| Tu | vês |
| Ele, ela, você | vê |
| Nós | vemos |
| Eles, elas, vocês | veem |
Let’s see how they are used in a dialog:
A: Gostas de ver televisão? (Do you like watching TV?)
B: Não, não gosto. Não tenho televisão em casa. Eu leio muito. E tu? (No, I don’t. I don’t have TV at home. I read a lot. And you?)
A: Não gosto de ler, mas vejo televisão todos os dias. (I don’t like reading, but I watch TV every day.)
B: Ok. Tchau! (Ok. Goodbye!)
Questions
How to ask about activities and preferences, we can learn from the dialogs above. How to ask “how you look like?” and “how are you?” (physical condition), we will tell you now.
Interrogative word “como” + verb “ser”
We use the interrogative word “como” to describe physical appearance. However, to find out the details of the appearance, we use the verb “ser“:
A: Como és, Catarina? (How are you looks like, Catarina?)
B: Sou loira e tenho cabelo comprido. Tenho altura média e sou magra. E tu Diogo, como és? (I’m blond and have a long hair. I’m medium height and thin. And you, Diogo, how you look like?)
A: Sou baixo e uso óculos. Tenho bigode. (I’m short and use glasses. I have mustache.)
Interrogative word “como” + verb “estar”:
If we want to know about the physical condition of a person at the moment, instead of the verb “ser“, we use the verb “estar“:
A: Como é a tua mãe? (What is your mother?)
B: Ela é ruiva e tem os olhos claros. (She is redhead and has the bright eyes.)
A: E como ela está? (And how is she?)
B: Está doente. Está sempre com sono. (She is ill. She is always sleepy.)
A: Que pena! Estás com fome? Podemos ir a um café. (What a pity! Are you hungry? We can go to the café.)
B: Estou com sede. Vamos. (I’m thirsty. Let’s go.)
Interrogative words “qual/quais”:
The interrogative pronoun “qual” helps us identify something or someone. The plural form of the pronoun “qual” is “quais“. Look at the examples:
Qual de vocês é a Rita? (Which one of you is Rita?)
Quais são os teus pais? (Who are your parents?)
Qual é a sua profissão? (What is you profession?)
Quais são os seus filhos? (Who are your children?)
Conclusion
Describing the appearance and condition of a person, we distinguish one person from another. It is important when meeting and communicating – to give as much comprehensive information as possible. However, articles cannot replace full-fledged Portuguese lessons. So join us!