Today we’re going to talk about a serious topic – how to talk about responsibility and necessity. And in the context of this topic, let’s analyze a little more grammar and the reading rule.
Verbs
Necessity and obligation in Portuguese is expressed by the verbs “ter de/que” and “precisar de”. The verb “precisar” is regular, so it is conjugated according to the conjugation rule for verbs ending in “-ar”.
First, let’s figure out what is considered a necessity and what is considered an obligation. Necessity is a situation in which it is necessary/possible to choose one option, and a duty/obligation is when there is no choice. Sounds like the harsh truth of life, but overall, do you agree?
Then, the verb “ter de/que” expresses both necessity and duty, while the verb “precisar de” only expresses necessity.
By the way, in Portuguese, obligation is “obrigação”; and necessity is “necessidade”.
Examples will complement this information:
Você tem de/que desligar o telemóvel no teatro. (You must turn off your phone at the theater.)
Tenho de/Preciso de lavar a loiça agora. (I need to wash the dishes now.)
Note that we can say both “ter de” and “ter que”. The preposition after the verb “ter” (“de” or “que”) does not change the meaning of the phrasal verb.
Let’s imagine that we have come to the bank and we need to take a number to get in line. What verb should we use in this case? Do we feel a necessity or a duty?
If we say “nós precisamos de tirar uma senha”, it means that we have a choice. However, in fact, there is no choice, because otherwise we will not get the desired result – consultation at the bank. Therefore, taking a number here is more of a duty than a necessity: nós temos de tirar uma senha.
Exclamation
To create an exclamation point and give the phrase an emotional flavor, we put the word “que” in front of the adjective. Let’s see examples and you will understand everything, that is, you will feel.
A: Tenho de ir para os Estados Unidos da América para trabalhar. (I have to travel to the USA to work).
B: Que interessante! Posso ir contigo? Preciso de visitar a minha namorada lá. Quero fazer uma surpresa. (How interesting! Can I go with you? I need to visit my girlfriend there. I want to surprise you.)
A: Que fofo! Claro que podes! (How cute! Of course you can!)
B: Que fixe! Obrigado! (How cool! Thanks!)
Learning a new language, a person is always faced with the fact that he does not know how to express emotions: to rejoice, praise, sympathize. The word “que” is universal. It reinforces both negative and positive meanings.
Indefinite pronouns
Many foreign languages have indefinite pronouns that do not require an additional noun. They have full meaning, acting as a subject in a sentence, but they do not indicate anything or someone specific.
That is, for people we use indefinite pronouns: todos (everything), alguém (someone, anybody), ninguém (nobody). And also, for people and objects there are such indefinite pronouns as: tudo (everything), algo (something, anything), nada (nothing).
In the examples, you can see their application:
Alguém mais tem que vir hoje? Ninguém? (Does anyone else have to come today? No one?)
Preciso de comprar algo para a Helena. (I need to buy something for Helena.)
Todos têm de analizar bem a informação. (Everyone should analyze the information well.)
And also, if the verb comes after the words “ninguém” and “nada” in a sentence, then the particle “não” should not be used to express the negative meaning. In other words: Nada é barato aqui. (Nothing is cheap here.)
But if “ninguém” and “nada” come after the verb, then the particle “não” is required: Não tens de fazer nada à noite. (You shouldn’t do anything at night.)
Definitive pronouns
The definitive pronouns include the word “todo” (everyone, all), which is declined by gender and number: toda a água (all water), todos os dias (every day), todas as noites (every night). You can see that this pronoun necessarily requires a noun after it.
In addition, it is easy to confuse the indefinite pronoun “todos” and the definite pronoun “todos“. How do you feel the difference?
It should be remembered that “todos” (all) is a general concept, a complete quantity, while “todo/a/os/as” is the whole and each of a specific type.
In other words:
Todos têm de dormir todos os dias. (Everyone should sleep every day.)
Ele é o melhor cantor de todos em todo o Mundo. (He’s the best singer in the whole world.)
Pronunciation
Today we want to draw your attention to the words that end with the letter “l”: Portugal, casal (couple), lateral (side). According to the rules of reading in Portuguese, such words have the last stressed syllable.
However, you’ve probably noticed words like: agradável (pleasant), álcool (alcohol), fácil (simple), etc., where there is a sign above the vowel. In this case, the stressed syllable is the one where there is a vowel with a sign above it.
Moreover, if a word has a sign above a letter, then in any word this letter will be stressed. In all other cases, the stressed syllable is the penultimate one.
Conclusion
Many people believe they can learn Portuguese on their own. However, in the modern world, the personal time of each person is expensive. Learning a language alone with a textbook will take much longer than with a teacher who has studied the structure of the language to the smallest details. Saving your time is a necessity and sometimes even a duty.
We are waiting for you at our school!