My English tips for Portuguese speakers

Obrigado, all my Portuguese-speaking friends out there.

Big besos out to you guys in Brazil.

Hi. Thanks for watching.

I'm going to teach you something that maybe you've heard before.

But it's a little bit difficult in English.

You are lucky, like other languages, for example, Spanish and French, we have a lot of words

in English that are very similar in Portuguese and English, so if you change the accent a

little, use your hands a lot, people will probably be able to understand you, but sometimes

this is not the case, that's why we have created these things called "false friends".

Now, false friends are words that you think you can use because they sound almost the

same in English, but the meaning is completely different, so it can lead to some mistakes.

But if you make a mistake, who cares?

Really? Come on. You're learning a language, don't worry.

But I'm here to teach you how to correct some mistakes that you might make.

And thanks to Hinata and William for helping me out with this one.

Let's go to it.

So, false friends, they're not your friends, they are your enemies.

Okay, so the first one-we're going to start, yeah?-is: "cafeteria".

In your country, in Brazil, maybe in Portugal, I don't know, a cafeteria is a coffee shop,

so it's a place where you can go and get a delicious coffee, maybe get some delicious

Brazilian treats, like queijo de p�o, p�o de queijo, mm-hmm, maybe some honey moons,

delicious, but in English, "cafeteria", the exact same spelling, check it out: "cafeteria",

"cafeteria", uh-oh in English, a cafeteria, it is not a coffee shop, it is actually a

lunch room.

So, if you have a job...

Oh, do you have a job? Cool.

In Canada sometimes there is a lunch room, but all of the time in a school in Canada

children or students go and eat together...

They can eat lunch, they can eat dinner in one room, and we call this a cafeteria.

So, a cafeteria is a lunch room or a common room for eating.

Many businesses will have a cafeteria.

It's definitely not a coffee shop. It's pretty terrible.

Coffee shops are more fun than a lunch room I think.

The next one, in your country you can enjoy a delicious "caf�", which means coffee for

you, and Brazilian coffee - woo, that stuff gets you going in the morning. Cool.

But in English, a "caf�" is not a drink, like a coffee, a caf� is a small restaurant

where you can buy coffee or sweets, it's like a Portuguese bakery.

So, a "caf�" is a restaurant in English, and "caf�" is not coffee in English.

You also have to be careful of your pronunciation of this word.

It is not: "cough", that's a cough.

We have to say: "coffee".

We don't have to say: "coffeeee"-hi, Vinnie-but you have to say: "coffee".

If you just say: "cough", then that's not a good thing.

You don't want to go to a caf� and ask for a cough, because then you'd be sick.

Next one, you guys use as toothpaste. Right?

So "pasta", "pasta", "pasta", you guys know as a paste, like a gel, kind of a semi-liquid material.

But we always use it as a food, a very delicious Italian food called pasta.

You guys probably know that already because you eat a lot of pasta maybe.

But in English this is paste, pasta is the food.

You don't want to eat that stuff.

The next word: "dente". Yeah? You're brushing your dentes, there. Yeah? Okay.

So, "dente" in Portuguese means tooth or teeth, I guess just one.

In English it doesn't mean teeth, it means a dent.

To help you out with this word: "a dent" is an indentation.

That's the same in Portuguese.

So, an indentation means dent.

This is...

If you're driving your car and somebody hits your car, just a minor accident, then you

will have a dent in your car.

A dent means an indentation or it's pushed in in one area.

It's not completely broken, it's just pushed in or there's an indentation.

So it has nothing to do with your teeth.

It does sound like this word and the spelling is very, very similar, so be careful of that

false friend.

This is a fun one, I kind of like this.

I like the pronunciation of this word.

I have to look in my book.

You guys say: "balcom".

Mm-hmm.

When you guys walk into a bar you go up to the "balcao" and you order a delicious beer.

But not in English.

A "balcao" in Portuguese means a counter in a bar, this is fun.

We actually call the counter in a bar a bar.

So, if we walk into a bar or a pub or a nightclub, and we go up to the counter, we call that

a bar.

If you go into a restaurant somebody might say to you: "Would you like to sit at the

bar or in the restaurant?"

And you're a little bit confused because sitting at the bar might seem a little uncomfortable

because it's...

Got to balance.

But be careful, a "balcony" in English, it's very similar to a terrace.

So, a "balcao" sounds like "balcony", but a balcony in English is something that is

like an outside little portion of your house, a "terrace" is another word we can use for it.

That's the same in Portuguese.

So be careful.

If you're going to the balcao, you're not going to get a drink.

You're going to go outside for some fresh air. Balcao.

Next one, this is a very common mistake that I hear a lot, and it's kind of funny.

"Pretender", oh, let me check my pronunciation, please.

"Pretendor", thank you. "Pretender".

"Pretender", when you talk about it in Portuguese it means you intend to do something, you want

to do something or you will do something.

You're going to try.

But in English it sounds and looks very similar to the word "pretend", the verb "to pretend".

This is almost an opposite kind of meaning.

If you pretend to do something, you're not actually doing it, you are using your imagination

and you're not at all doing it in real life.

So, for example, I can pretend I am a horse.

But I don't intend to be a horse.

I can never...

I can never be a horse.

I'm cool with that.

I'd like to be a unicorn actually.

So, I would like to pretend to be a unicorn. Right?

But if you pretend to do something it's completely different, so be careful.

You want to do it, not pretend to do it.

Possibly the most comedic, which means funny for me when I think about all the Brazilians

around the world who come to English-speaking countries, and I think about you guys going

in and out of doors.

You are... Yeah, how many times do you get the door in your face?

But don't worry because I do this all the time, and I can read English.

So if you have a door slammed in your face because you think that "puxar" means pull,

but in English, it means push, then you're...

You're... Nope.

So: "puxar" in Portuguese means pull.

So you're pulling this way.

But actually it means push.

So it's the complete opposite.

So you would end up smashing your face in the door.

The next one that is fun as well is "empurrar".

"Empurrar" means...

Does not mean pull.

What? What? No, I'm confused. Hold on.

Empurrar in Portuguese means you push, and it sounds like "pull" in English, but it's not.

So, how about we do this?

Just try the door a little bit.

Don't look at the sticker, if it says "push" or "pull", just kind of try, you know, like

kick it with your leg or something, or...

You know?

And get your bum into it, and see what happens.

Or you could just wait for someone to open it, but don't feel bad because it's very confusing

for me, too.

I'm... I don't know if I'm pushing or pulling anymore.

Oh goodness, how are you guys ever going to get in a door?

Smashing your head?

I smashed my head on many doors.

I see people do this all the time.

I will see "pull" and be like: "Well, I can't I open the door.

Yeah, okay."

So, to recap: "puxar", yeah, this, this.

I don't even know what I'm doing anymore.

Just be careful.

Next one: "colar". Okay? It means...

You guys use it as a verb to glue something, but it's very, very close to the English word "collar".

Now, collar is the part of your shirt, so you can have a wide collar like in the 70s,

be like: "Whoa, disco mamma", or you can have a button-down collar.

The collar is a thing that is always on a shirt.

I don't have a collared...

I've lost my collar.

But it definitely does not mean the verb "to glue".

That's completely different and you don't want glue on your shirt because then you couldn't

get it off, it's pretty hot.

Wouldn't be very good.

This one I know is very confusing, and I can see why: "livaria".

Let's check this, this spelling.

"Livaria", sounds like "diarrhea", I like it.

"Livaria" in Portuguese is a bookstore, a place where you go and buy a book.

It sounds very similar to the English word: "library", but a library, free books, woo-hoo.

You don't have to buy the books there, you borrow the books.

So that means that you go and you give the librarian a book, you have the library card,

ding, and you get the book and you take it home.

That's borrow. Okay?

And then you go and you give it back, that's what "borrow" means.

You take it and you give it back.

So, you can't buy the books at a livaria.

You can borrow them.

The last one: "fabrica", it's a factory.

Okay?

It's a place where they make things.

Mm-mm, not in English.

"Fabrica" is very close to the English word "fabric" which means material.

So the fabric, for example, of my sweater, what's it made of?

Unicorn hair, of course.

Unicorn hair sweater, amazing.

The fabric means the material or what things are made out of, predominantly clothes, what

clothes are made out of.

Is it cotton, is it silk?

It's probably made in a factory, but it isn't a place, it's a thing.

I hope that I've confused you further with the push and the pull thing, because I don't know.

But I want you to understand that learning English is always difficult.

You're going to make mistakes; it's okay.

Enjoy, have fun.

I know you will. Until next time, bye.