WHAT TO SAY, WHAT NOT TO SAY

Take advantage of these Portuguese Tips.
According to Nicolas Boileau, french critic and poet (1636 – 1711)
“Sometimes a fool makes a good suggestion.”

Portuguese Tips: ALWAYS…

# Always use a double negative in Portuguese: ‘Não fiz nada’, ‘Não sei de nada’…

# Always use the preposition ‘de’ after ‘gostar’. The only time you can omit ‘de’ is when you answer simply ‘Gosto, sim’.

# Always use ‘a’ with the phrase ‘Daqui a pouco’, not ‘Daqui em pouco’.

# Always use ‘um’ with ‘milhão’ – um milhão de dólares.

# Always remember that ‘vez’, ‘lei’, ‘pele’ and ‘luz’ are feminine in gender.

# Always distinguish between ‘estranho’ and ‘estrangeiro’. ‘Uma língua estranha’ means ‘a weird language’. ‘Uma língua estrangeira’ means ‘a foreign language’.

# Always distinguish between ‘calor’ (a noun) and ‘quente’ (an adjective).

# Always use ‘no’ or ‘na’ after the verb ‘entrar’. In English we say ‘they entered the room’, but in Portuguese it must be ‘eles entraram na sala’.

# Always use ‘cinto’ for ‘belt’, and ‘bolso’ for ‘pocket’.

# Always use great care with the past participles of ‘matar’ and ‘morrer’. He was killed – Ele foi morto. He died – Ele morreu. He has killed a lot of people – Ele matou muita gente. He was dead – Ele estava morto.

# Always use the imperfect subjuntive after ‘pensei’ when you admit your previous idea was wrong: Pensei que ele estivesse aqui ontem, mas me enganei. (I thought he was here yesterday, but I was wrong.)

# Always say ‘de manhã cedinho’, or ‘de manhãzinha’, when you mean ‘early in the morning’.

Suggestions taken from

http://www.learn-portuguese-now.com/portuguese-tips.html