André's Minicast #2: Being polite in Brazil
Hello again. This is André’s Minicast for Brazilian Portuguese Podcast. How are you today? I hope you’re all fine and dandy.
Today I’ll give you some quick and dirty tips on how to be polite in Brazil as well as teaching you some basic vocab.
I’ll start by saying that, overall, Brazilians appreciate very much politeness, specially when people don’t know each other. Of course there are exceptions but let’s stick with what most people here expect.
So the first tip is saying thanks. Whenever someone does something in benefit of you even if you’re paying for a service we use to say thanks. Now, thanks in Portuguese is “obrigado” and if you want to be even politer you could say “muito obrigado” which means “thank you very much”. Men say obrigado, with a final “O”, “obrigadO”. Women say obrigada, with a final “A”, “obrigadA”.
And what if someone else thanks you? You should say “de nada”. This means “you’re welcome.”
Now another expression that comes in very handy is “com licença” which can pretty much be used like “excuse me”. So say it when you need to call someone’s attention, to ask for passage, to ask for permission to leave, to come in, to interrupt someone, etc.
And our last but not least expression is “desculpe-me” or “me desculpa”. Both expressions mean “I’m sorry”. The difference is that the first one is more formal and the second is more informal.
Now, “com licença”, I have to go. But before leaving I’d like to ask you to like us on Facebook: Our facebook page is facebook.com/brazilpod and follow us on twitter, our twitter name is brazilianpod. Also visit bestbpp.com and consider becoming a member. And if you enjoy our work please leave us a positive feedback on our iTunes page. Muito obrigado.
And remember if you have questions let us know and we’ll answer them here on the minicasts.
My name is André Barbosa and this is Brazilian Portuguese Podcast. Thanks for listening, até mais.
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