relationships 2 - coerll.utexas.educoerll.utexas.edu/brazilpod/cob/pdf/cob_08.pdf · relationships...

Relationships 2: Eloísa’s the black sheep of the family http://coerll.utexas.edu/brazilpod/cob/lesson.php?p=08

2013 COERLL The University of Texas at Austin

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Conversa Brasileira Relationships 2: Eloísa’s the black sheep of the family

Oh my, Eloísa is breaking up with another boyfriend. And even worse, once again she wants Ingrid’s advice about what to do. Ingrid doesn’t really need Alexandre’s opinion per se, but it’s nice to have a friend who can at least lend a sympathetic ear. And even better, it makes for a really interesting Conversa Brasileira.

INGRID: Oh, então, Alexandre, você não sabe: recebi outra carta daquela minha tia, a Eloísa... Alexandre, you don’t know yet: I received another letter from my aunt Eloísa...

ALEXANDRE: De Curitiba? ! From Curitiba?

INGRID: De Curitiba. Não, você não sabe o que ela me disse dessa vez. Dá uma olhada. From Curitiba. You won’t believe what she told me this time. Look at this.

ALEXANDRE: Certo. Uh, incrível, não? OK. Incredible, isn’t it?

INGRID: Terminou de novo com o namorado. " Já é o quarto, quinto namorado que ela tem, abandonou o filho lá em Curitiba, se apaixonou por esse carioca, # foi viver no Rio com ele e agora terminou de novo. E o pior, essa mulher tem quarenta anos e me escreve uma carta pedindo conselho: o que que ela faz agora? Deixou o filho lá, foi pro Rio, arrumou emprego no Rio e, de repente, acabou a paixão, $ não sabe mais o que fazer... She broke up with her boyfriend again. It’s the fourth or fifth boyfriend that she has had, she left her son in Curitiba, she fell in love with this ‘carioca’, she went to live in Rio with him and now she broke up with him again. And the worst part: this woman is forty years old and writes me a letter asking for advice. What does she do now? She left her son there, she went to Rio, she got a job in Rio and, all of a sudden, the passion ended, she doesn’t know what to do anymore...

ALEXANDRE: E o que a sua mãe pensa disso? % What is your mother’s opinion about this?

2013 COERLL

The University of Texas at Austin

79

Relationships 2: Conversa Brasileira Eloísa’s the black sheep of the family

INGRID: Bom, minha mãe sempre diz que essa minha tia é a mais imatura da família, né? Bom, se vê… Se ela pede, pede conselho pra uma menina de vinte e tantos anos, tendo quarenta, você vê que é um pouco imatura. Mas eu não sei o que dizer pra ela agora, tá nesse dilema se volta pra Curitiba ou não… Well, my mother always says that this aunt is the most immature of the family. We can see that... If she is asking, asking for advice from a girl in her twenties, a woman at forty, you can see she is a little immature. But I don’t know what to say to her now, she is in this dilemma: Should she return to Curitiba or not?

ALEXANDRE: Uh, ela seria aí a “ovelha negra” da família? Would that make her the black sheep of the family?

INGRID: É mais ou menos a “ovelha negra” da família. Já, como eu falei, já é o quarto ou quinto namorado com quem ela vai viver e abandona, & e dessa vez tem o filho envolvido na história, né? She’s more or less the black sheep of the family. As I’ve said, it’s already the fourth or fifth boyfriend who she has lived with and then left, and this time she has her son wrapped up in the situation, you know?

ALEXANDRE: Sim, sim... Não, isso é grave. Yeah, yeah... This is serious.

INGRID: Eh, o filho é complicado... Mas, eu não sei, o que que você, o que você sugeriria pra ela se, ' se tivesse no meu lugar? Eu não sei o que dizer... The part with her son is complex... But I don’t know, what would you suggest for her if you were in my shoes? I don’t know what to say...

ALEXANDRE: Bom, é uma situação difícil, não? Eu acho que quem deve sofrer muito com isso é a criança, né? Well, it’s a difficult situation, isn’t it? I think that the one who is suffering a lot is the child...

INGRID: Sim, claro! Yes, for sure!

ALEXANDRE: Então eu acho que, em primeiro lugar, tem que se, tem que se pensar na criança, ( né? So, I believe that, in the first place, one has to think of the child.

INGRID: Mas eu não sei... Ela me pergunta: “Não, o que que eu faço agora? Fico aqui no Rio...”, já que ela já tem um emprego, “... ou tento voltar pra Curitiba?”, onde tá toda a família, minha vó... Eu não sei o que dizer pra ela.


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But I don’t know... she asks me: “Oh no, what is it that I should do now? Should I stay here in Rio…” since she already has a job, “... or should I try to come back to Curitiba?”, where all the family is, my grandmother... I don’t know what to say to her.

ALEXANDRE: Eh, eu acho que tem que levar em consideração, eh, a criança, não? Em primeiro lugar... Então, se ela tem uma vida estável, trabalhando, tem um emprego fixo, então seria interessante ela levar a criança... Mas por outro lado, ) também, eu fico pensando* que toda a sua família está em São Paulo, não? First and foremost, I think that she has to take into consideration the child... If she has a stable life, is working, has a steady job, it would be good if she takes the child... But, on the other hand, I have also thought that her whole family is in São Paulo...

INGRID: Sim, uma parte em Curitiba, outra parte em São Paulo; quer dizer, ela tem essas duas outras opções também... Mas, não sei, ela conseguiu um bom emprego no Rio, isso é um ponto positivo. Yes, one part in Curitiba, the other one in São Paulo; I mean, she also has those two other options... But I don’t know, she got a great job in Rio, that is something positive.

ALEXANDRE: Eh, na minha opinião, eu acho que ela deveria voltar para São Paulo,11 porque já que a família está lá e isso é muito bom pra criança, não? In my opinion, I think she should return to São Paulo, because now that her family is there it would be very good for the child.

INGRID: Sim, com certeza. A criança ficou lá, né? Yes, sure. The child is there, right?

ALEXANDRE: Sim... Yeah...

INGRID: OK, então, acho que é isso que eu vou sugerir pra ela, vou escrever pra ela... OK, I think that this is what I’ll suggest to her, I’ll write to her...

ALEXANDRE: Tá certo. That’s good.

2013 COERLL


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1. De Curitiba? Curitiba is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, in the Southern Brazil. It is the 7th largest city nationwide and an important cultural, political and economic center in the country.

2. Terminou de novo com o namorado... The verb terminar (to finish, end) is used to say that Ingrid’s aunt just “broke up” with her boyfriend again. In English, you can also say “She ended things/the relationship with her boyfriend again.” In Portuguese, however, it is not necessary to use a complement (direct object) for the verb terminar, but you need to use it along with the preposition com (with) if you specify the other part involved. If not, you can say something like Eles terminaram (They broke up). You can also say Eles se separaram or Eles não estão mais juntos.

3. Terminou de novo com o namorado... The verb terminar (to finish, end) is used to say that Ingrid’s aunt just “broke up” with her boyfriend again. In English, you can also say “She ended things/the relationship with her boyfriend again.” In Portuguese, however, it is not necessary to use a complement (direct object) for the verb terminar, but you need to use it along with the preposition com (with) if you specify the other part involved. If not, you can say something like Eles terminaram (They broke up). You can also say Eles se separaram or Eles não estão mais juntos.


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4. De repente, acabou a paixão It’s hard for Americans to get that paixão is a feminine word. There is something about that -ão ending that makes you want to say o paixão. Some other examples of feminine words with this same ending are: a canção (song); a mansão (mansion); a expansão (expansion), etc. But it is not always like that… Note: o faisão (pheasant); o casarão (big house); o irmão (brother), etc.

5. O que é que sua mãe pensa disso? Prepositions, prepositions… Americans spend their whole life learning it is supposed to be pensar em (to think about) and now we hear pensa disso. What’s going on? Actually, here we have an interesting meaning of this verb: pensar de means to have an opinion or evaluation about something or someone.

6. (...) já é o quarto ou quinto namorado com quem ela vai viver e abandona This structure can be challenging for non-native speakers: the preposition com (with) appears at the beginning of the embedded clause. In English, one would say something like, “boyfriend who she has lived with and then left”.

7. o que você sugeriria para ela. Notice that Brazilians prefer to use prepositional phrases instead of indirect object pronouns. Para ela fits better than lhe. Brazilians use me, te and nos, but prefer para ele(s), para ela(s).

2013 COERLL


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8. tem que se pensar na criança Another challenging structure for non-native speakers: se (one) usually comes after que in this type of structure. It could be tem-se que pensar, but in this case the style would be more formal.

9. mas por outro lado também eu fico pensando que toda a sua família está em São Paulo, não? The challenge for non-native speakers is to realize that por outro lado is the equivalent to the English expression “on the other hand”. In Portuguese we have the pair: por um lado X por outro lado (on one hand X on the other hand).

10. a) (...) fico pensando que toda a sua família está em São Paulo, não? Ficar (usually “to stay”) is a very interesting verb in Portuguese: among other meanings, it can be “to keep on”–which is the case here, “I keep on thinking.” Another meaning for this verb is “to become”: Fico com sede/com fome/com frio/com sono (I become thirsty/hungry/cold/sleepy).

11. Eu acho que deveria voltar para São Paulo It’s tough for English speakers to catch on to the conditional of the verb dever. In English we don’t have a way of saying “would” in front of “should.” In Portuguese, the distinction between deve, devia and deveria is related to different levels of politeness: from the least to the most polite.


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relationships 2 - coerll.utexas.educoerll.utexas.edu/brazilpod/cob/pdf/cob_08.pdf · relationships...

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