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Hello guys! Here we are again with another Inglês na Ponta da Língua Podcast. On this episode, I’ll be answering a question that I’ve been asked most often here on the blog: how can we say “será que” in English? To make it much more interesting, I’ll also teach you how to say “por que será que…?”, “onde será que…?”, “como será que…?”, “o que será que…?” e “quem será que…?”. So, sit up straight and pay attention! I hope you enjoy this tip.

In Portuguese, when we are not so sure about something, it is common to ask a question using the sentence “será que…?”. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about let me give you some examples:

• Será que isso vai funcionar?
• Será que ele vai vir pra festa?
• Será que ela vai conseguir?
• Será que eles já chegaram em casa?

Notice that the sentence “será que…?” is being used to express doubt about something or to show that you’re worried about something or someone. If you speak Portuguese, I’m sure you know how that works. But, what about in English? How do we say that in English?

This very same idea is usually expressed in English by using the expression “I wonder if…”. The interesting thing here is that in Portuguese, we ask a question: “será que…?”. But, in English, they just say “I wonder if…” and that it’s not a question.

So, the example sentences I gave above will be said as follow in English:

• I wonder if that is going to work. (Será que isso vai funcionar?)
• I wonder if he is coming to the party. (Será que vai vir pra festa?)
• I wonder if she’s going to make it. (Será que ela vai conseguir?)
• I wonder if they got home already. (Será que ele já chegaram em casa?)

As you can see, it’s really easy to say “será que…?” in English. All you have to say is “I wonder if…”. Before going on, I have to add here that some people also say “I wonder whether…”. There’s no difference between them. So, you can say, “I wonder if…” or “I wonder whether…”. The meaning will be exactly the same. However, “I wonder if…” is much more common than “I wonder whether…”.

Now let’s say you want to say “quem será que…?” What would you say? How do they say that in English? Pretty easy! Just say “I wonder who…”. No big deal, right? Just use the expression “I wonder” and the word “who”, which means “quem”, after it and that’s it. Listen to the examples:

• I wonder who did that to her. (Quem será que fez isso com ela?)
• I wonder who told him that. (Quem será que contou isso pra ele?)
• I wonder who she’s going to get married to. (Com quem será que ela vai se casar?)

What about “por que será que…?”? How to say that in English? Well, think about it! All you have to do is to use the expression “I wonder” with the word “why”. So, you’ll have “I wonder why…”. Again, listen to the examples:

• I wonder why they are crying. (Por que será que elas estão chorando?)
• I wonder why he’s here. (Por que será que ele está aqui?)
• I wonder why she did that. (Por que será que ela fez isso?)

If you want to say “como será que…?”, just say “I wonder how…”. Notice that once more, we have the expression “I wonder” followed by the word “como” in English, which is “how”.

• I wonder how they did that. (Como será que eles fizeram isso?)
• I wonder how she’s getting on. (Como será que ela está se virando?)
• I wonder how he got here first. (Como será que ele chegou aqui primeiro?)

By now, I guess you already got the idea. What you have to do is to use the expression “I wonder” and change the wh-question word after it. So, to say “onde será que…”, use “I wonder where…”; “o que será que…?”, say “I wonder what…”.

• I wonder where she is now. (Onde será que ela está agora?)
• I wonder where they went to. (Onde será que eles foram?)
• I wonder what she wants now. (O que será que ela quer agora?)
• I wonder what she told him. (O que será que ela disse pra ele?)

Pretty easy, right? The secret, if we can call it a secret, is to use the expression “I wonder” and the exact wh-question word after it. Nothing too hard, is it? To make it simpler, let me put all I’ve said so far in a different way:

• To say “Será que say…?”, say “I wonder if”
• To say “Quem será que…?”, say “I wonder who”
• To say “Por que será que…?”, say “I wonder why”
• To say “Como será que…?”, say “I wonder how”
• To say “O que será que…?”, say “I wonder what”
• To say “Onde será que…?”, say “I wonder where”

So, what do you think? Easy? Hard? Anyway, get used to these expressions. Use them whenever you have the chance to. Search the web for some more examples. Write your own examples on your lexical notebook. Make them part of your active vocabulary. I’m sure you’ll be using them naturally really soon.

Well, that’s it for today, boys and girls. Before saying goodbye, I want to invite you to download other episodes of Inglês na Ponta da Língua Podcast on www.inglesanpontadalingua.com. Just go there and learn much more. If you’re listening to our podcasts on iTunes, please let me know what you’re thinking about all that work here. Just give me some feedback so that I can make it better for you. Ok, then! See you next time with another Inglês na Ponta da Língua Podcast. Take care!

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A dica Como dizer será que em inglês? apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

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A well-known proverb in Portuguese says, “Se conselho fosse bom não se dava, vendia”. A close English equivalent to that is “Advice when most needed is least heeded.” Although these sayings hold some truth, we sometimes feel the need to give people a piece of advice. Not only that, but we also may ask for advice from time to time. So, it’s necessary to learn some common expressions in order to express the ideas of asking for and giving advice in English.

On this episode of Inglês na Ponta da Língua podcast I’ll help you with that. Below you’ll find some common sentences used when someone comes to a friend to ask for advice as well as how to give advice to a friend. But, before giving you a list of sentences, let me tell you something about the word “advice” as a noun. This little something is about a very, very, very common mistake English language learners make when using the word “advice”.

Here’s the thing: did you know that “advice” is an uncountable noun in English? That means the word “advice” has no plural at all in English. So, be careful! In Portuguese, it’s ok to say we say “um conselho”, “dois conselhos”, “três conselhos”, “quatro conselhos”, and so on and so forth. However, in English, we DO NOT count “advice”. We DO NOT say “one advice”, “two advices”, “three advices”, etc. What do we say, then?

Well, the word “advice” is mostly used on its own in English or with the word “some”. There is no need to say the quantity. Well, but in case you want to express the quantity of advice all you have to say is “a piece of advice”, “two pieces of advice”, “three pieces of advice”, “four pieces of advice”… But, remember: there’s no need to say the quantity. Just the word advice or some advice is ok!

Fo examples, if you want to say “deixe-me te dar alguns conselhos sobre isso”, what you have to say in English is “let me give you some advice on that”. See? No plural! Just “some advice”. Keep that it mind, ok?

Now that you learned that, what are some common sentences used in English to ask for and give advice? There you go some of them. But remember these sentences are no the only ones, ok? These are just some sentences to help you if need be.

First, some sentences to be used when you ask for advice:

• What do you think I should do?
• What would you do if you were me?
• What would you do if you were in my position?
• What would you do if you were in my shoes?
• Can you give me some advice on …?
• What would you advise me to do?

Now, let’s learn learn some common sentences used to give advice to someone. These sentences below are generally used to make you sound less abrupt and even rude when giving a piece of advice to a friend, a family member, whoever. So, practice them as much as you can.

• If I were you I would …
• If I were you I would not …
• If I were in your shoes I would …
• Hey, why don’t you …?
• Hey, I think you should …?
• Hey, how about …?
• Hey, what if you …?
• Well, I think it’s a good idea to…
• You’d better
• Well, if you want my advice, …
• Take it from me, …

Some learners usually ask why we say “If I were”. If you are also asking that, please read the tip on the link below and you’ll learn why “If I were” is correct.

Well guys, I guess that’s all about “advice” for today. On this podcast you learned that the word “advice” has no plural in English. We usually say “advice” or “some advice”. But if you want to count the quantity of advice, all you have to say is “a piece of…”, “two pieces of…”, “three pieces of …”, etc. But remember: “advice” and “some advice” is all you have to learn.

You also learned here on this podcast some common sentences used to ask for and give advice to someone. So, note them down on your lexical notebook – you vocabulary notebook – and revisit them so as to make them part of your active vocabulary.

Tha’s it, boys and girls. See you next time with another Inglês na Ponta da Língua Podcast. Keep learning more with us on Facebook, our website and download previous podcasts. Just click the links below and be part of Inglês na Ponta da Língua world.

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A dica Using the Word Advice in English apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Lembre-se que você pode fazer o download de outros podcasts, inclusive podcasts em inglês, indo ao site inglesnapontadalingua.com e procurar por podcasts. Você vai encontrar muita coisa bacana lá. Vamos agora à nossa dica de hoje. [Para ouvir a dica e assim aproveitá-la ao máximo, clique no botão abaixo! Se você recebeu esta dica no email e não está vendo o botão, clique aqui.]

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Sentence Stress: o que é isso? Você por um acaso já ouviu falar em sentence stress nos seus estudos de inglês? Isso é algo que muitos estudantes de nível avançado devem saber do que se trata. No entanto, sentence stress é tão fundamental na comunicação em inglês que estudantes de nível básico deveriam aprender a respeito desde o primeiro dia de aula. Continue lendo ou ouvindo e você aprenderá mais sobre sentence stress e a importância disso para uma boa comunicação em inglês.

Quando aprendemos uma palavra em inglês, temos de aprender uma série de coisas em relação a ela: significado, uso em diferentes contextos, pronúncia, escrita (spelling), etc. No que diz respeito à pronúncia das palavras, nós temos sempre de aprender qual é a sílaba tônica da palavra. Essa coisa de sílaba tônica é conhecida em inglês como word stress. As sílabas em negrito nas palavras abaixo indicam qual é a sílaba tônica em cada uma delas:

• important /ɪmˈpɔrtnt/
• police /pəˈlis/
• computer /kəmˈpjutər/
• communication /kəˌmjunɪˈkeɪʃn/
• interesting /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/
• difference /ˈdɪfrəns/
• Brazil /brəˈzɪl/

Aprender qual a sílaba tônica em uma palavra é muito importante. Pois assim você pronunciará corretamente as palavras que estiver aprendendo. Contudo, ao aprender inglês uma coisa muito mais importante que aprender word stress é aprender o que chamamos de sentence stress.

Sentence stress é o termo usado para fazermos referência ao fenômeno no qual uma determinada palavra é dita de modo mais enfático dentro de uma sentença.  Em inglês, uma sentença não é falada de modo robótico, palavra por palavra, como o exemplo a seguir:

• Marcia didn’t buy the red dress.

Se falada dessa maneira mecânica a sentença meio sem emoção. Ficará vazia, sem sentido, estranha. Trata-se de uma simples repetição de palavras em sequência. Acontece que em um bate papo natural, podemos enfatizar uma palavra ou outra na sentença e assim comunicar diferentes coisas. Ou seja, dependendo da palavra que enfatizarmos, comunicaremos uma ideia de modo bem diferente. Essa coisa de enfatizar uma palavra ou outra em uma sentença é o que damos o nome de sentence stress.

Escute o modo como cada sentença abaixo é dita. Veja como isso realmente funciona na prática.

1. Marcia didn’t buy the red dress.
2. Marcia didn’t buy the red dress.
3. Marcia didn’t buy the red dress.
4. Marcia didn’t buy the red dress.
5. Marcia didn’t buy the red dress.
6. Marcia didn’t buy the red dress.

Em cada momento a palavra dita de modo mais intenso muda o sentido da ideia central sendo comunicada pela sentença:

1. Estou falando da Marcia. Não estou falando da Carol, Fátima, Patrícia… Estou falando da Márcia.
2. O que eu estou dizendo é que ela não comprou. Ela pegou o vestido, olhou para ele, experimentou, mas não o comprou.
3. Ela ganhou o vestido. Ela roubou o vestido. Ela achou o vestido na rua. Nem pense que ela comprou, pois não foi isso. Ela conseguiu o vestido por outros meios.
4. Não foi o vestido vermelho do jeito que ela tanto queria, mas foi um outro vestido vermelho que estava na loja.
5. O vermelho não tinha mais, então ela comprou o rosa, o branco, o azul, o preto, o lilás, o amarelo… Enfim, foi um vestido de outra cor.
6. Ela comprou a minissaia vermelha, a camisa vermelha, o top vermelho; mas não o vestido vermelho.

Isso é assim em inglês. Não tem como fugir! A palavra principal da sentença – aquela que carrega o significado central do que está sendo dito – sempre será dita de modo mais forte, intenso, enfático. Dependendo da palavra a ser enfatizada dentro da sentença o significado (a ideia expressa) poderá mudar completamente.

Quando a gente vê uma sentença escrita podemos entender o que ela quer dizer por causa das palavras e estrutura gramatical usadas. Mas, no que diz respeito a sentence stress, não podemos dizer o que ela realmente significa. Pois, somente ouvindo-a em um contexto natural é que saberemos o que a pessoa realmente quer comunicar. Vamos tomar como exemplo a sentença abaixo:

• My older brother doesn’t study English.

Podemos facilmente interpretar a sentença como “Meu irmão mais velho não estuda inglês“. No entanto, em um contexto real dependendo da palavra a ser enfatizada o significado mudará.

Para praticar isso, você pode ler a sentença acima de modo mecânico, sem emoção, palavra por palavra. Assim, perceberá que não está usando nada de sentence stress. Depois poderá ler a mesma sentença colocando ênfase (falando de modo mais enfático) uma palavra de cada vez. Além disso, você pode também imaginar o significado transmitido ao enfatizar cada palavra.

Por exemplo, leia a sentença acima colocando a ênfase apenas na palavra “my“: MY older brother doesn’t study English. Depois imagine o que está sendo realmente comunicado ao dizer a sentença dessa forma: não estou me referindo ao meu irmão, mas ao irmão de outra pessoa.

Procure fazer isso enfatizando cada palavra da sentença. Isso ajudará você a perceber as nuances de significado que uma simples sentença pode ter dependendo da palavra sendo enfatizada (sentence stress). Para praticar mais, utilize também as sentenças dadas abaixo. Tenho certeza que  você vai se divertir com isso!

• What would you like?
• I didn’t say he stole the money.
• Where were you yesterday morning?
• I don’t like doing this.
• She doesn’t live here.

Se você achou essa dica interessante, certamente gostará de ler a dica”Connected Speech: o que é isso?“. Você pode ainda ler mais sobre Sentence Stress nos links abaixo:

• English Sentence Stress (British Council/BBC)
• Pronunciation: Changing Meaning through Word Stress (About)

É isso por hoje, pessoal! Até a próxima!

A dica O que é Sentence Stress? apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Lembre-se que você pode fazer o download gratuito do material de áudio e texto. Para isso basta clicar nos links abaixo. Assim, você poderá fazer uso desse material onde, quando e quantas vezes quiser. Não se esqueça que temos vários outros podcasts aqui no blog. Para ouvi-los, clique aqui. Curta também nossa página no Facebook e diga-nos o que achou dessa dica. Queremos saber a sua opinião. Ah! Kristen também dá aulas via Skype. Para saber mais a respeito, clique aqui. Agora acompanhe a dica e vamos ficar com o inglês na ponta da língua.

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Hi, this is Kristen Hammer again with a new post. This post is about pronunciation. Today I’ll be talking about the suffix –ed.  This little guy seems to cause a lot of confusion and misunderstanding.

Many words in English have an –ed ending. Mostly we see this with verbs that are in the past tense. So, in this case, the infinitive verb “to paint” becomes “painted”(They painted the chair). We also have the past participle form of the verb “to paint”, which is also, “painted.” (The chair was painted yesterday). And finally, we have the participle in the adjective form (The painted chair is beautiful).

In all my time teaching English in Brazil, I have found just a handful of people who correctly pronounce the –ed endings on words. Believe it or not, there are actually THREE different ways to pronounce the –ed suffix. There is the  /ɪd/ sound, which adds an extra syllable to the word. This is the one Brazilians always seem to use! We have the /t/ sound.  And lastly, there is the /d/ sound.

There are three main rules that you should know in order to pronounce these endings correctly (I am copying these rules from a website I found):

1. If you add –ed to a word that ends with a /t/ or /d/ sound, then the –ed sounds like /ɪd/ and is pronounced as an extra syllable. Example: faint-ed.
2. If you add –ed to a word that ends with voiceless consonant sounds, then the –ed sound is like /t/ and is not pronounced as an extra syllable. Example: forced – pronounced /fɔːrst/
3. If you add –ed to any other word that does not fit the above rules and has voiced consonant sounds, or ends with a vowel sound, the –ed is pronounced with a /d/ sound, and also has no extra syllable. Example: waved is pronounced /weɪvd/.

[If you don’t know what a voiced sound is, there is a very simple exercise to find out:  put your finger on your voice box (vocal chords).  Now make the sound. If you feel a vibration, then it is a voiced sound. If you do not feel a vibration, it’s an unvoiced or voiceless sound.]

So now I’m going to read the words in this list. Pay attention to the correct sound ending.  Is it a /t/?   Is it a /d/?   Or is it an /ɪd/?

• exited
• faded
• heeded
• aided
• jaded
• riveted
• anticipated
• tilted
• protected
• entrusted
• collapsed
• grasped
• faxed
• trapped
• gripped
• focused
• increased
• looked
• faked
• locked
• crawled
• scanned
• sealed
• stared
• aimed
• realized
• rolled
• pictured
• fumbled
• crumpled

(It’s important to note that it’s the sound that is important on the ending of the word, not the letter or spelling. For example, the word “fax” ends in the letter “x” but the sound is /s/.  And the word “like” ends in the letter “e” but the sound is /k/.)

There are exceptions to these rules. Aren’t there always exceptions!?  So, we have some adjectives like aged, blessed, crooked, naked, wicked, ragged, learned, etc.  Some examples of these adjectives in a sentence are: “The aged man walked across the street” or “The professor was a truly learned man”.

However, when used as verbs, the normal rules apply. So we have, “Wow, Bruce Willis sure has aged quickly!” or “The students really have learned the material well”.

I found a short story online that uses a lot of –ed endings. I’m going to read the story with the correct pronunciation. If you would like to do this exercise first, before listening to the correct sounds, pause the audio file and fill in the answers.  Put “T” if it should sound like /t/, “D” if it should sound like /d/, and “ID” if it should add a syllable, and sound like /ɪd/.

—

The bear jumped (   ) out of its cage and into the crowd. She must have realized (   ) that this was her best chance to escape. The bear’s trainer looked (   ) as though he were about to faint from the terror of it all; it seemed (    ) like his worst nightmare come true. He scrambled (   ) to his feet and started (   ) waving his hands and shouting to get the bear’s attention. She stopped (   ) her wild rampage only for a moment at the sound of her trainer’s pleas. She quickly turned (   ) back to the crowd and resumed (   ) knocking people to the floor. The trainer suddenly had an idea. He reached (   ) into his pocket and pulled (   ) from it a large chocolate covered (    ) treat – a known favorite of the bear. He shouted (   ) the bears name once more and she turned (   ) to face him. She saw the treat and ran in full gallop towards him. He threw the treat into the cage and the bear followed (   ). He locked (   ) the door behind her and fell to the floor in relief. Apparently, the bear valued (   ) food more than freedom.

Ok! So I hope that clears thing up a bit.  Not only will this help your pronunciation of the English language, but also, native speakers will have a better understanding of what you are saying!  Pronunciation really is important.  I offer classes online via Skype for anyone who might be interested.  See you later!  Bye!

A dica Podcast: Pronúncia de ED em Inglês apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Kristen Hammer.

Para quem não sabe, podcast é apenas um nome feio para algo muito simples. Há podcasts de vários tipos! Mas, nesta dica vamos falar apenas dos podcasts de inglês. Assim, ao entrar em um site com dicas de inglês a maioria delas estão apenas em formato de textos. Você os lê, faz anotações e fica por isso mesmo! Mas, e se a dica estivesse também gravada em um arquivo de áudio para que fossem ouvidas? Seria muito legal, não é mesmo? Você teria a chance de ler o texto e ouvir o áudio com a dica. Facilitando assim o aprendizado da pronúncia das palavras, expressões, sentenças… Você também praticaria sua habilidade de listening (ouvir em inglês). Legal, né?

Pois é justamente isso o que acontece nos podcasts de inglês. Além da dica em texto, é também disponibilizado um arquivo de áudio para ajudar o leitor a melhorar o listening e o speaking. O arquivo de áudio procura reproduzir com a mesma exatidão o que está no texto. Assim, o estudante pode ouvir tudo o que está no texto. Muito simples e prático!

Mas, será que sempre que você precisar ouvir ou ler a dica terá de entrar no site novamente? Será que vai ter de procurar a dica mais uma vez? Enfim, será que dá tanto trabalho assim? Na verdade, não! Continue lendo para saber que não dá tanto trabalho assim.

Nos podcasts de inglês  os arquivos – de áudio e texto – são disponibilizados para download (aqui no Inglês na Ponta da Língua isso é grátis). Assim, você não precisará acessar o site para ler e ouvir os podcasts sempre que precisar. Você pode baixar o material para seu computador, smartphone, tablete, pendrive e onde mais quiser. Pode até gravar em um CD se achar mais interessante! Enfim, viva a tecnologia!

Com o áudio salvo em vários dispositivos você poderá ouvir a dica onde, quando e quantas vezes quiser. Já o texto que também é disponibilizado para download pode ser impresso e carregado para todos os lados. Aqui no Inglês na Ponta da Língua o texto é sempre disponibilizado em formato PDF. Portanto, pode ser lido na maioria dos smartphones e tabletes disponíveis no mercado.

Você pode também distribuir os arquivos para seus amigos, familiares, colegas, conhecidos, vizinhos, etc. Enfim, o material não precisa ficar só no site e nos seus dispositivos. Passe tudo para frente! Distribua livremente! Viva a livre distribuição de arquivos! (desde que não fira a lei de direitos autorais, claro!) A única coisa que você deve fazer, por favor, é dizer de onde o material foi retirado (indique a fonte: sempre diga “baixei isso aí no site Inglês na Ponta da Língua ponto com.” ). Enfim, faça o merchã; afinal, quanto mais gente sabendo sobre nós é mais gente com o Inglês na Ponta da Língua.

Aqui no Inglês na Ponta da Língua ao publicarmos os podcast de inglês disponibilizamos o material para download por meio de links que estão no texto original. Basta um clique em cada link e você começa a fazer o download. Se der problema, tente novamente! Se o problema persistir, chama o técnico! Abaixo estão as informações de como fazer isso aqui no nosso humilde espaço.

Ao se deparar com um podcast, você verá a caixa de áudio para ouvir a dica. Geralmente, acima dessa caixa encontram-se links com os dizeres: “Baixe o MP3” e “Baixe o PDF”. Ao clicar em cada um desses links, o arquivo de áudio (MP3) e o de texto (PDF) serão baixados automaticamente para seu computador. Não tem segredo nenhum.

Depois de baixar os arquivos, encontre-os em seu computador. Minha dica é que você coloque tudo em uma pasta com o título: Inglês na Ponta da Língua Podcasts (ou algo parecido). Com o tempo essa pasta vai ficar cheinha de dicas de inglês com textos e áudios.

Para ter certeza de que a coisa não é tão complicada assim, no final deste texto há alguns links de nossos podcasts de inglês para você praticar. Clique no link e veja como as coisas são simples. Aproveite! Isso tudo está disponível gratuitamente. Ou seja, só não aprende quem não quer! E, por favor, indique o Inglês na Ponta da Língua e ajude-nos a mantê-lo. Você não precisa desembolsar um centavo, mas pode fazer algo por nós (saiba o quê, clicando aqui).

Por fim, vale dizer que tem ainda muitas coisas técnicas sobre os podcasts: assinatura via feed e assinatura no iTunes. Mas, vamos deixar isso para uma próxima dica. Por enquanto, pratique o básico dessa ferramenta e aproveite-a.

• Ways of Apologizing
• Beach or Bitch?
• The Use of Make and Do
• Sounds and Interjections (Part One)
• Sounds and Interjections (Part Two)

A dica Podcasts de Inglês: aproveite mais apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

[Clique nos links abaixo para fazer o download gratuito do texto e do MP3 referente a esta dica. Caso não esteja vendo os links e nem mesmo a caixa de aúdio abaixo, clique aqui.]

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There was such a good response about the last post I made about interjections that I decided I would write about some more sounds. Today I will write about two of them.

The first one is “umUMmm”. This sound is one of which I haven’t seen anything written: on the Internet, or any other printed materials. I tried and tried to find something, but was unsuccessful.  I’m not even sure how to write it, so I will just write it like this:   “mm-UM-mm”.

It is used in place of the response phrase, “I don’t know!”   The “I don’t know” was first shortened to “I dunno”, and somehow later, I guess people became really lazy in their answer, and it turned out as just a noise, “umUMmm.” This sound is so common in my culture that I really didn’t even think about it before.

As I mentioned in my other posts, my boyfriend doesn’t speak English. When we had conversations, and my response was “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure”, I always said, umUMmm.  It wasn’t until about 6 months ago that I realized “of course he doesn’t know what I’m saying, because, #1, “Não sei” has just two syllables, and #2, isn’t spoken with the same stress on the words.  So, I guess all this time he thought I just was ignoring him and just murmuring some nonsense.

However, in all that time, he never complained at all.  So, unfortunately for me, it took a really long time to figure this out! Example:

• Person 1: What time does the store open today?  
• Person 2: umUMmm

Or (in my case, when someone calls and leaves a message on the phone) my boyfriend asks “Who was it?” or “What did they want?”  My answer: umUMmm.

This sound is not to be used in formal situations, or when you don’t know the person. It can be seen as rude.  Also, if the topic is of a serious nature, it is also impolite to use. Example:

• Person 1: So, what’s your opinion about the symbolism in The DaVinci Code? 
• Person 2: I don’t know!

Said like this, it means you truly have given thought to the subject, and you really don’t have an answer yet.

The second interjection or sound is “Hey”.

I use this sound a lot, and it just kind of pops out of my mouth so naturally, that I forget to use a Brazilian sound.  My boyfriend always wonders why I call out “KING!”, but I’m not saying “rei” the Portuguese word for king. This interjection has many different uses depending on the tone of voice.

1. It’s used to express surprise: (after being awoken at 2am to find a group of your roommate’s friends having a party) “Hey, what’s going on here?”
2. To attract attention:  “Hey, come over here, I have something to show you!” Or “Hey, get down from there; you’re going to get hurt!”
3. To show interest: (after seeing a guy open the car door for his girlfriend.)  “Hey, now that’s something that I could get used to.” Or,  (after seeing an interesting YouTube video), “Hey, now that was pretty cool!”
4. To show annoyance: “HEY, stop talking so loud, I’m not DEAF!” Or “HEY! Can you please stop interrupting me all the time and just let me talk!”
5. To elicit agreement:  “Hey, what do you think about this red dress? Should I buy it or not?”  Or  “Hey, don’t you think it’s time to quit smoking?”
6. As a greeting:  “Hey, how’s it going?” Or  “I just called to say “Hey”

There certainly are many other uses for this sound, but they just aren’t on “the tip of my tongue” right now. If you can think of other times you’ve heard this sound in English, feel free to comment about them here on the blog. And, as always, if you have questions, just let me know.

Take care.

–

If you would like information on my classes in Florianopolis, or my classes online, you can contact me at kris10dh@hotmail.com. My Twitter is: @kris10dh, and my Skype is: kris10dh. you can also find me on Facebook, click here to acess my fanpage.

A dica Podcast: Sound and Interjections II apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Kristen Hammer.

Lembre-se que você pode fazer o download gratuito dos arquivos (PDF e MP3) dessa dica, clicando nos links que se encontram logo acima da caixa de áudio. Se você  usa o iTunes em seu computador, baixe o podcast clicando aqui (também disponível para iPhone, iPad e iPod). Vamos lá! Aumente o volume, prepare-se, escute e leia mais essa dica para você ficar com o inglês na ponta da língua.

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Hello boys and girls, welcome to Inglês na Ponta da Língua podcast. My name’s Denilso and today I want to share with you a little bit about the word “actually”. Before that, I have to tell you that you can listen and download our podcasts on www.inglesnapontadalingua.com.br. I’m sure you’ll find lots of interesting things in there.

Well, as you all may know, the word “actually” is one of those so-called false friends we have between English and Portuguese. That means that “actually” looks like a word in Portuguese, but it’s not the same in usage and meaning. “Actually” looks like “atualmente”, but the word “actually” means “na realidade”, “na verdade”. It’s a synonym of “in fact”, “in reality”, “as a matter of fact”, “in truth” and a few others.

Although it seems to be a simple word, “actually” is one of the most common and complex words used in spoken English. Sometimes, its use is not so simple as you may think. So, you’d better learn how to use it correctly.

When it’s a synonym of “in fact”, “as a matter of fact”, “in reality” etc., “actually” is used to emphasize what is really true or what really happened. Listen to these examples:

Person 01: Someone’s told me that you’re a lawyer. (Me disseram que você é advogado.)

Person 02: Well, actually, I’m a doctor. (Bem, na verdade, eu sou médico.)

Or,

Person 01: Are you from Brazil? (Você é do Brasil?)

Person 02: Actually, I’m from Portugal. (Na verdade, eu sou de Portugal.)

Or,

• Actually, he didn’t go to the party because he was sick. (Na verdade, ele não foi à festa porque estava doente.)
• Disappointed? No, actually, I’m very happy. (Desapontado? Não, na verdade, estou muito feliz.)

As you can notice, “actually” in the examples above shows that people may think one thing totally different from the real situation. So, “actually” emphasizes the correct piece of information.

In some cases, “actually” means “really” which in Portuguese is something like “mesmo”.

• What time are you guys actually leaving? (A que horas mesmo vocês vão sair?)
• She actually did it. (Ela fez mesmo.)
• It looks as if Mike is actually doing some work. (Parece que o Mike está mesmo fazendo algum serviço.)

Sometimes “actually” is used for admitting something. In this sense, some authors say it functions as a softener and as such it means something like “to be honest” (“para ser sincero”, in Portuguese).

• I spent more money than I should, actually. (Para dizer a verdade, eu gastei mais dinheiro do que deveria.)
• Well, actually, I’ve already said we can’t go. (Bom, para ser sincero, eu já disse que não podemos ir.)
• We actually had a hard time moving the sofa. (Para ser sincero, a gente deu um duro danado para mudar o sofá de lugar.)

Or,

Person 01: Can I have a word with you? (Posso trocar uma palavrinha com você?)

Person 02: I’m very busy, actually. (Para ser sincero, estou muito ocupado.)

“Actually” also has the sense of “surprisingly” or “though it may seem strange”. In Portuguese, we say “pode parecer estranho”. In this sense, “actually” usually comes at the beginning of the sentence.

• Actually, he wanted me to pay for his lunch. (Pode parecer estranho, mas ele queria que eu pagasse o almoço dele.)
• Actually, she didn’t come to work today. I wonder what happened. (Pode parecer estranho, mas ela não veio trabalhar hoje. O que será que aconteceu?)

When someone asks you a question and you want to friendly confirm your answer, you can use “actually” at the end of the sentence. In this case, it can be left out of the sentence; so, you can make use of it or not.

Person 01: Can you speak English? (Você sabe falar ingles?)

Person 02: Yes, I can, actually. (Sim, claro.)

Or,

Person 01: Are you coming with us? (Você vai vir com a gente?)

Person 02: Yes, I am, actually. (Vou sim, claro.)

Another use of “actually” is to add new information to what’s being said or to correct what you’ve just said. It can be translated as “aliás”:

• I’ve known Mike for years. Since we were kids, actually. (Eu conheço o Mike há anos. Aliás, desde que éramos crianças.)
• Actually, on second thoughts, I don’t think I want to go out tonight. (Aliás, pensando bem, eu acho que não quero sair hoje à noite.)
• It was yesterday; no, actually, it was Monday morning. (Foi ontem, não, na verdade, foi segunda de manhã.)

“Actually” has other functions in spoken English. If you watch movies, sitcoms, interviews, listen to songs, talk to native speakers, you’ll hear it a lot. Pay attention to it and notice the nuances it has.

To wrap this up, let me just say that “atualmente” in English is “nowadays”, “today” or “currently”. In Portuguese, we don’t use the word “atualmente” very much. Instead, we tend to say “hoje em dia”, “nos dias de hoje”. Listen,

• Lots of people get porced nowadays. (Muita gente se porcia hoje em dia.)
• He currently is directing TV sitcoms. (Atualmente, ele está dirigindo seriados.)
• Let me show you the products that are currently available. (Deixe-me mostrar os produtos que estão disponível no momento.)

Well, that’s it for today guys. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tip. And remember that you can also like our fanpage on Facebook. Just go to www.facebook.com/inglesnapontadalingua and have lots of fun with us.

A dica Podcast: Uso da Palavra Actually apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Abaixo, você podera ouvir e ler a dica. Além disso, você podem também fazer o download gratuito do texto e também do áudio para ouvir onde, quando e quantas vezes quiser. Para isso basta clicar em cada um dos links indicados. Os usuários de iPhone, iPad, iPod, e iTunes (no Mac ou PC) poderão baixar este e outros podcasts clicando aqui.

Chega de papo e vamos à nossa dica de hoje. I hope you enjoy it!

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Hello guys, this is another episode of our Inglês na Ponta da Língua podcast. Today, we’re going to have Kristen Hammer, who is an American living in Florianópolis, where she teaches English, reading her blog post on sounds for us. So, let’s listen to her.

This is Kristen Hammer, professora de ingles, and I’m going to read my blog entry about sounds.

Who knew sounds can take the place of words?

I thought I would write about this subject, which can be termed “interjections”, because I have had various problems with it since I moved to Brazil. This is a subject that no one has taught me, no one seems to talk about, and nothing is written in my culture or language books to help me cope. Sounds, noises, gestures, and all types of body language can be misinterpreted and make for a lot of confusion!

I was at a school recently, waiting for my meeting to start, and overheard one of the teachers giving a lesson in the room next door.  The topic was “the ten most often used words in English”. All was going well until he got to the word “UH.”  I thought it strange that this interjection was included in the list of common words.  I don’t know where he got this list, but anyway, the example he gave for the use of “uh” was this:

Person 1:  Do you know what I want for my birthday?

Person 2: Uh?

Person 1: A new mountain bike.

Now that is definitely not how we use “uh” in English. After a second, I realized what he meant: In Brazil, this is the sound you make when you want the person to continue with what they were saying. I think in Portuguese you spell it “hã”, but I’m not sure.

This made me think about other sounds and noises that we use in English that you might hear.

Number 01) UH:  This sound is made to express confusion or uncertainty. Example:

Person 1: What movie do you want to go see?

Person 2: Uh (long pause), I think Batman would be fun!

It is also a space filler or a kind of pause while speaking.  Example: To get to my house you go right on Town Street, uh, then make a left on Main Street, uh… then go down the street, and , uh, five houses down on the left is my house.

Number 02) UH-OH: This is used for the sound that people make when they realize that something has gone wrong. Example: (after getting to the airport) “Uh-oh!  I forgot my passport!”  Or  “Uh-oh!  I think I put salt instead of sugar in the recipe!”

Number 03) OW or OUCH: The sound you make when someone or something hurt you or you hurt yourself.  Example:  “Ouch!  You just stepped on my foot!”  Or  (after sticking yourself with a needle while sewing)  “Ow!” What’s funny is that several times I tried to speak a little English with my boyfriend, and used the word “I”(eu)  with him…he thought he hurt me because I said “AI” which is a sound Brazilians use to express this same idea!!

Number 04) SHH: This sound you make to tell someone to be quiet or to talk more softly.  Example:  “Shhhh, you guys are making too much noise and I can’t hear the TV”. What I hear people do here in Brazil to express this idea is a VERY offensive sound to us (Americans). It is your “Psiu” sound. Here, people use this sound to quiet someone down, or to call someone’s attention. But to us, it sounds like you are calling a dog. It’s very demeaning!

I had a big problem with the Brazilian “Psiu” when an old boyfriend of mine used it with me.  I had only been in Brazil for about 6 months and he didn’t speak any English. He began using it to get my attention at home and that was bad enough. But when he began using it in public, I got so nervous, angry, embarrassed, and plain pissed-off at how he could treat me so horribly in public!  But now I know it was a misunderstanding and is just a culture thing. Even so, I still cringe when it is used in my presence in public!

Number 05) YUCK or EW or EWW – We make this sound when something is gross. I am told that Americans, specifically American girls, express this sentiment all the time. Along with scrunching up our faces and making a big scene. I think here people use ECA or EKA to express the same thing.  Example: “I am NOT going to eat those shrimp that still have the heads and feet on them, YUCK!”. I, personally, tend to use the word “gross” to express this feeling. It is said more drawn out. Example:  “Grrrrroooooossse… I can’t believe he just ate that snake alive” (after watching Man vs. Wild)

Number 06) MUAH…this one I am putting in here because I have had several people ask what this means because it is used a lot in Facebook messages and comments.  Here people use the words “beijos” or “bjs” at the end of a comment. For us, we sometimes put XXOO or XOXO,  which is hugs and kisses… But many times we put Muah, or MUUAAAHHH.   it is a drawn out sound as if you were planting a big, huge kiss on your friend’s cheek or lips.  But here, in Brazil, I notice that kisses are much shorter, so they don’t make the same sound. Again, it’s MUUUUUAAAHH.

Ok, That’s it for now. Thank you.
–
Saiba mais sobre Kristen Hammer e suas aulas particulares via Skype clicando aqui.

A dica Sounds and Interjections in English apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Kristen Hammer.

Hoje eu quero falar com vocês sobre phrasal verbs. Mas, não precisam se preocupar. Não vai dar para falar de tudo quanto é phrasal verb que existe na língua inglesa. O que eu quero mesmo é falar sobre um phrasal verb que todo mundo tem que ter na ponta da língua. É o phrasal verb “find out”.

So now, let’s stop speaking Portuguese and let’s start speaking English, ok?

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For those who don’t know “find out” is one of the most common verbs we have in the English language. It really doesn’t matter if it is American English, British English, Canadian English, Australian English, and so on and so forth. It is definitely one of the most common phrasal verbs we have in the English language.

The good news about the phrasal verb “find out” is that there isn’t much secret to make use of it. What you have to know is what it means and how to put it in a sentence.

So, basically speaking, the meaning of “find out” is “discover”. That means that you can use “find out” and “discover” in a sentence with the same meaning. For example, you can say,

• We have to find out what he’s up to. (A gente tem de descobrir o que ele está aprontando.)

But you can also say,

• We have to discover what he’s up to.

Did you notice that you can use the phrasal verb “find out” and the one-word verb “discover” without changing the meaning of the sentence? However, keep in mind that the use of the phrasal verb “find out” is much more common than the use of the one-word verb “discover”. So, remember that “find out” must be your number one option when speaking to someone.

Now that you know the meaning of the phrasal verb, it’s time to learn how to put it in a sentence.

And again, there isn’t much secret here. For example, you can say things like

• We will never find out the truth about that. (A gente nunca vai descobrir a verdade sobre isso.)

Well, let me tell you here something that I think it’s really interesting. We use the word “find out” with the word “truth”. So, we have a collocation here. The collocation is “find out the truth about something”. Don’t forget that. So, just write it on your notebook and start creating sentences with it. Now, let’s go on with other examples with “find out”.

• Find out everything you can about this guy. (Descubra tudo o que você puder sobre esse cara.)

Another example,

• How did you find out? (Como você descobriu?)

And another sentence I have here is,

• I found out that they didn’t tell the truth. (Descobri que eles não disseram a verdade.)

I guess you realized that in the last sentence I said “found out”. And why was that? Because it’s the past tense of “find out”.

An another thing you have to pay attention to is that you can use the phrasal verb “find out” with words like “where”, why”, “how”, “when”. For example, you can say,

• find out who (descobrir quem)
• find out how (descobrir como)
• find out why (descobrir porque)
• find out when (descobrir quando)
• find out where (descobrir onde)

Let’s listen to a couple of examples with this:

• You have to find out when she’s coming here. (Você tem de descobrir quando ela virá aqui.)
• We tried to find out what was going on. (A gente tentou descobrir o que estava acontecendo.)
• Let’s find out how much all this is going to cost. (Vamos descobrir quanto isso tudo vai custar.)

So, as you can see, there isn’t much secret to use the phrasal verb “find out”. All you have to do is to start using this phrasal verb when you’re talking to someone. Every time you feel like using the word “discover” remember that you can use the phrasal verb “find out”.

Ok! I guess it’s now time for you to get a pen and a notebook and start writing your own examples with the phrasal verb “find out”. Oh! You can also keep practicing all this and much more on our Facebook fanpage, just go to www.facebook.com/inglesnapontadalingua or to our website www.inglesnapontadalingua.com.br. That’s all for today, guys. Bye bye!.

A dica Phrasal Verb: FIND OUT apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Apologizing is a very important thing to learn when you are learning a second language. And why’s that? Well, you know there will always be those moments when you will have to apologize for something you’ve done or said. So, let’s take a look at ways of apologizing in English.

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I’d say the most common way of apologizing in English is by saying “Sorry” or “I’m sorry”. There is no secret here. These are used when you have done something which has upset someone or caused them difficulties, or when you bump into them accidentally.

• I’m really sorry if I said anything wrong.
• I’m sorry, I forgot.
• I’m sorry. I can’t meet you tomorrow.

You can find many more examples with “sorry” by carrying out a search on Google or by looking it up on a good dictionary. Apart from “sorry”, there are, of course, other ways of apologizing, so let’s learn them.

When the situation requires something more polite and formal, then you’d better say “I’d like to apologize for…”. Listen to these examples:

• I’d like to apologize for saying that. I didn’t mean it, ok?
• I’d like to apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you.
• I’d like to apologize for not going to your reception.
• I’d like to apologize for what happened yesterday. I don’t know what came over me.

Let’s now imagine that you did something accidentally. That is, you did not do it on purpose. In such situations, there are two things you may say: “Excuse me” or “I beg your pardon”. Remember: you may use them when you accidentally do something. Other examples:

• Excuse me, but there’s a phone call for you.
• Oh, excuse me, I didn’t see you standing there.
• I beg your pardon, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.
• I beg your pardon. I thought you were someone else.

In case you treat someone badly, for example by blaming them for something they actually didn’t do it, what you may say is: “I owe you an apology”.

• Hey, Mike, I guess I owe you an apology, you know.
• Look, I owe you an apology for the things I said about your work.
• Well, I really owe you an apology. I think I overreacted.

Another way of apologizing in more formal situations or when making an apology in an official announcement is “Please, accept my apologies”. If a company or group of people is the one apologizing, then you may hear “Please, accept our apologies”. Listen to some examples:

• We accept that this was the company’s fault and ask you to accept our sincere apologies.
• My apologies if I have offended you in any way.
• My apologies if I have misunderstood your intentions.

As I said before, learning ways of apologizing is important when learning a second language. However, it’s also important to learn what to say when you accept an apology. So, there you go a list of some of the things you may hear or say as responses to apologies.

• Oh, come on, it’s ok.
• Apologies accepted.
• Well, we all make mistakes, don’t we?
• No problem.
• There’s nothing to apologize for. 
• No hard feelings, right?

Well guys, that’s all for today’s podcast. I hope you’ve enjoyed the tips. Remember that you can download other episodes on www.inglesnapontadalingua.com.br. You can also keep learning more English on our Facebook fanpage. Just go to www.facebook.com/inglesnapontadalingua and hit like. Get ready for the next podcast, guys. Take care.

A dica Ways of Apologizing in English apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Na dica a seguir, falo sobre a diferença entre a pronúncia das palavras “beach” and “bitch”. Para ser mais específico, a dica é sobre os sons /i:/ e /ɪ/. Presentes também em palavras como “sit” e “seat”, “bit” e “beat”, “lick” e “leak”, “sheet” e “shit”, entre outras tantas.

Para facilitar tudo, você pode baixar gratuitamente o arquivo de texto (PDF) e o arquivo de áudio (MP3) para seu computador, iPod, iPad, iPhone, Samsung, Blackberry, etc., sem problemas. Basta clicar nos hyperlinks abaixo. Ah! Você pode ainda assinar nossos podcast diretamente na iTunes Store. Essa é sem dúvida uma forma de você ficar cada vez mais e mais com o Inglês na Ponta da Língua.

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English pronunciation is a mystery to the majority of learners. Some students give up learning the English language saying that pronunciation is hard to master. I totally agree with that. It really takes a lot of effort to learn how to pronounce the sounds of English.

Brazilian learners of English have problems with lots of sounds. An example is the sounds in “beach” and “bitch”. Most Brazilians think these two words are pronounced the same. However, they are not. The sounds are different. The sound for “ea” in “beach” is longer then the sound for “i” in “bitch”. Listen,

• beach
• bitch

Pay attention to the vowel sounds in each of them:

• beach
• bitch

Have you noticed that the sound for “ea” in “beach” is really longer? We say: “beach”. Now the sound for “i” in “bitch” is shorter: “bitch”. Listen to them once again:

• beach
• bitch

The sounds we have here, according to the International Phonetic Alphabet, are /i:/ for “beach” and /ɪ/ for “bitch”. So, as you can see and hear there really is a difference when pronouncing “beach” and “bitch”. The same is true to the following words:

• sheet – shit
• leak – lick
• beat – bit
• feet – fit
• seat – sit
• meet – mit
• neat – knit
• heat – hit
• meal – mill
• feel – fill
• lead – lid
• bead – bid

So, how about that now? Can you repeat all of them with the correct sound? Remember the words on the left are pronounced with the sound /i:/ and the words on the right are pronounced with the sound /ɪ/. I hope you learn the difference and don’t mispronounce “beach” or “bitch” anymore. They are totally different in meaning and in the way they are pronounced.

Now, if you allow me, let me give a short piece of advice: don’t give up learning English because of pronunciation. I know it’s hard but if you give up, you’re never going to master it. So, keep studying hard and count on Inglês na Ponta da Língua to help you.

Leia e escute também os podcasts abaixo:

• Meaning and Use of “What’s Going On”?
• The Use of Make and Do
• What are Collocations?
• The Expression “Come Again?”
• What does a “Total Crock” mean?

A dica Beach or Bitch? apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Before talking about today’s tip I want to thank all of you guys who are giving ideas to make our podcasts better and better. I am sure this is a fantastic way to help you guys improve your English language skills. Remember that you can download the MP3 and PDF files for the podcasts on www.inglesnapontadalingua.com.br.

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Today, I want to tell you about the words “make” and “do”. In Portuguese, they both can be translated as “fazer”. Of course, there are other meanings, but people in Brazil usually think that “fazer” is the only option. Because of this, it’s common to get confused about using one word or the other. That is, in Brazil, we usually say “fazer um acordo”. So, English language learners get stuck and keeps asking if they should use “make” or “do” in this combination. In other words, should they say “make an agreement” or “do an agreement”?

Well, the answer for that is “make an agreement”. Why is that? Because in English the word “make” collocates with the word “agreement”. So, you’d better say “make an agreement”. That’s how they naturally use these words, so you have to learn the whole combination (collocation) and that’s it.

English language learners and teachers tend to focus on the words “make” and “do”. In my opinion, this is a huge mistake. I believe the focus should be on the other words. For example, imagine you want to say “fazer uma reclamação” in English. Instead of asking about “make” or “do”, you should focus on the word “complaint”. That means you have to look up the word “complaint” in a dictionary and see what is used in there. If you have a very good dictionary, you’ll learn that in English they say “make a complaint”.

If you focus on the other word – the main word -, you’re going to learn some interesting things. One of these is related to the word “party”. In Portuguese, we say “fazer uma festa”. But in English, they usually say “throw a party”, “give a party”, “organize a party”, “have a party”. They don’t say “make a party” or “do a party”. These combinations are not common. You have to learn that the most common combination – or collocation – is “throw a party”.

Keep this in mind: Always focus on the other word. Do not worry about “make” or “do”. Let me give you another example. You have to say “fazer a tarefa de casa”. You know that “tarefa de casa” in English is “homework”. So, what you have to do is get a good dictionary, look up the word “homework” in it, and find out that in English they say “do the homework”. See? What you have to do is to focus on the other word. If you focus on “make” or “do”, you’ll never learn how to combine the words properly in English.

In case you want more, let’s try this with the word “coffee”. In Portuguese we say “fazer café”. In English, they say “make coffee”. How about “fazer uma confissão”? In English, it’s “make a confession”. If you have to say “fazer uma boa ação”; then, in English, you’ll have to say “do a good action”. And how do they say “fazer um favor”? Easy! It’s “do a favor”.

My point here is: there are no rules to help you with that. It’s the way words are naturally combined that will help you learn when you use “make” or “do”. Some people try to create rules for this. One of these crazy rules says that if the think is created, manufactured, etc., you have to use “make”. According to this rule, you say “make dinner” (fazer o jantar), “make a cake” (fazer um bolo), “make a salad” (fazer uma salada), etc. When it comes to the word “do”, they say that “do” has to be used to describe an activity: “do the dishes” (lavar a louça), “do a translation”(fazer uma tradução), “do exercises” (fazer exercícios).

Now, think about the word “bed”. In Portuguese, we say “fazer a cama”. It’s an activity. So, according to the rule, you have to say “do the bed”. That’s where the rule fails! In English, the correct way to say “fazer a cama” is “make the bed”. That really shows that the rule doesn’t work.

In a nutshell, always focus on the other word to be used with “make” or “do”. There are no magic rules. There are no magic tips. There is no magic at all. Noticing how words combine is the only thing which will really help you. That’s what’s going to make the whole difference.

That’s all for today. Have a nice day, guys. Take care!

A dica Podcast: The Use of Make and Do apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

On today’s podcast, teachers Denilso de Lima and Bruna Iubel talk a little bit about this word. You’ll listen to some uses, lots of examples, and also tips on pronunciation. I’m quite sure, you’ll love this podcast.

[Você pode ler e ouvir os podcasts do Inglês na Ponta da Língua em seu smartphone, tablet, iPod, etc. Para ler o texto, baixe o arquivo em formato PDF e para ouvir o áudio é só baixar o arquivo MP3. Para baixar esse material ou ouvi-lo diretamente no blog, CLIQUE AQUI. Acima da caixa de áudio você verá os links para download. Aí é só clicar no link e aguardar a conclusão do download. Claro que você pode baixar também no seu computador e assim ficar com o Inglês na Ponta da Língua sempre que quiser.]

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A dica The Use of the Word Let apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

We hope you like this tip. It will certainly improve not only your vocabulary but also your knowledge about the history of this common expression. Just hit the play button on the audio box below. Visit our facebook fanpage and let us know if liked that tip. Go to www.facebook.com/inglesnapontadalingua and join us. You’re also going to learn much more in there. Have a nice day you all. Take care!

A dica What does “in the boondocks” mean? apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

You can listen to the audio file, clicking here; but, you also have the option below. We hope you enjoy this brand new Inglês na Ponta da Língua Podcast, which can now be found on iTunes.

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A dica Podcast: What are collocations? apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Além do novo podcast, quero contar outra novidade para vocês. Depois de 05 anos, administrando sozinho o blog, os cursos, o Facebook, o Twitter, os emails e tudo mais ligado ao Inglês na Ponta da Língua, informo a vocês que o blog conta agora com um toque feminino. Recentemente, amiga Bruna Iubel passou a ajudar com uma série de coisas aqui: comentários do blog, emails com dúvidas dos leitores, fanpage no Facebook, organização dos cursos e outras coisas mais. Portanto, deem as boas vindas à Bruna, por favor! Tenho certeza que ela será uma grande ajuda não só para mim, mas para vocês também.

Agora chega de papo e vamos à dica de hoje que é sobre o uso da palavra “would“. Abaixo vocês encontram o material para download e também o áudio para ouvir a dica. Qualquer coisa, eu estou… Opa! Nós estamos aqui para ajudá-los.

Tenham um excelente dia!

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A dica Podcast: Uso da Palavra Would apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

You are going to learn the meaning and the use of this expression. Apart from that, you are also going to learn a little bit about the history of the word “nice”.

Well, I guess that’s it! Click the play button on the audio box below and listen to the tip.

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Para ver o vídeo mencionado no final do podcast, clique aqui.

A dica What does “a total crock” mean? apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

Well, no more talking! Let’s learn about “what’s going on?”, shall we? Just click the play button below and learn this new expression. You can also download the MP3 and PDF files for free. We hope you like like this tip. Take care and have a wonderful day.

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The song on the podcast is Snow World Under the White Moon, by EeL. You can download it for free here

A dica What’s going on? apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

So, yeah, that’s it! I’ve just done something and feel like sharing it right now. To be quite honest, I loved it and I hope you love it, too.

Below you have the audio box on the expression “Come again?”, which is a common and informal expression used in English when you want people to repeat what they’ve just said. This expression is part of the English Expression of the Day, which Inglês na Ponta da Língua fans have access. So, in case you’re not a fan yet, you can do it right now. Just go to www.facebook.com/inglesnapontadalingua and do the thing.

I don’t have to say much about it here, ’cause you can download the picture by clicking here and the Mp3 file here. Of course, you can also listen the tip on the blog. Just click the play button on the box below.

I hope you enjoy this tip. Have a wonderful day. Take care!

*The song you listen is Blood Mary, performed by Barrence Whitfield and The Savages. You can know more about them here.

A dica The expression “Come again?” apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.

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And the script!

The great actor from the movie Fast and Furious (Velozes e Furiosos), Vin Diesel, recently wrote the following words on his Facebook fanpage.

“We all know, I tend to shy away from award shows… However, I can’t tell you how honored I am to be Nominated for an NAACP award, for the portrayal of Dom Toretto in Fast Five. Haha… one to be proud of… I am lucky to have such a great ensemble of actors, director, writer, producers… and even the studio. Film is truly a team effort, and everyone gave above and beyond.”

Come on! He!? Shying away from shows!? I can’t believe it !

Anyway, being shy or not, he gave us three good things to learn in English. Three common expressions used in daily conversation. The first one is “we all know” which means “todos nós sabemos” or “todo mundo sabe” or “a gente sabe”. It’s a common thing to say in colloquial English so learn and practice it. There you go some other examples:

• We all know he’s crazy.
• We all know she’s not coming to the party.
• We all know this is not going to work.
• We all know you are married.

The second expression is “shy away from someone” or “shy away from something”. This expression means “evitar alguém ou algo por se sentir inseguro, ansioso demais, amedrontado”. So, when Vin says “I tend to shy away from award shows”, in Portuguese it means that he “evita ir a shows de entrega de prêmios por sentir um friozinho na barriga”. The expression is “shy away from” and there you go a couple of examples:

• You can’t shy away from that.
• He won’t go. He shies away from debates, you know.
• Don’t you ever shy away from your commitments.
• I won’t shy away from it.

The third expression we learn from Vin Diesel is “give above and beyond”. In his own words he says, “everyone gave above and beyond”. In Portuguese, that means “todo mundo se entregou”, “todo mundo deu o máximo de si”, “todo mundo vestiu a camisa”. So, “give above and beyond” means “dar o máximo de si para realizer um projeto”, “se entregar de corpo e alma”, “vestir a camisa”. To make it clear, there you go some more examples:

• You have always to give above and beyond.
• You know, we gave above and beyond for that.
• We all know you gave above and beyond to the project.

Well, now it’s up to you. Can you find more examples with “we all know”, “shy away from someone/something” and “give above and beyond”? Take care!

A dica Real English Fast and Furious apareceu primeiro em Inglês na Ponta da Língua e é de autoria de Denilso de Lima.