Mini Lesson 13: How Brazilians Really Talk About How They're Feeling
In Brazil, "tudo bem" gets more than one answer: tá de boa, suave and tranquilo all mean roughly OK, just with different levels of chill. Other everyday phrases cover being fed up, blanking out, and brabo, a word that can mean angry or brilliant depending on the sentence.
How Brazilians Really Talk About How They're Feeling
Ask someone "tudo bem?" in Brazil and the answer tells you a lot more than "fine" ever does. There's a whole scale of casual, a couple of phrases for when things go wrong, and one word that flips meaning completely depending on the sentence.
The "Tudo Bem" Scale
- Tá de boa: the most common, most casual answer, everything's chilled, nothing to worry about.
- Suave: literally "smooth", used the same way, no problem at all.
- Tranquilo: calm, all good, also works as a reply when someone asks if something's OK to do.
Reactions to Life Going Wrong
- Deu ruim: something went badly, plans fell apart.
Chovia tanto que a festa na praia deu ruim = It rained a lot and the beach party turned into a bit of a mess.
- Ficar de saco cheio: to be fed up, sick of something or someone.
Tô de saco cheio disso = I'm fed up with this.
- Engolir sapo: to swallow something you don't like without complaining, literally "swallow a frog".
Tive que engolir sapo no trabalho hoje = I had to bite my tongue at work today.
Body Language, Sort Of
- Cara de pau: shameless, bold enough to say or do something without embarrassment. Literally "wooden face".
Ele comeu meu lanche e ainda disse que não foi ele, que cara de pau = He ate my lunch and still said it wasn't him, what nerve.
- Dar um branco: your mind goes completely blank.
Eu sabia a palavra em português, mas na hora de falar deu branco = I knew the word in Portuguese, but the moment I had to say it, my mind went blank.
- Dar um nó na garganta: a lump in the throat from strong emotion.
Aquele filme me deu um nó na garganta = That film gave me a lump in my throat.
The Word With Two Faces: Brabo
Brabo (Male) / Braba (female) is one word with two completely different uses, and only the sentence around it tells you which one you're getting.
- Angry
Ele ficou brabo comigo = He got angry with me.
- Brilliant at something
Nossa, ele faz uma caipirinha muito boa, ele é brabo = Wow, he makes a really good caipirinha, he's brilliant at it.
Try this!
Next time someone asks how you're doing in Brazil, skip "tudo bem" and try tá de boa, suave or tranquilo instead. Just don't mix up the two meanings of brabo, or you might accidentally call someone's cooking skills an anger problem.
If today's lesson made you want more, I'd love to have you as a student.
I'm Samar, I'm Brazilian! I teach Brazilian Portuguese, one-on-one or in small groups, for anyone who actually wants to learn properly.
Samar Rawlinson
Samar is a Brazilian Portuguese teacher from Rio de Janeiro. She teaches real, spoken Portuguese online to English speakers in the UK, USA and Australia.
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