LC Portuguese cheat sheet

Skim for the genre first: crônica, notícia, edital, e-mail formal, and receita each signal different register and structure.

Locate the tese (main claim) in argumentative texts: it usually follows the first paragraph's contextualization and is restated in the conclusion.

Distinguish fato (verifiable event) from opinião (evaluative stance) by markers such as 'é provável que', 'deveria', 'infelizmente'.

Connectors carry logic: 'porém/contudo' = contrast, 'portanto/logo' = conclusion, 'visto que/pois' = cause, 'embora/ainda que' = concession.

Reference resolution: 'este/esta' points forward or to the nearest antecedent; 'aquele/aquela' points back to something already distanced or previously mentioned.

Inference questions require textual support; an answer true in the real world but not supported by the passage is wrong.

Watch pronoun enclisis and 'se' constructions: 'vendem-se casas' is passive, not a reflexive action by an agent.

Timed strategy: read the questions' stems before the passage to tag keywords, then verify each option against a specific line.

European Portuguese (PT-PT) places clitic pronouns after the verb by default: 'Ele deu-me o livro'; pre-verbal 'Ele me deu' is Brazilian (PT-BR).

Future subjunctive and personal infinitive are core: 'Se eu puder, farei' (future subjunctive) vs 'É importante fazermos' (personal infinitive).

'Haver' is impersonal in the sense 'there is/are': 'Havia muitos alunos', never 'haviam' in standard usage.

'Ter' + participle forms the perfect: 'Tenho estudado'; 'estar a + infinitive' (PT-PT) marks the progressive, vs BR 'estando estudando'.

Contractions are obligatory: 'de + a = da', 'em + um = num', 'por + o = pelo'; 'a + aquele = àquele' takes a grave accent.

'Muito' agrees as an adjective ('muitas casas') but is invariable as an adverb ('muito bom'); 'bastante' follows the same pattern.

Subjunctive triggers: 'espero que', 'duvido que', 'é possível que', 'para que', 'antes que' require presente do subjuntivo.

'Porque' = because, 'por que' = for what/why in questions, 'porquê' = the noun/reason, 'por quê' = clause-final.

False friends: 'atualmente' = currently (not actually), 'eventualmente' = possibly, 'realizar' = to carry out, 'pretender' = to intend.

'Puxar' = to pull and 'empurrar' = to push; door signs in Portugal read 'Puxe/Empurre'.

Idioms: 'dar um jeito' (BR: sort it out), 'estar com a pulga atrás da orelha' (suspicious), 'custar os olhos da cara' (very expensive).

'Ficar' is highly polysemous: to stay, to become ('ficou triste'), to be located, and (BR) to keep.

Register pairs: 'a gente' (colloquial) vs 'nós' (neutral); 'tu/você' varies by region and formality.

Collective and gender traps: 'o problema' is masculine despite -a; 'a mão' is feminine despite -o; 'o dia' masculine.

'Tempo' covers time and weather; 'vez' covers occurrence/instance ('uma vez', 'às vezes').

Diminutives and augmentatives carry tone: '-inho' can mark affection or softness ('cafezinho'), '-ão' can mark size or intensity.

Translate the personal infinitive by an English finite clause or gerund: 'Antes de sairmos' = 'Before we leave/leaving'.

Future subjunctive in conditionals becomes present indicative in English: 'Se ele vier' = 'If he comes'.

'Estar a + infinitivo' (PT-PT) maps to English present continuous: 'Estou a ler' = 'I am reading'.

'Haver de' expresses obligation or expectation: 'Hei de voltar' = 'I shall return'.

'Já' often means 'already' but 'já não' means 'no longer'; 'ainda' means 'still' or, with negation, 'yet'.

Clitic object pronouns may need explicit English pronouns for clarity: 'deu-me' = 'he/she gave me'.

Passive with 'se' becomes English passive or impersonal 'one/you': 'Aluga-se' = 'For rent'.

Keep proper nouns, currency (real/reais, euro), and institutional names in Portuguese with a gloss on first mention.

English present continuous maps to 'estar a + infinitivo' in PT-PT, not to a simple present.

English 'would' splits: conditional ('faria') vs habitual past ('fazia') - choose by context.

English 'to have to' = 'ter de/que + infinitivo'; 'must' as deduction = 'dever + infinitivo'.

English gerund as subject becomes Portuguese infinitive: 'Swimming is healthy' = 'Nadar é saudável'.

'There is/are' = 'há' (invariable) or 'existe/existem'; avoid literal 'tem' in formal writing.

English phrasal verbs need semantic, not literal, rendering: 'give up' = 'desistir', 'look after' = 'cuidar de'.

Adjective placement shifts meaning: 'um grande homem' (a great man) vs 'um homem grande' (a big man).

Use 'você' or impersonal constructions in neutral prose; avoid 'tu' unless the source is informal or PT-PT familiar.

PT-PT vs PT-BR after the 1990/2009 Orthographic Agreement: both use 'ação', but PT-PT keeps 'facto' and 'receção' where BR writes 'fato' and 'recepção'.

PT-PT uses 'autocarro', 'comboio', 'pequeno-almoço', 'casa de banho'; PT-BR uses 'ônibus', 'trem', 'café da manhã', 'banheiro'.

Brazilian 'você' is standard; PT-PT uses 'tu' informally in most regions but 'você/o senhor' for deference.

Lusophone Africa (Angola, Moçambique, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, São Tomé e Príncipe) and Timor-Leste use Portuguese officially, with local lexicon and PT-PT-leaning norms.

'Saudade' and 'fado' are culturally loaded; translate descriptively rather than with a single English word.

Formal correspondence opens with 'Exmo. Sr.' / 'Prezado(a)' and closes with 'Com os melhores cumprimentos' (PT) or 'Atenciosamente' (BR).

Regional Brazilian markers: 'guri' (RS), 'oxente' (BA), 'uai' (MG); recognize, do not overuse.

Dates and numbers differ: PT-PT writes '1 000,50' and '31/12/2024'; BR writes '1.000,50'.