Vocabulary and Idiomatic Usage
What the section tests
Vocabulary and Idiomatic Usage tests collocations, register, idioms, false friends, and regional variation. Items often contrast a literal reading with the idiomatic one, or ask which expression fits a formal versus informal context.
Core rules
- Learn verbs with their prepositions: depender de, precisar de, assistir a (watch), gostar de, ir a versus ir para.
- Idioms are fixed: pagar o pato = take the blame; chutar o balde = lose one's temper or give up; falar pelos cotovelos = talk a lot; estar com a pulga atrás da orelha = be suspicious.
- Regional variation matters: dar um jeito is widely understood, but a gente versus nós, tu versus você, and food terms differ. Propina in Portuguese usually means bribe, not tip (gorjeta).
- False friends: esquisito = strange (not exquisite); sensível = sensitive; compromisso = commitment or appointment; livraria = bookshop.
Worked example
Sentence: Ele pagou o pato pela confusão. Question: What does it mean? Reasoning: Pagar o pato is an idiom meaning to bear the blame or consequences. A literal paid the duck is wrong; paid for the duck is also wrong. The context pela confusão confirms blame, not payment.
Traps that cost marks
- Translating idioms word for word.
- Assuming European and Brazilian usage are identical.
- Choosing a near-synonym with the wrong register: morar versus residir (formal), cara versus senhor.
- Missing collocations: cometer um erro, not fazer um erro in careful writing; prestar atenção has a different meaning from dar atenção.