BicaUnit 6 of 16A15 lessons · 38 words
Home and daily routine in European Portuguese
Em casa
Describe your home and talk about your daily routine. This is an A1 unit of the Bica course, in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal: below are all its words, example sentences you can listen to, and the grammar notes.
Words and phrases
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
a casa | houseEm casa = at home. Vou para casa. = I'm going home. |
o apartamento | flat |
moraralso viver | to liveEu moro em Lisboa. = I live in Lisbon. Viver means the same: Eu vivo em Lisboa. |
o rés-do-chão | ground floor |
o primeiro andar | first floorOne floor above the ground floor, as in British English. |
a porta | door |
a janela | window |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
o quarto | bedroomAlso a room in a hotel. |
a salaalso a sala de estar | living room |
a cozinha | kitchen |
a casa de banho | bathroomAlso the word for a public toilet. |
o jardim | garden |
há | there isThe same for one or many: há uma cama, há duas camas. |
a cama | bed |
o sofá | sofa |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
a mesa | table |
a cadeira | chair |
o frigorífico | fridge |
a televisão | television |
o computador | computer |
o telemóvel | mobile phone |
grande | bigThe same for masculine and feminine. |
pequenoalso pequena | small |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
acordar | to wake upEu acordo às sete. = I wake up at seven. |
levantar-se | to get upLevanto-me = I get up. |
tomar banho | to have a bathIn Portugal this is used for a bath or a shower. |
tomar duche | to have a shower |
tomar o pequeno-almoço | to have breakfastO pequeno-almoço = breakfast. |
de manhã | in the morning |
cedo | early |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
trabalhar | to work |
estudar | to study |
almoçar | to have lunchO almoço = lunch. |
jantar | to have dinnerAlso a noun: o jantar = dinner. |
à noite | at night |
deitar-se | to go to bedEu deito-me às onze. = I go to bed at eleven. |
dormir | to sleepIrregular: durmo (I sleep), dormes, dorme. |
fazer | to doIrregular: faço, fazes, faz, fazemos, fazem. O que estás a fazer? = What are you doing? |
Example sentences
- Eu moro em Lisboa.I live in Lisbon.
- Eu moro num apartamento.I live in a flat.num = em + um.
- Onde é que tu moras?Where do you live?
- A casa tem três quartos.The house has three bedrooms.
- A casa tem jardim?Does the house have a garden?
- Onde é a casa de banho?Where is the bathroom?
- O telemóvel está na mesa.The phone is on the table.Na mesa can mean "on the table".
- Há uma televisão na sala.There's a TV in the living room.
- O frigorífico é muito pequeno.The fridge is very small.
- Eu acordo às sete.I wake up at seven.
- Eu levanto-me cedo.I get up early.The pronoun me goes after the verb, with a hyphen, even after eu.
- Eu tomo duche de manhã.I have a shower in the morning.
- Eu estou a trabalhar.I'm working.Estar a + infinitive = what is happening now.
- O bebé está a dormir.The baby is sleeping.
- Eu almoço ao meio-dia.I have lunch at noon.
Every lesson page has all of its sentences: Where I live · Rooms · Things at home · Morning routine · Day & night
Unit notes
Estar a + infinitive: what is happening now
To say what someone is doing right now, use estar, then a, then the verb in the infinitive: Eu estou a trabalhar ("I'm working"). This is how people talk in Portugal, with every verb and every person.
The forms of estar are estou, estás, está, estamos, estão.
- O bebé está a dormir.The baby is sleeping.
- Nós estamos a jantar.We're having dinner.
- O que estás a fazer?What are you doing?
Levanto-me: reflexive verbs
Some routine verbs come with a small pronoun: levantar-se (to get up) and deitar-se (to go to bed). The pronoun goes after the verb, joined with a hyphen: levanto-me, levantas-te, levanta-se, levantamo-nos, levantam-se. Notice that levantamos loses its final -s before nos.
After não and after question words, the pronoun moves in front of the verb: Não me levanto cedo. A que horas te deitas?
- Eu levanto-me às sete.I get up at seven.
- Nós deitamo-nos às onze.We go to bed at eleven.
- Ao domingo não me levanto cedo.On Sundays I don't get up early.
Há: there is, there are
Há means both "there is" and "there are", and it never changes: Há uma cama. Há duas camas. To ask a question, just raise your voice at the end: Há jardim?
To say that something has something, use ter: A casa tem três quartos. But for "there is" and "there are", always use há.
- Há um sofá na sala.There's a sofa in the living room.
- Há duas casas de banho.There are two bathrooms.
Em + the: no, na, num, numa
Em (in, on, at) joins with the article that follows it: em + o = no, em + a = na, em + um = num, em + uma = numa. The plurals are nos and nas.
Most cities have no article, so you live em Lisboa or em Coimbra. But o Porto has one, so you live no Porto. "At home" is simply em casa.
- Eu estou na cozinha.I'm in the kitchen.
- Eu moro num apartamento no Porto.I live in a flat in Porto.
- Eu trabalho em casa.I work from home.
Floors and flats in Portugal
The ground floor is o rés-do-chão, written r/c in addresses. One floor up is o primeiro andar, as in British English.
In a Portuguese address, the floor number is often followed by Esq. (left) or Dto. (right): 2.º Esq. is the flat on the left on the second floor. Flats are also described by their number of bedrooms: a T2 has two bedrooms.
- Eu moro no rés-do-chão.I live on the ground floor.
- O apartamento é no primeiro andar.The flat is on the first floor.