Class #7 with Foster, July, 31, 2026
note: this is a recording of your private coaching session with Foster. No one will see it except you, Alexia, and Foster 🙏
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Session summary
You came in after a full day speaking Portuguese, and it showed. We started with the canja/brigadeiro, talked about your Brazilian friend and getting “stuck” in one language, then you asked for exactly what you needed: five lists (future subjunctive, contractions, demonstratives, de vs. do, reflexive verbs) with simple examples. Compared to Class #1 in June, your Portuguese was on a different level.
🍲 The canja, the brigadeiro, and the food you brought
canja (de galinha) — chicken soup
já comi — I already ate
ela cozinha — she cooks
um milagre — a miracle
ficar surpresa — to be surprised
ficar — to become, to get; also to stay; also where something is located
Ficar is one of the most useful verbs in Brazilian Portuguese. With an adjective it means "to become": ficar feliz, ficar cansada, ficar surpresa. On its own it means to stay (vou ficar em casa) or to be located (onde fica o museu?).
👋 Talking about your Brazilian friend
ela se divorciou — she got divorced
separar / se separar — to separate / to split up
ela mudou — she changed
ela se mudou — she moved (mudar is to change, se mudar is to move house)
comigo — with me
na quarta-feira — on Wednesday
ontem — yesterday
o primeiro dia dela — her first day
não conhece — she doesn't know
matar saudades — to catch up with someone you've missed
falantes nativos — native speakers
Conhecer — cuidado com a pronúncia! 🙂
Conhecer is for people and places, saber is for facts.
Ela não conhece o Rio.
Ela não sabe meu nome.
Matar saudades is literally "to kill the longing." It's the warm version of catching up: preciso matar saudades da minha família.
🧠 When your brain gets stuck
cérebro — brain
minha mente — my mind
esquentar — to warm up
desligar e ligar de novo — to turn it off and turn it back on
portunhol — the Spanish and Portuguese mix
consciência — awareness
🇬🇾 Guyana and the embassy
embaixada — embassy
A Guiana fica ao norte do Brasil e é o único país da América do Sul onde o inglês é o idioma oficial, uma herança do período colonial britânico. A população é pequena e bem diversa, com descendentes de indianos, africanos e indígenas. A capital é Georgetown, e boa parte do país é floresta amazônica.
🔮 Future subjunctive
This is the one you asked about, and the good news is it's the easiest of the three.
You use it for something that hasn't happened yet but probably will. English just uses the present tense here ("when I get home," "if you have time"). Portuguese changes the verb.
The rule: take the verb in the eles form of the past, and drop the -am.
falaram → falar
comeram → comer
chegaram → chegar
For regular verbs it ends up looking exactly like the infinitive, which is why it feels easier than it sounds.
Se chover, fico em casa. — If it rains, I'll stay home.
Quando eu chegar em casa, te ligo. — When I get home, I'll call you.
Se você tiver tempo, me avisa. — If you have time, let me know.
Se você puder, me manda as coisas. — If you can, send me the stuff.
Enquanto eu estiver aí, vamos passear. — While I'm there, let's go out.
Se você quiser me mandar, tudo bem. — If you want to send it to me, no problem.
The irregulars worth memorizing:
ser / ir → for
estar → estiver
ter → tiver
fazer → fizer
poder → puder
vir → vier
dizer → disser
trazer → trouxer
ver → vir (watch out: ver becomes vir, and vir becomes vier)
📌 Present and imperfect, just for comparison
Present subjunctive shows up after espero que, quero que, talvez.
Espero que você venha amanhã. — I hope you come tomorrow.
Espero que você tenha um bom dia. — I hope you have a good day.
Quero que ele faça isso. — I want him to do this.
Talvez ela esteja certa. — Maybe she's right.
Imperfect subjunctive is for things that aren't real. It's almost always the same shape: se... eu -ria.
Se eu tivesse mais tempo, eu viajaria mais. — If I had more time, I'd travel more.
All three with ter, side by side:
tenha — present (espero que você tenha)
tiver — future (se você tiver)
tivesse — imperfect (se eu tivesse)
🔗 The contractions list
de + o, a, os, as → do, da, dos, das
em + o, a, os, as → no, na, nos, nas
a + o, a, os, as → ao, à, aos, às
por + o, a, os, as → pelo, pela, pelos, pelas
de + ele, ela → dele, dela
em + ele, ela → nele, nela
With demonstratives:
em + esse → nesse
em + essa → nessa
de + esse → desse
em + isso → nisso
de + isso → disso
Moro na cidade. — I live in the city.
Nesse momento, não posso. — Right now I can't.
Gosto disso. — I like that.
A casa dela. — Her house.
Pensei nela. — I thought about her.
To answer your actual question: these contractions happen with the definite articles (o, a, os, as). With um and uma, Brazilians normally keep them separate. You'll see dum and duma written occasionally, mostly in Portugal. Don't worry about it.
👉 Este, esse, aquele
esse / essa — this, that
aquele / aquela — that one over there
isso — that (no gender, for ideas and things you can't name)
aquilo — that thing over there
Esse aqui é meu. — This one is mine.
Aquele prédio ali. — That building over there.
Não gostei disso. — I didn't like that.
Here's the shortcut that will save you a lot of guessing. Este and esta technically exist, but in spoken Brazil almost nobody uses them. Esse covers both "this" and "that." So you really only need two: esse for anything near you or near the person you're talking to, and aquele for anything far from both of you.
➡️ Pelo and pela
Pelo is por + o. Pela is por + a.
pelo menos — at least (a fixed chunk, don't take it apart)
Passei pelo parque. — I walked through the park.
Mandei a carta pelo correio. — I sent the letter by mail.
Fiz isso pela minha família. — I did it for my family.
Andamos pelas ruas. — We walked around the streets.
🧩 De, do, and da
Do is de + o (masculine). Da is de + a (feminine). You use them when the thing after has "the" in front of it.
Meu lugar favorito do Brasil. — My favorite place in Brazil. (Brasil takes an article, so de + o = do)
Sou de Portugal. — I'm from Portugal. (Portugal takes no article, so it stays de)
Gosto de café. — I like coffee. (coffee in general)
Gosto do café que você fez. — I like the coffee you made. (one specific coffee)
Depende do contexto. — It depends on the context.
O carro do João. — João's car.
Countries are just memorization, no rule: do Brasil, dos Estados Unidos, da França, but de Portugal and de Cuba.
One gender note that will help you here: words ending in -ema that come from Greek are masculine. O problema, o sistema, o tema, o cinema. So it's o meu problema.
🏖️ Para, pra, and pro
para — the written, formal version
pra — para in everyday speech
pro — para + o
Vou pra praia. — I'm going to the beach.
Vou pro parque. — I'm going to the park.
Isso é pra você. — This is for you.
Vou pra uma praia na Flórida. — I'm going to a beach in Florida.
To answer your question directly: it doesn't really matter whether the beach is a specific one or just any beach. Vou pra praia works either way, and that's what a Brazilian will say even when they have Mexico Beach in mind. Vou pra uma praia is correct too, it just sounds more deliberate.
And the very Brazilian version:
vou pegar praia — I'm going to hit the beach
Vamos pegar praia hoje? — Want to hit the beach today? (Alexia says this constantly)
🪞 Reflexive verbs
They exist, but far less than in Spanish, and most of the time you can skip them. The pronoun goes in front of the verb in Brazil: eu me, você se, ele se, a gente se.
Estou me arrumando. — I'm getting ready.
Estou arrumando a casa. — I'm cleaning up the house. (no me, so the action lands on the house instead of you)
Como você se chama? — What's your name?
Eu me levanto cedo. — I get up early. (eu levantei cedo works too, basically the same)
Eu me sinto bem. — I feel good.
A gente se divertiu. — We had fun.
Ela se mudou. — She moved.
Ela se divorciou. — She got divorced.
💬 The phrases you asked about at the end
To catch up:
colocar em dia — to catch up on something (work, reading, news)
Vamos colocar o papo em dia. — Let's catch up. (papo is chat)
A gente precisa colocar em dia. — We need to catch up. (the most natural version)
matar saudades — to catch up with someone you've missed
atualizar — to update
I was wondering:
Eu estava pensando... — I was thinking, I was wondering
Eu queria saber... — I was wondering (best for a polite ask: eu queria saber se você pode...)
Estava curiosa. — I was curious.
Imaginando. — Wondering.
And two more that came up:
dei um branco — I drew a blank (your Spanish version, se me fueron las cabras, is much better)
demorou — it took a while; on its own it also means "finally!"
✅ A few quick fixes from today
o meu problema — problema is masculine, so o meu, not a minha
tem — Spanish hay becomes tem: tem muita gente, tem exceções (careful with ai, which sounds like you're in pain)
depende do contexto — de + o, not em
mais uma pergunta — the mais goes first
Se ele vier, me avisa — in Brazil the pronoun goes in front: me avisa, me liga, me manda (avise-me is correct but sounds like a textbook)
📚 Homework
1. Keep speaking with your Brazilian friend, as much as you possibly can.
Yesterday was a full day in Portuguese and it moved your speaking noticeably. Nothing on this page will do as much for you as more of that. Say yes every time.
2. Learn Brazilian Portuguese with Aeroporto: Área Restrita {Airports in Brazil}
3. Pick two future subjunctive phrases and actually use them this week.
Se você tiver and quando eu chegar are the two that will come up most. Say them out loud until they stop feeling like grammar.
Want more homework or have any questions? Message us on WhatsApp anytime.