Class #4 with Foster - July 16, 2026

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Session summary

Great first class together, Juliet. We spent most of it on your trip to the south of France: the hotels, the Morgan, and the story that made the class, pushing a broken-down car across the border by hand. We also drilled your two recurring sounds, TR and LH, and untangled how Portuguese handles "was" in the past. You already tell a good story. The next step is grabbing whole phrases instead of building them one word at a time.

🇫🇷 A viagem — the trip

fui pra França — I went to France (pra already contains "a," so it's "pra França," not "pra a França")

fui pro Brasil — I went to Brazil (pro = pra + o)

quanto tempo você ficou? — how long did you stay?

fiquei num hotel — I stayed in a hotel (num = em + um)

gostei dos hotéis — I liked the hotels

na ida e na volta — on the way there and back

o tempo foi uma beleza — the weather was gorgeous

a minha parte favorita foi dirigir bem rápido num conversível — my favorite part was driving really fast in a convertible

queria ter a experiência — I wanted to have the experience

🛂 Na fronteira — at the border

controle de passaporte — passport control (the checkpoint where they check your passport)

controle de fronteira — border control

a gente perguntou — we asked

um dos carros estava quebrado — one of the cars was broken down (carro is masculine, so quebrado, not quebrada)

empurrar — to push

puxar — to pull (false-friend alert: puxar looks like "push" but means the opposite, pull)

aprendi uma coisa: dá pra empurrar um carro através da fronteira — I learned something: you can push a car across the border

🗣️ Expressões úteis — useful expressions

posso me virar — I can get by, I can manage

imagina! — don't worry about it! / not at all! (the warm brush-off after a thank-you or apology; in Rio it often relaxes to "magina!")

mal posso esperar — I can't wait

vou te mandar — I'll send it to you

🔤 Training the TR cluster

The trap is slipping a tiny vowel between the T and R, turning três into "te-rês." Keep them glued. The R here is a soft tap, tongue tip just behind the upper teeth, close to the "tt" in American "butter."

três — three Fiquei só três dias em Paris. — I only stayed three days in Paris.

trabalhar — to work Amanhã vou trabalhar de casa. — Tomorrow I'll work from home.

trazer — to bring Você pode trazer o seu caderno na próxima aula? — Can you bring your notebook next class?

entrar — to go in / get in Vai dar pra entrar no mar? — Will we be able to get in the sea?

trânsito — traffic Peguei muito trânsito na estrada. — I hit a lot of traffic on the road. (two TR blends in one line)

encontrar — to meet up with Vou encontrar uns amigos no centro. — I'm going to meet some friends downtown. (TR in encontrar and centro)

estranho — strange Que estranho, o carro não liga. — How strange, the car won't start.

outra vez — again Vamos tentar outra vez. — Let's try again. (TR in tentar and outra)

dentro — inside Deixei a chave dentro do carro. — I left the key inside the car.

🔤 Training the LH cluster

LH is one single soft sound, tongue flat against the roof of the mouth just behind the top teeth. The mistake is adding a separate "i," turning trabalho into "trabaliô." There is no "i." One smooth sound.

filha — daughter A minha filha mais nova mora em Berlim. — My youngest daughter lives in Berlin.

mulher — woman Ela é uma mulher incrível. — She's an incredible woman.

melhor — better Hoje eu falo bem melhor do que antes. — Today I speak much better than before.

escolher — to choose Foi difícil escolher o hotel. — It was hard to choose the hotel.

espelho — mirror Tive que fechar o espelho pra passar na rua estreita. — I had to fold in the mirror to get through the narrow street.

vermelho — red O conversível era vermelho. — The convertible was red.

orgulho — pride Tenho muito orgulho disso. — I'm really proud of that.

detalhe — detail Cada detalhe importa quando você costura. — Every detail matters when you sew.

toalha — towel Esqueci a toalha na praia. — I forgot the towel at the beach.

molho — sauce Esse molho é delicioso. — This sauce is delicious.

⭐ The two words that train both at once

trabalho — work (TR at the front, LH in the middle: "tra-BA-lho")Eu adoro o meu trabalho. — I love my work.

trilha — trail (same combo: TR then LH)A gente fez uma trilha linda no fim de semana. — We did a beautiful trail over the weekend. (bonus LH in linda's cousin word, and a great one to reuse)

If she nails these two, the rest of both lists fall into place.

📐 Grammar 1: ser and estar in the past

This is the big one from today. English has one word, "was." Portuguese has four common forms, and they aren't interchangeable.

foi (from ser or ir) marks one defined event that happened and ended. A viagem foi ótima. — The trip was great. (it happened, it's over)O tempo foi uma beleza. — The weather was gorgeous.

era (from ser) describes a background trait or ongoing state, no clear start or end. Quando era criança… — When I was a child… O carro era vermelho. — The car was red. (a description, not an event)

estava (from estar) describes a temporary condition as background, ongoing in that moment. Um dos carros estava quebrado. — One of the cars was broken down. Eu estava falando. — I was talking.

estive (from estar) is a temporary state or location, but completed and bounded. Estive em Paris no fim de semana. — I was in Paris over the weekend. (a finished stay)

The trap for her: fui and foi belong to both ser and ir. Eu fui professora (I was a teacher, ser) and Eu fui pra França (I went to France, ir) use the same form. Context decides.

Quick test: if she could say "used to be" or she's painting the scene, it's era. If she's naming one event that started and finished, it's foi.

📐 Grammar 2: a gente

Twice today she reached for "we" and landed on a gente, which is exactly right. A gente means "we" in everyday speech, and it's more common than nós in casual Brazilian conversation. The catch: it takes the third-person singular verb, the same form as ele/ela.

A gente ficou num hotel. — We stayed in a hotel. (ficou, not ficamos)A gente perguntou. — We asked.

So a gente + he/she form, always. It feels odd at first because "we" in English is plural, but in Portuguese a gente is grammatically singular.

📐 Grammar 3: dá pra

dá pra (dá para) is the everyday way to say "you can" or "it's possible to." It's one of the most useful blocks in spoken Brazilian and it's impersonal, so it never changes form.

Dá pra empurrar um carro através da fronteira. — You can push a car across the border. Dá pra entrar no mar? — Can you get in the sea? Dá pra ver daqui. — You can see it from here.

Reusable shell: dá pra + any verb in the infinitive.

📐 Grammar 4: através de

através almost always needs de attached. It rarely stands alone.

através da fronteira — across the border através da janela — through the window Aprendi através de um amigo. — I learned through a friend.

Don't confuse it with the verb atravessar (to cross), which is the action itself: atravessar a fronteira — to cross the border.

📐 Grammar 5: fosse (the past subjunctive)

When she said "I didn't imagine it was possible," the natural, native-sounding version uses the past subjunctive after the doubt.

Eu não imaginava que fosse possível. — I didn't imagine it was possible.

fosse is the past subjunctive of ser, and it shows up after expressions of doubt, emotion, or opinion in the past (não achei que…, não imaginava que…, queria que…). If it feels like a lot mid-sentence, a simpler fallback works and is still correct: Eu não achava que era possível. The fosse version is the polished one, so treat it as her next level, not a correction.

📐 Grammar 6: me virar (reflexive)

me virar literally means "to turn myself," and idiomatically it means "to get by" or "manage."

Posso me virar. — I can get by. Eu me viro. — I manage / I'll figure it out.

It's a warm, confident phrase, very Brazilian, perfect for travel situations where she's making it work without perfect fluency.

Additional resources:

We recorded a podcast about the LH sound combination a few years ago. I thought you might enjoy listening to it.

We also recorded an episode about ser and estar:

And here is an episode specifically about gerunds:

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