Unit 18 · People and feelingsA2Lesson 2 of 5: What are they like?
Describing personality in European Portuguese
This is lesson 2 of 5 in Unit 18, People and feelings (Pessoas e sentimentos), an A2 unit in which you describe what people look like and what they are like, talk about feelings, and choose between ser and estar, saber and conhecer. You will meet 8 new words, such as antipático (unfriendly), tímido (shy) and divertido (fun), in 10 short sentences you can listen to. By the end you can say things like A Catarina é muito inteligente (“Catarina is very clever”). The unit’s grammar notes cover “Describing looks: ter and usar” and “Saber or conhecer?”.
Words in this lesson
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
antipáticoalso antipática | unfriendlyThe opposite of simpático. |
tímidoalso tímida | shy |
divertidoalso divertida | funFor people and things: A festa foi divertida. |
trabalhadoralso trabalhadora | hard-working |
preguiçosoalso preguiçosa | lazy |
inteligente | cleverThe same for men and women. |
chatoalso chata | annoyingVery common: Que chato! = How annoying! What a pain! |
o feitio | temperTer bom feitio = to be easy-going. Ter mau feitio = to be bad-tempered. |
Example sentences
- A minha chefe é muito simpática.My boss is very nice.
- O meu irmão é tímido, mas é muito divertido.My brother is shy, but he's very funny.
- Eles são muito trabalhadores.They're very hard-working.
- Eu não sou preguiçoso!I'm not lazy!Women say preguiçosa.
- O empregado foi muito antipático.The waiter was very rude.Foi (from ser) describes how someone was on one occasion.
- A Catarina é muito inteligente.Catarina is very clever.
- O teu primo tem mau feitio.Your cousin is bad-tempered.Ter mau feitio = to be bad-tempered. Ter bom feitio = to be easy-going.
- Que chato!How annoying!You will hear Que chato! and Que chatice! all the time in Portugal.
- O Rui é uma pessoa muito simpática.Rui is a very nice person.A pessoa is always feminine, even for a man: uma pessoa simpática.
- Tu não és nada tímido!You're not shy at all!Não… nada = not at all.
Grammar notes
The grammar notes for this lesson are on the page for Unit 18: People and feelings: