The Random Thread

[Ally]

Me too

Probably why I can't speak decent Portuguese

Do you speak much Portuguese Ton and do you enjoy it when you do?

[tonicha]

I'm dreadful, really. I love trying and I do find it easier to actually read than write

I've just been in touch with another Glad bag company - by e-mail - and she understood me, but she wanted to improve her English, so that's what we ended up doing

But we always start off in Portuguese and work from there

[Ally]

I'm dreadful, really. I love trying and I do find it easier to actually read than write

I've just been in touch with another Glad bag company - by e-mail - and she understood me, but she wanted to improve her English, so that's what we ended up doing

But we always start off in Portuguese and work from there

I'm glad we shoved the boys straight into a Spanish school as it meant I too learnt to speak the lingo quickly as I had to be able to help with their homework.

[Diflower]

After a morning of second and third conditionals with gerunds thrown in me 'ead hurts.

Wednesday we're doing intransitive verbs and linking verbs - I might well need a drink afterwards!

I love grammar
But it does do your head in

[tonicha]

It's the verbs here

[Ally]

It's the verbs here

Same here Ton.

Say for example in English:

I read
You read
We read
They read
He/she/it reads

Easy!

yo leo I read
tú lees You (informal) read
él/ella/ello/uno lee He/she/one reads
usted lee You (formal) read
nosotros leemos We read
vosotros leéis You all (informal) read
ellos/ellas leen They read
ustedes leen You all (formal) read


Difficult!

[tonicha]

I think you could happily double that for the Portuguese Ally - we also have female and male verbs

So for each one, think male and female.


I've just tried to describe it - but erased it - far too bluddy difficult.

The Portuguese dislike the Spanish (as the Spanish dislike the Portuguese) so they made their language similar - but more complicated.

There is a programme on the television in the mornings, asking what the verb of the sentence should be.

8 out of 10 Portuguese get it wrong

So really,if the Portuguese can't do it, what hope have we? And every time we go and sort something out - the system have changed - because they can. That's the mental thing about the Portuguese. But love 'em to bits

We try, though, we really do.

[Diflower]

The bulb in the fridge light has gone...worrying few minutes while we worked out if the whole fridge/freezer had conked out, but now just disconcerting to open it to darkness

[Workingman]

Le ampoule est cassée, maar ik kan een andere krijgen, wenn das Geschäft öffnet!

I am fluent in Europrasish. When they don't understand I SHOUT.

[Diflower]

Whether that's correct, grammatically or otherwise, I automatically read and understood