- At 8 p.m. you arrive at a friend's house for dinner and greet her parents. What do you say?
Answer: Boa noite!
Boa noite greets people in the evening, whether arriving or leaving. It doesn't only mean 'good night' at bedtime as in English. Boa tarde is for the afternoon, and by 8 p.m. it is already noite.
- Complete the question to a new classmate: "Oi! Como você se ___?"
Answer: chama
Você takes the third-person singular form, so the question is Como você se chama? Chamo is tempting because the answer is 'Eu me chamo...', but that form only goes with eu.
- Which is the correct Portuguese for "How old are you?"
Answer: Quantos anos você tem?
In Portuguese you 'have' years, so age uses ter: Quantos anos você tem? Quantos anos você é is tempting because English says 'are,' but ser and estar are never used for age.
- Complete the introduction: "Oi, eu ___ o Lucas. Eu ___ de Recife." (same verb in both blanks)
Answer: sou
Identity and origin are permanent traits, so they use ser, and with eu the form is sou. Estou is tempting because both verbs mean 'to be,' but estar is for temporary states like feelings or location.
- You have just met a woman named Júlia. Which reply is written correctly?
Answer: Prazer em conhecê-la.
Before -la, the infinitive loses its -r, and the stressed vowel takes a circumflex: conhecê-la. The feminine la matches Júlia. Conhece-la is tempting, but without the accent the stress and spelling are wrong.
