Comments on: Grammar Lesson 11: Topic-Comment Patterns, Special Needs Privileges

By: Carlos Barrera

Carlos Barrera — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:25:49 +0000

I would not have suspected that this way of talking by repeating the subject had an actual name. Actually I thought it was just a bad habit.

By: Mary Slosar

Mary Slosar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:11:43 +0000

Orlando, I think you were in a good mood for this podcast because of the change in the intro music. It made me happy, loved the music! (lesson was good, too!)

By: Tommy

Tommy — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:04:48 +0000

Thanks for the response! This whole lesson made me think of Japanese particles, actually, with the topic-comment construction (-は “wa”)and this usage of ‘ja’ at the end of a command (-よ “yo”).

In Japanese, the particles (は、が、を…)are actually quite functional for formal speech and explanations (some tend to drop out and disappear into the context of regular conversation). In Portuguese there is no particle to mark topic-comment or any other part of speech, so I guess the “marker” is just the unique rhythm of the pronunciation? Maybe this is why topic-comment doesn’t really exist in English or Spanish…

The sentence-ending particles like ‘ja’ are one my favorite parts of languages because they really give that local flavor. I hear similarities in other Romance languages to ‘ja’ (ya, deja, gia, ja), but I wonder if it used similarly.

By: orkelm

orkelm — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:07:07 +0000

Oi Tommy,
You know, some day I’m going to sit down and figure out all of the uses of ‘ja’. Brazilians have tons of ways to use this word. In this example, we see a powerful “right now” attached to the end of the sentence. As I think of other example, this end of phrase position has that meaning a lot, ’sai de frente já’ (get out of the way right now), ‘faz a comida já’ (prepare the food right now).
Thats a good start anyway.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:26:45 +0000

I have a question about one of the final examples Dr. Kelm gives after the port/span dialogue. I believe he says “Essa barriga, regime já!” (”This belly, diet now!). First I think that this kind of topic-comment is really interesting (two noun “ideas”, no verb, ). My question, though, is about the use of “já” here. I hear it sometimes in these construction, stuck at the end of a sentence to give it this “alright already” flavor, or like “go ahead and…” Does anyone have any ideas?

By: Golden Dale Oehlke

Golden Dale Oehlke — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:54:14 +0000

I’ve never used this pattern when speaking, but maybe it’s another one of those things to distinguish native from non-native speakers.

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:39:20 +0000

Nunca tinha ouvido a expressão “criança de colo.” Literalmente, o que quer dizer isso?

By: Eduard Keller

Eduard Keller — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:04:06 +0000

Os ta falados, eles me ayudam. Obrigado, Brazilpod!

By: Shannon Zamora

Shannon Zamora — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:09:50 +0000

Eu achei alguma coisa na tradução do Português pro Espanhol: quando Michele fala “idoso,” Jose Luis fala, “mayores de edad,” mas para mim, um “mayor de edad” é um adulto de 18 ou 21 anos, depende do pais, e um “anciano” é um idoso.

By: Clyde Sheble

Clyde Sheble — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:35:32 +0000

Eu encontrei isso no Brasil quando meu mestre de Capoeira falou, “O angoleiro, ele é suave.” Eu pensei que ele estava sendo dramático! A tradução literal seria, “The Angoleiro, he is sauve/slick,” e eu já ouvi isso em inglês mais de uma vez, essa construção. Me parece que, nos Estados Unidos, nós usamos isso para criar drama, como se estivesse contando uma historia épica.