Summary p288

288 CONYERSATIONAL PORTUGUESE

Although both forms are used, therc is a tend-ency for the regular form to be favored as past participle of the perfect tenses and for tl shortened form to be favored as an adjective:

Tinhamos aceitado We had accepted all the todo o dinheiro.    money.

O dinheiro ndo foi    The money was not

aceito.    accepted.

37. PROGRESSIVE TENSES

The Portuguese progressive tenses are formed with the present participle and the tenses of estar (although other verbs, such as ir may also be used as the auxiliary verb):

Estou estudando. Quando ełes entraram na sala nós estavamos łendo o jornal.

Elas estdo divertindo-se.

£les iam cantando.

I am studying.

When they entered the room we were reading the newspaper.

They are having a good time.

They were singing. (“They went on singing.”)

Portugal also uses estar a and the iniinitive: Estou a estudar. I am studying.

38. THE PASSIYE VOICE

The passive voice is madę up of the forms of ser with the past participle:

O Brasil foi descoberto    Brazil was discovered in

eml500(mile    1500.

ąuinhentos).

The passive voice is used as in English. Very often, however, Portuguese uses se to express the passive (see part 10 of Lesson 15).

39. TO BE

Ser and estar both mean “to be” in Portuguese. In generał ser indicates a characteristic or per-manent state and estar a temporary one. How-ever, one should notę the different uses of these verbs.

SER	ESTAR
eusou	eu estou	I am
(tu es)	(tu estas)	you are (famitiar)
osenhore	o senhor estd	you are (masc.)
asenhorae	a senhora estd	you are (fem.)
voce e	voce estd	you are
elee	ele estd	he is
elae	eła estd	she is
nós somos	nós estamos	we are
(vós sois)	(vós estais)	(you are)
os senhores sao	os senhores estao	you are
as senhoras sao	assenhoras estao	you are
voces sao	voces estao	you are
eles sao	ileś estao	they are
elas sao	elas estao	they are