← Portuguese from zero to A1
A1
Lesson 3. Na rua e nos transportes: directions, tickets, and timetables
I can ask a stranger for directions and understand the answer, find the stop and the station, buy a ticket, find out what time and from which track the train leaves, and say how I'm traveling.
Na rua e nos transportes
Na rua e nos transportes
Three steps on the street: ask the way, buy a ticket, get on. To a stranger, say “Desculpe” first, then speak formally, in the third person.
The answer uses ter de: “Tem de virar à direita”, “Tem de seguir em frente”. The short “Vira à direita” and “Segue sempre em frente” are for friends.
In town: a praça is a large square with a name, o largo a small square (not “large”), a avenida a wide street. Os correios and a paragem do autocarro are usually nearby.
How you travel takes de, like English “by”: de autocarro, de comboio, de metro, de elétrico. But on foot is a pé.
At the ticket office, say where to and how many: “Dois bilhetes para Coimbra, se faz favor.” Then look at o horário: the time and the track.
Opening hours: “Os correios abrem às nove.” Open and closed take estar: “A estação está aberta todos os dias.”
Two sounds: in correios, the double r is the throaty [ʁ]; in bilhete, lh is one sound [ʎ], like lli in “million”.
In Lisbon, one reusable card, Lisboa Viva or Navegante, covers the metro, the bus, and the streetcar. (In Brazil, the bus and the train are ônibus and trem.)
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Vou com o comboio” → “Vou de comboio.”: how you travel takes de.
• NOT “Moro em Porto” → “Moro no Porto.”: Porto takes the article.
• NOT “A farmácia é aberta às nove” → “A farmácia está aberta.”
• NOT “a paragem de o autocarro” → “a paragem do autocarro”.
You ask, they answer
To a stranger, say Desculpe first, then use the formal (third-person) form.
| Question | Answer | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Desculpe, a farmácia fica longe? | Não, fica aqui perto. | Excuse me, is the pharmacy far? — No, it's very close. |
| Desculpe, onde é a avenida? | Tem de seguir em frente. | Excuse me, where's the avenue? — You have to go straight ahead. |
| É longe a pé? | Não, é aqui ao lado. | Is it far on foot? — No, it's right here, close by. |
How to read a timetable
Three columns on the board: where the train goes, what time, and which track.
| o comboio | a hora | a linha |
|---|---|---|
| Porto | 9h30 | 2 |
| Coimbra | 11h05 | 3 |
| Évora | 14h20 | 1 |
Lesson notes
Na rua e nos transportes
Three steps on the street: ask the way, buy a ticket, get on. To a stranger, say “Desculpe” first, then speak formally, in the third person.
The answer uses ter de: “Tem de virar à direita”, “Tem de seguir em frente”. The short “Vira à direita” and “Segue sempre em frente” are for friends.
In town: a praça is a large square with a name, o largo a small square (not “large”), a avenida a wide street. Os correios and a paragem do autocarro are usually nearby.
How you travel takes de, like English “by”: de autocarro, de comboio, de metro, de elétrico. But on foot is a pé.
At the ticket office, say where to and how many: “Dois bilhetes para Coimbra, se faz favor.” Then look at o horário: the time and the track.
Opening hours: “Os correios abrem às nove.” Open and closed take estar: “A estação está aberta todos os dias.”
Two sounds: in correios, the double r is the throaty [ʁ]; in bilhete, lh is one sound [ʎ], like lli in “million”.
In Lisbon, one reusable card, Lisboa Viva or Navegante, covers the metro, the bus, and the streetcar. (In Brazil, the bus and the train are ônibus and trem.)
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Vou com o comboio” → “Vou de comboio.”: how you travel takes de.
• NOT “Moro em Porto” → “Moro no Porto.”: Porto takes the article.
• NOT “A farmácia é aberta às nove” → “A farmácia está aberta.”
• NOT “a paragem de o autocarro” → “a paragem do autocarro”.