MY favorite way of saying “of course” in Portuguese is lógico. Cleary cognate with the English logical, this is a great one-word phrase that communicates support of a proposition.
It is common for Spanish-speakers learning Portuguese to look for a counterpart to por supuesto, the standard phrase used to communicate this idea in Spanish. Though technically the phrase por suposto exists, it is my impression that it is rarely used in Brazil these days.
Another alternative that is essentially the same as saying lógico is Claro.
If Doctor Spock were a Portuguese speaker, we could count on him to say “Altamente lógico on a regular basis.
[edit: Ana reminds me the óbvio is another word in this category (meaning obviously... obviously). She points out that it is rather aggressive, because it implies that, after all, the proposition in question was rather self-evident. Ana feels that claro is the most amenable and polite of the three. Thanks Ana!!]
7 Comments
You can use:
“Claro” as “Of Course”
“Com certeza” as “for sure”
“por suposto” is an adaptation for the same expression in spanish “por supuesto” that we do not use here. (you can use “..é claro que..” instead of it)
ex: É claro que vou na festa hoje
(I’m going to the party today/tonight for sure)
(Obviously I’m going to the party tonight)
“Claro” is, lógico, more widely used in Spanish (“por supuesto” being used in more formal situations or for effect in speech).
It’s amazing to what extent all this slang dominates Brazilian speech. You CANNOT make yourself understood in Brazil – nor understand – with only a standard Portuguese grammar or dictionary. Everything will wash over you in a cascade of lilting mumbles. Brazilian Portuguese absolutely requires a new, standard grammar of its own, or a whole Pimsleur course designed from the ground up: from the street to the grammatical structure. There is a ‘Dummies’ book about it, which is as good as it gets right now, and of course these helpful topical websites.
Marshall,
Have you checked out BYKI Gold – Brazilian Portuguese yet? It is exactly what you describe as a ‘dream product.’
http://www.byki.com/gold/upgrade.shtml
-C
Well, I’ll check it out for sure. $39 ain’t bad.
You can use too:
- certamente
- evidentemente
- naturalmente
All of this words are more polite than “lógico” and “claro”.
The expression “com certeza” is the most popular expression for “for sure”, but some people hates this, because it is used all the time.
¬
i think that [ pode cre ] its well fit in this case too …
Q -tu vai nakela festa hj a noite ?
A -looogico
A – sooohh, pode cre
A – neeeh ?!
Q – are you goin’ to that party 2nite ?
A -sure, yep, of course
¬
“por suposto”?! if this expression exists in portuguese, it’s very old-fashined!
“Por certo” would sound a little formal but works well.
Also:
“certamente”
“bem certinho!”
“só!”
“pode(s) crer”
“é isso aí!”
“claro!”