ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE
LINGUISTICS & CULTURE
PORTUGUESE
LINGUISTICS & CULTURE
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ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE LINGUISTICS & CULTURE |
| Autor: | Dale-USA |
| E-mail: | dale_thomas2004@yahoo.com.br |
| Data: | 14/MAR/2013 8:59 PM |
| Assunto: | Reais |
| Mensagem: |
While living in Brazil, I very rarely spoke with a native speaker of
English. Maybe I would run across a Canadian or American once per 60-90
days. "Reals" may sound strange to a Portuguese speaker, but to an
English speaker it sounds quite normal. In fact, it is "reais" that
sounds weird unless you are comfortable with Portuguese. I currently live in Costa Rica where the unit of currency is the "colón". One colón, but two colones, three colones, four colones. I rarely speak to a native speaker here, but when I do, he/she usually says "colons", not "colones". Why not? The plural more closely matches what the plural of "colon" would be in English. One exception that comes to mind is my son. In our English conversations we would say "colones", just as in Spanish. In Nicaragua, the monetary unit is the "Córdoiba", Nicaraguan friends made fun of me because I would say "five cordobas". Most foreigners, they told me, would say "five cords". Which is right and which is wrong? Give me a break. We are talking about a Portuguese word used in an English conversation. What is right is what the users say it is. |
English Made in Brazil -- English, Portuguese, & contrastive linguistics
Reais – Gissele 07/MAR/2013, 1:03 PM Reais – Dale-USA 
07/MAR/2013, 3:26 PM Reais – Gissele 07/MAR/2013, 8:57 PM Reais – Marina Mendes 10/MAR/2013, 7:38 PM Reais – Marina Mendes 10/MAR/2013, 8:36 PM Reais – PPAULO 10/MAR/2013, 9:06 PM Reais – Marina Mendes 11/MAR/2013, 6:01 AM 
Reais – Dale-USA 14/MAR/2013, 8:59 PM Reais – Marina Mendes 15/MAR/2013, 4:36 PM