Aquele Altão

Episódio 73 Língua da Gente Descrever pessoas com aumentativos

Orlando R. Kelm · COERLL / University of Texas at Austin · CC BY 4.0

Step 1 — Listen

🎧 Listen to the podcast episode

First listen: Which kid is the speaker's son? Does he understand the score of the game?

Língua da Gente · Episode 73

Step 2 — Read the Dialogue

💬 The Conversation

Read along while listening. Notice the augmentative -ão (altão) and estar + gerúndio (present continuous).

Seu filho está jogando também?

Is your son playing too?

Tá. É aquele altão que parece meio perdido.

He is. He's that tall one that look a little lost.

É engraçado ver as crianças jogarem, né?

It's fun to watch the kids play, isn't it?

É, e ele adora jogar, e nem sabe se o time ganha ou não.

It is, and he loves to play, and he doesn't even know if the team is winning or not.

Step 3 — Language Focus

📖 Aumentativo -ão — Making things bigger

B describes her son as "aquele altão" — the augmentative suffix -ão (opposite of the diminutive -inho from Ep42) makes a word feel bigger, often affectionately.

Word	Augmentative	Meaning
alto	altão	a big/tall guy
grande	grandão	really big (affectionate)
homem	homenzão	a big guy

📖 Parecer + adjetivo & Estar + gerúndio

B says her son "parece meio perdido" (seems a little lost) and A asks "está jogando" (is playing) — two useful structures: parecer for appearances, and the present continuous for ongoing actions.

Pattern	Example	English
parecer + adjetivo	Ele parece perdido.	He seems lost.
estar + gerúndio	Ele está jogando.	He is playing (right now).

⚾ Nem sabe se o time ganha A charming detail: little kids often play just for fun, without tracking the score — nem sabe se ganha ou não = doesn't even know if they're winning or not.

Step 4 — Practice

1 Aumentativo / Gerúndio Quiz

Choose the correct form.

É aquele ___ que parece perdido.

✅ Correct! Altão = augmentative of alto, a big/tall guy.

Seu filho está ___?

✅ Correct! Está jogando = present continuous.

Ele parece meio perdido.

✅ Correct! Parecer + adjective describes appearance/impression.

Nem sabe se o time ganha.

✅ Correct! Nem sabe se = doesn't even know whether.

2 Complete the Dialogue

Fill in the blanks with the missing words.
Word bank: altão · parece · está jogando · nem sabe

— Seu filho ?

— É aquele que meio perdido.

— Ele se o time ganha ou não.

3 Descrevendo Pessoas

Choose the correct augmentative/continuous sentence.

Describing a really big dog affectionately.

Saying the kids are playing in the yard right now.

Saying someone seems tired.

Saying you don't even know the score.

4 Your Turn — Descreva alguém

Write in Portuguese.
Write 4–6 sentences describing someone playing sports or doing an activity right now. Use an augmentative, parecer, and estar + gerúndio.

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