Você tem o celular do Carlos?

Podcast Episode

Lesson Audio

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Read through the dialogue. Then listen again and follow along.

A

Você tem o celular do Carlos?

Do you have Carlos' cell?

B

Peraí, tenho sim. É 4805-1265.

Wait a second, yes I do. It's 4805-1265.

A

Aqui do Rio, não é?

Here in Rio, right?

B

É.

Yeah.

📌 Contraction: de + o = "do"
In Portuguese, the preposition de (of/from) always contracts with the definite article o/a:

de + …	Result	Example from dialogue
de + o →	do	o celular do Carlos (Carlos' phone)
de + a →	da	o número da Ana (Ana's number)
de + os →	dos	os amigos dos alunos
de + as →	das	os nomes das ruas

Also notice: "Aqui do Rio" = "Here in Rio" — literally "here from/of Rio." The same contraction applies.

🗣️ Ponto fonológico — "Peraí": This is a highly contracted form of "Pera aí", which itself comes from "Espera aí" (wait there). In everyday Brazilian speech it runs together into one word: pe-ra-í. The "r" between vowels is a soft tap — nothing like the English "r". Practice saying it fast: peraí, peraí, peraí.

📱 Celular no Brasil: Brazilians use celular for all types of mobile phones — there's no distinction between "cell" and "mobile." Phone numbers in Brazil have 8 digits (landlines) and 9 digits (cell phones, with a 9 in front). Brazilians say them in two chunks: 4805 · 1265. And above all: WhatsApp is king — asking for someone's celular almost always means asking for their WhatsApp number.

Exercise 1 — True or False?

Based on the dialogue, choose the correct answer.

1. Person A asks for Carlos' home phone number.

True False

2. Person B has Carlos' number.

True False

3. The number given is 4805-1265.

True False

4. Carlos lives in São Paulo.

True False

Exercise 2 — Fill in the blanks

Complete each sentence with the correct word or expression from the word bank.

peraítenho simcelulardonão é

1. Você tem o ___ do Carlos?

2. ___ , tenho sim. É 4805-1265.

3. Aqui ___ Rio, não é?

4. Você mora no Rio, ___ ?

5. — Você tem o número? — ___ . É 2130-4500.

Exercise 3 — "do" or "da"?

Choose the correct contraction (de + o = do / de + a = da) to complete each phrase.

1. o celular ___ Carlos
2. o número ___ professora
3. o telefone ___ hotel
4. o endereço ___ Ana
5. o email ___ escritório

Exercise 4 — Your turn

Answer in Portuguese.
Write your own answers. There are no right or wrong responses — this activity is about expressing your own ideas and experiences.

1. Write your phone number in Portuguese, the Brazilian way — in two groups of 4 digits. Example: "É 9834-5678."

2. Write a mini-dialogue asking a friend for someone's phone number. Use Peraí and tenho sim in the reply (at least 3 lines).

3. Use the tag question "não é?" in a sentence about your city or neighborhood. Example: "Aqui do Centro, não é muito longe, não é?"