Língua da Gente — O que vocês estão fazendo?

🎧 Listen to the podcast episode

First listen: What is the situation? What is the relationship between the two speakers? How does the tone change?

Língua da Gente · Episode 24

💬 The Conversation

Listen again while reading. Notice how speaker A uses the present continuous to catch the others in the act — and how B tries to apologise.

A

O que vocês estão fazendo?

What are you doing?

B

Ô chefe, desculpa, viu? A gente só estava...

Boss, sorry, you know? We were just…

A

Para, não quero ouvir as desculpas.

Stop, I don't want to hear your excuses.

B

Tá, desculpa senhora.

OK, sorry ma'am.

📖 Presente Contínuo — estar + gerúndio

The present continuous in Brazilian Portuguese is formed with estar + gerúndio (the -ndo form). It describes an action happening right now — or an action that was in progress (past continuous with estava/estavam).

Subject	Estar	Gerúndio	Meaning
Eu	estou	trabalhando	I am working
Você / Ele / Ela	está	fazendo	you / he / she is doing
A gente	está	ouvindo	we are listening
Vocês / Eles / Elas	estão	fazendo	you (pl.) / they are doing

⏪ Past continuous — estava/estavam + gerúndio

B uses the past form: "A gente só estava…" — we were just… The past continuous describes an action that was in progress at a moment in the past.

Portuguese	English
Eu estava trabalhando.	I was working.
A gente estava conversando.	We were talking.
Vocês estavam dormindo.	You (pl.) were sleeping.

📖 Key Expressions from the Dialogue

Portuguese	English	Notes
Ô chefe	Boss / Hey boss	Vocative — used to address a superior directly. Ô is an attention-getting particle
Desculpa.	Sorry. / Excuse me.	Apology. Desculpa (informal) = desculpe (more formal)
Viu?	You know? / You see?	Conversational tag from ver (to see). Signals informality and a plea for understanding
A gente	We (informal)	Extremely common in Brazil — used in place of nós in everyday speech. Always takes 3rd person singular verb: a gente está
Para.	Stop.	Imperative of parar. Short, sharp — signals A is not interested in excuses
Não quero ouvir.	I don't want to hear.	Querer + infinitive — wanting/not wanting to do something
Senhora	Ma'am	Formal address for a woman in a position of authority. Contrast with chefe — B shifts register mid-dialogue, from informal to formal

🇧🇷 Culture Note — Chefe → Senhora: a register shift Notice that B starts with ô chefe (informal, like calling someone "boss" in English) but ends with desculpa senhora (formal). In Brazil, switching to senhora / senhor signals that you are taking the situation more seriously — it's a sign of respect when you realise you're in real trouble. This kind of register shift is very natural in Brazilian workplace interactions.

🔊 Phonology Note — "Viu?" and conversational tags Viu? (from ver, past tense) is pronounced quickly — almost like a single syllable: "viu". It functions like "you know?" or "right?" in English — seeking agreement or softening a statement. Similar Brazilian tags include né? (from não é?) and tá?. They are extremely common in informal speech and mark fluency when used naturally.

1 What does it mean? — Expression Quiz

Each expression comes from the dialogue. Choose the correct English meaning.

Viu?

✅ Correct! Viu? is a conversational tag — it softens what you're saying and seeks the listener's understanding. Very common in informal Brazilian speech.

A gente

✅ Correct! A gente = we in informal Brazilian Portuguese. It always takes a 3rd person singular verb: a gente está fazendo (not estamos).

Para.

✅ Correct! Para is the imperative of parar — to stop. Short and sharp — A is done listening to excuses!

Desculpa senhora.

✅ Correct! Senhora = ma'am. B switches from chefe (informal) to senhora (formal) — a respectful register shift when things get serious.

Não quero ouvir.

✅ Correct! Querer + infinitive = to want to do something. Não quero ouvir — I don't want to hear (it).

2 Complete the Dialogue

Fill in the blanks. Type the missing word or form.
Word bank: fazendo · chefe · estava · Para · senhora

— O que vocês estão ?

— Ô , desculpa, viu? A gente só ...

— , não quero ouvir as desculpas.

— Tá, desculpa .

3 Estar + gerúndio — Build the sentence

Match each subject to the correct form of estar. Choose from the dropdown.

Eu _____ trabalhando.

Vocês _____ fazendo.

A gente _____ dormindo.

Ele _____ ouvindo.

4 Your Turn — What are they doing?

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