Medo de Palhaços

Episódio 46 Língua da Gente Fazer planos e sugestões educadas

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

Step 1 — Listen

🎧 Listen to the podcast episode

First listen: Why won't the grandparents take the grandkids to the circus? What do they suggest instead?

Língua da Gente · Episode 46

Step 2 — Read the Dialogue

💬 The Conversation

Read along while listening. Notice ter medo de and the conditional mood (seria, gostariam) for polite suggestions.

Vamos levar os netos pro circo?

Should we take the grandchildren to the circus?

Não sei, viu? A Leticia tem medo de palhaços.

I don't know, you know? Leticia is really scared of clowns.

Ah é, é verdade. Seria melhor nem entrar nisso.

Ah, that's right. Let's not even consider it.

Acho que eles gostariam muito mais do aquário.

I think it would be better to go to the aquarium.

Step 3 — Language Focus

📖 Ter medo de — To be afraid of

B explains that Leticia "tem medo de palhaços" — like English "to be afraid of," Portuguese uses ter (to have) + medo de, not a special verb.

Pattern	Example	English
ter medo de + noun	Ela tem medo de palhaços.	She's afraid of clowns.
ter medo de + infinitivo	Tenho medo de voar.	I'm afraid of flying.
não ter medo de nada	Não tenho medo de nada.	I'm not afraid of anything.

📖 O condicional — Seria, gostariam

Notice "Seria melhor" and "eles gostariam" — the conditional mood softens suggestions and opinions, making them sound more polite and less direct than the present tense.

Verb	Conditional	English
ser	seria melhor	it would be better
gostar	eles gostariam	they would like
poder	poderia ser o aquário	it could be the aquarium

💡 Forming the conditional For regular verbs, the conditional is just the infinitive + endings -ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -iam: ser → seria; gostar → gostaria, gostarias, gostaria, gostaríamos, gostariam.

Step 4 — Practice

1 Ter Medo de + Condicional

Choose the correct form.

A Leticia ___ palhaços.

✅ Correct! Ter medo de = to be afraid of.

___ melhor não ir ao circo.

✅ Correct! Seria (conditional of ser) softens the suggestion.

Eles ___ muito mais do aquário.

✅ Correct! Gostariam = conditional of gostar, they would like.

Nem entrar nisso.

✅ Correct! Nem entrar nisso = let's not even go there / consider it.

2 Complete the Dialogue

Fill in the blanks with the missing words.
Word bank: tem medo de · seria · gostariam · nisso

— A Leticia palhaços.

— melhor nem entrar .

— Acho que eles muito mais do aquário.

3 Sugestões Educadas

Choose the more polite, conditional version.

Suggesting the zoo would be better than the circus.

Saying the kids would like the beach.

Saying you're afraid of spiders.

Saying it could be a good idea.

4 Your Turn — Do que você tem medo?

Write in Portuguese.
Write 4–6 sentences about fears and preferences using ter medo de and the conditional (seria, gostaria).

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