Língua da Gente — Quanto Tempo Não É?

🎧 Listen to the podcast episode

First listen: Two old friends run into each other. What do they talk about? Whose children are mentioned — and what do they say about them?

Língua da Gente · Episode 34

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💬 The Conversation

Listen again while reading. Focus on the word já — it appears twice, with slightly different meanings each time.

A

Uau João, quanto tempo não é? Tudo bem?

Wow João, long time no see, right? How are you doing?

B

Tudo bem, e a família, vai bem?

Just fine, and the family, are they doing well?

A

Vai, a Marina já está bem grande.

They are, Marina is already really big.

B

Sei, o Marquinhos também cresceu muito.

I know, Marquinhos has grown a lot too.

📖 Já — one word, three meanings

A says "a Marina já está bem grande" — Marina is already really big. Já is one of the most common and versatile words in Brazilian Portuguese. Its meaning shifts depending on context — and you've already seen it in earlier episodes of this series!

Meaning	Context	Example from the series
already	Past or current state — something has happened or is true now	A Marina já está bem grande. (Ep. 34 — she's already big) São sete horas já! (Ep. 25 — it's already 7!)
right now / in a moment	Near future — action is imminent	Tá, já vou. (Ep. 25 — OK, I'm coming right now)
anymore / no longer	With negation — something that was true is no longer	Já não tem mais nada. (Ep. 33 — there's nothing left)

💡 How to read "já" in context The simplest trick: look at what comes after. Já + present/past = already. Já + verb of going/coming = right now. Já não + verb = no longer / anymore. With practice, it becomes instinctive — and hearing it so often in Brazilian speech is the best teacher.

📖 Ir + bem — How things are going

B asks "a família, vai bem?" — and A answers simply "Vai.". Here ir (to go) is used not for movement but to describe the state or progress of something — just like English "How's it going?" / "Going well."

Question	Short answer	Longer form
Tudo bem?	Tudo bem. / Tudo.	All good. / Everything's fine.
A família vai bem?	Vai.	They are. / It's going well. (Just the verb — ultra-short!)
Como você vai?	Vou bem.	I'm doing well.
Como vai o trabalho?	Vai bem, obrigado.	Going well, thanks. (Work is going well.)

Notice that "Vai." alone as an answer works because the listener already knows what's being referred to — it's an elegant Brazilian conversational shortcut.

📖 Key Expressions — Reconnecting with someone

Portuguese	English	Notes
Uau!	Wow!	Universal expression of surprise or admiration — used exactly like English "Wow!" or "Whoa!"
Quanto tempo não é?	Long time no see, right?	A fixed phrase — literally "How much time, right?" Used when you haven't seen someone in a while. The não é? tag is like "right?" — it invites the other person to agree.
Já está bem grande.	She's already really big.	Bem used as an intensifier = really / quite. Bem grande = really big / quite big. Other examples: bem legal (really cool), bem cansada (really tired).
Cresceu muito.	Has grown a lot.	Crescer = to grow. Cresceu = pretérito perfeito — he/she grew / has grown. Muito = a lot.
O Marquinhos	Little Marcos / Marcos (affectionate)	Affectionate diminutive of Marcos — just like Carlinhos (← Carlos) in Episode 28. Brazilians use these constantly with names of people they're close to.

🇧🇷 Culture Note — Children as conversation topic In Brazilian culture, asking about and discussing children — how they're growing, what school they're at, what they're doing — is a very natural and warm topic when catching up with friends or acquaintances. It's a sign of genuine interest in the person's family. Commenting that a child has grown (cresceu muito!) or that they look healthy and big (já está bem grande!) is always a compliment. This dialogue perfectly captures that kind of warm, spontaneous Brazilian street reunion.

🔊 "Não é?" — the Brazilian tag question Não é? (literally "isn't it?") is one of the most common tag questions in Brazilian Portuguese — used to invite agreement or confirm shared understanding, just like English "right?", "isn't it?", or "don't you think?". You'll also hear né? — a contracted form of não é — which is even more common in casual speech: Quanto tempo, né?

1 What does it mean? — Expression Quiz

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

Quanto tempo não é?

✅ Correct! Quanto tempo = how much time. Não é? = right? / isn't it? Together it's a fixed, warm expression for reuniting with someone you haven't seen in a while.

A família vai bem?

✅ Correct! Here ir (to go) expresses how things are going — not movement. Vai bem? = Is it going well? / Is everything OK? Same pattern as Como vai? = How are you doing?

A Marina já está bem grande.

✅ Correct! Já = already. Bem = really / quite (as an intensifier). Grande = big. Together: she's already reached a noticeably big size — the parents are proud!

Cresceu muito.

✅ Correct! Cresceu is the preterite (past) of crescer (to grow). Muito = a lot. The past tense here reflects noticeable change that has already happened.

2 Complete the Dialogue

Fill in the blanks with the missing words.
Word bank: tempo · cresceu · grande · vai · já

— Uau João, quanto não é? Tudo bem?

— Tudo bem, e a família, bem?

— Vai, a Marina está bem .

— Sei, o Marquinhos também muito.

3 Já — Which meaning?

Each sentence uses já. Select the correct meaning in that context.

"Já comi, obrigada."

"Tá, já vou!"

"Já não tem mais nada."

"A Marina já está bem grande."

4 Your Turn — Quanto tempo não é!

Write in Portuguese.
You run into an old friend you haven't seen in a long time. Write a short dialogue (4–6 lines). Use quanto tempo!, vai bem?, já, and say something about how someone has changed or grown.