Se Fosse Cobra, Te Mordia

Episódio 45 Língua da Gente Perguntar onde as coisas estão

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

Step 1 — Listen

🎧 Listen to the podcast episode

First listen: Where was the remote control the whole time? What Brazilian expression is used to tease someone about it?

Língua da Gente · Episode 45

Step 2 — Read the Dialogue

💬 The Conversation

Read along while listening. Notice cadê (informal "where is") and dever for guessing/probability.

Bem, cadê o controle remoto?

Honey, where's the remote?

Deve estar lá na sala ao lado do sofá.

Should be in the room next to the sofa.

Onde? Não estou vendo ele.

Where? I can't see it.

Aqui ô! Se fosse cobra, te mordia.

Right here. If it were a snake it would have bitten you.

Step 3 — Language Focus

📖 Cadê — Where is/are…?

A asks "Cadê o controle remoto?" — cadê is an everyday contraction of que é de, used constantly in spoken Brazilian Portuguese to ask where something or someone is.

Question	Meaning	Notes
Cadê o controle?	Where's the remote?	Very informal — used in speech, not formal writing.
Cadê você?	Where are you?	Also works with people!
Onde está...?	Where is...? (more formal)	The "correct" written equivalent of cadê.

📖 Dever + infinitivo — Guessing/probability

B guesses the remote "deve estar lá na sala" — here dever doesn't mean obligation, but probability: "it must be / it's probably."

Pronoun	Dever + infinitivo	English
eu	devo estar certo	I must be right
você/ele/ela	deve estar na sala	it must be in the living room
eles	devem estar cansados	they must be tired

💬 Se fosse cobra, te mordia A classic, playful Brazilian expression used when something was right in front of someone the whole time and they couldn't see it — like English "it was right under your nose!" Literally: "if it were a snake, it would have bitten you."

Step 4 — Practice

1 Cadê vs. Deve estar

Choose the correct word or phrase.

___ o controle remoto?

✅ Correct! Cadê = where is (informal).

O controle ___ na sala.

✅ Correct! Deve estar expresses a guess about location.

Se fosse cobra, te mordia.

✅ Correct! A playful idiom for something that was in plain sight.

Não estou vendo ele.

✅ Correct! Estou vendo = present continuous (estar + gerúndio).

2 Complete the Dialogue

Fill in the blanks with the missing words.
Word bank: cadê · deve estar · vendo · cobra

— Bem, o controle remoto?

— lá na sala ao lado do sofá.

— Onde? Não estou ele.

— Aqui ô! Se fosse , te mordia.

3 Onde Será que Está?

Choose the best guess using dever.

Guessing the keys are in your bag.

Asking informally where your phone is.

Guessing the kids must be tired.

Telling someone something was right in front of them.

4 Your Turn — Cadê minhas coisas?

Write in Portuguese.
Write 4–6 sentences about looking for something you lost. Use cadê and deve estar.

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