Língua da Gente — Você Pegou uma Gripe!

🎧 Listen to the podcast episode

First listen: One person is sick but doesn't want to admit it. What does the other person ask them? What has the sick person already done to feel better?

Língua da Gente · Episode 39

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💬 The Conversation

Read along while listening again. Notice the highlighted verbs — pegou, tomou, deu — and how "já" and "sim" add nuance to what's being said.

A

E, você pegou uma gripe!

Wow, you've caught a cold!

B

Não é nada, estou bem.

No, it's nothing, I'm fine.

A

Não, você pegou sim. Você já tomou alguma coisa?

No, you really caught one. Have you taken anything?

B

Só o remédio que a Marina me deu, e muita vitamina C.

Just the medicine that Marina gave to me, and a lot of vitamin C.

📖 Pegar — to catch / to get (something)

A says "você pegou uma gripe" — pegar (literally: to grab/take) is used in everyday Brazilian Portuguese in many health and physical contexts. It's a regular -ar verb.

Portuguese	English	Context
pegar uma gripe	to catch a cold	Health — most common use
pegar um táxi	to catch / take a taxi	Transport
pegar sol	to sunbathe / to catch sun	Very common at the beach
pegar fila	to queue up / to wait in line	Everyday life
pegar trânsito	to get stuck in traffic	Very common in Brazilian cities

🔊 "Pegou sim" — affirmative reinforcement When B denies having a cold, A insists: "Não, você pegou sim." Adding sim after the verb is a powerful Brazilian way to affirm something the other person has just denied — like English "Yes you did!" or "You really did." You'll hear this constantly in everyday disagreements: Fui sim! (I did go!), Eu disse sim! (I did say it!). It turns a simple statement into a firm, emphatic one.

📖 Já tomou? — Já + preterite for recent actions

A asks "Você já tomou alguma coisa?" — Here já + preterite asks whether something has already happened. You've seen já in several episodes — this is its "already" meaning applied as a question about the recent past.

Question with já	English	Answer
Você já tomou o remédio?	Have you taken the medicine yet / already?	Já tomei. / Ainda não.
Você já comeu?	Have you eaten yet?	Já comi. / Ainda não.
Você já foi ao médico?	Have you been to the doctor yet?	Já fui. / Ainda não fui.

Tomar in health contexts means "to take" (medicine, vitamins, a pill). Key health phrases with tomar: tomar um remédio (to take a medicine), tomar vitamina C (to take vitamin C), tomar um chá (to have a herbal tea). Alguma coisa = anything / something.

📖 O remédio que… — Relative pronoun + object pronouns

B says "o remédio que a Marina me deu." Two important patterns in one sentence: the relative pronoun que and the indirect object pronoun me.

Pattern	Example	Notes
que (relative pronoun)	o remédio que ela me deu (the medicine that she gave me)	Links the noun to a relative clause. Que works for people and things — no distinction like English who/that/which
me (indirect object)	A Marina me deu o remédio. (Marina gave me the medicine.)	Me = to me. Comes before the verb in Brazilian Portuguese spoken style
muita vitamina C	tomei muita vitamina C (I took a lot of vitamin C)	Muito/muita agrees with the noun: muito suco (m.) / muita água (f.)

🇧🇷 Remédios caseiros — Home remedies in Brazil Brazilians rely heavily on remédios caseiros (home remedies) alongside conventional medicine. Vitamin C is a go-to, but you'll also hear: chá de gengibre com mel (ginger tea with honey), chá de erva-cidreira (lemon balm tea), sopa de galinha (chicken soup — yes, universal!), and mel puro (pure honey) for sore throats. Pharmacies (farmácias) in Brazil are everywhere and you can get many medications without a prescription that require one elsewhere. "Já tomou alguma coisa?" is a very natural Brazilian way to check in on a sick friend or family member.

1 What does it mean? — Expression Quiz

Choose the correct meaning for each expression from the dialogue.

Você pegou uma gripe.

✅ Correct! Pegou = preterite of pegar (you caught / you've caught). Uma gripe = a cold / flu. Pegar uma gripe is the standard Brazilian expression for "to catch a cold."

Você pegou sim.

✅ Correct! Sim after the verb is emphatic affirmation — used when the other person has denied something. Pegou sim = You really did catch it / Yes you did catch it.

Você já tomou alguma coisa?

✅ Correct! Já + preterite = have you already / yet. Tomou = preterite of tomar (to take). Alguma coisa = anything / something. Together: Have you taken anything (yet)?

O remédio que a Marina me deu.

✅ Correct! Que = that (relative pronoun). Me deu = gave me (me = indirect object "to me"; deu = preterite of dar). So: the medicine that Marina gave (to) me.

2 Complete the Dialogue

Fill in the blanks with the missing words.
Word bank: pegou · tomou · remédio · deu · muita

— E, você uma gripe!

— Não é nada, estou bem.

— Não, você pegou sim. Você já alguma coisa?

— Só o que a Marina me , e vitamina C.

3 Muito or Muita?

Select the correct form — muito (masculine) or muita (feminine) — for each noun.

___ vitamina C

___ suco de laranja

___ água

___ repouso (rest)

4 Your Turn — Estou mal!

Write in Portuguese.
A friend texts you saying they feel terrible. Write your reply (4–5 sentences). Ask what's wrong, whether they've seen a doctor or taken anything yet, and give them some advice using toma…, bebe muita…, descansa….