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Tão Forte Quanto os Jovens

A doctor checks a patient's blood pressure, and the good news reveals healthy habit changes. Talking about giving something up with parar de, and comparing equally with tão... quanto.
parar de + infinitivo tão... quanto (comparação de igualdade) ainda + presente vocabulário: saúde
🎧 Língua da Gente · Ep. 34
1
Listen to the episode

Áudio: COERLL · University of Texas at Austin · Também disponível no Apple Podcasts →

2
Read the dialogue

At a check-up, a doctor takes a patient's blood pressure and hears about his healthier new habits.

A: Vamos tirar a pressão também.

Let's take your blood pressure too.

B: Acho que vai ser melhor, parei de comer tanto sal.

I think it's going to be better, I have stopped eating so much salt.

A: Vamos ver, 12 por 8, muito bom, melhorou bastante.

Let's see, 120 over 80, very good, it has improved a lot.

B: Tá vendo doutor, tão forte quanto os jovens!

You see doctor, as strong as the young ones!

A: Ah é? E a cafeína, você ainda está tomando o café?

Oh yes? And the caffeine, are you still drinking coffee?

B: Muito menos, não tomo nada depois das 18:00hrs.

Much less, I don't drink any after 6:00pm.

3
Language focus
Focus 1
Parar de + infinitivo — pretérito perfeito
English: I stopped / gave up doing something
Parar de + infinitive means "to stop / give up" doing something. Parei is the pretérito perfeito (simple past) form, used to describe a habit change that already happened.
Parei de comer tanto sal.
I stopped eating so much salt. Ela parou de fumar há um ano.
She quit smoking a year ago.
Focus 2
Tão... quanto — comparação de igualdade
English: As... as (equal comparison)
Tão + adjective + quanto compares two things as equal — the Portuguese equivalent of English "as... as."
Tão forte quanto os jovens!
As strong as the young ones! Este café é tão bom quanto aquele.
This coffee is as good as that one.
Focus 3
Ainda + presente & vocabulário de saúde
English: still + present tense (asking if a habit continues) + health vocabulary
Ainda + present tense asks whether something is still happening — a natural way doctors (and friends) check in on ongoing habits.
Você ainda está tomando café?
Are you still drinking coffee? Pressão — blood pressure · Sal — salt
Cafeína — caffeine · Melhorar — to improve
🩺 Culture note Blood pressure in Brazil is typically read as "doze por oito" (12 by 8), shorthand for 120/80 mmHg — Brazilians drop the last zero when speaking, so always double it mentally when you hear numbers like this at the doctor's office.
🔊 Phonology note Notice the stress pattern in tão — a nasal diphthong that can trip up English speakers. Practice it alongside quanto, which also carries a nasal "an" sound distinct from English.
4
Exercises
Exercise 1 — Comprehension check
Choose the correct answer based on the dialogue.
Exercise 2 — Parei, quanto ou ainda?
Fill in each gap to complete the sentence with the correct word.
1. Eu de comer tanto sal.
2. Ele está tão forte os jovens.
3. Você está tomando café?
4. Ela de fumar há um ano.
5. Este exercício é tão difícil o outro.
Exercise 3 — Vocabulário de saúde
Match each Portuguese word to its English meaning.
Exercise 4 — Your turn
Write 4–6 sentences in Portuguese about a habit you've changed for your health. Use parar de, tão... quanto, and ainda at least once each.
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