Eliminate Mistakes that Portuguese Speakers Make in English

Master the difference between during and for in English, focusing on duration versus point-in-time usage. Avoid common mistakes by using for durations and during to indicate events within a period.

Learn to distinguish work from job, use correct articles and prepositions, and use common phrases like I went to work and I am at work.

Explore correct usage of ainda (still and yet) in English, focusing on continuing actions, present perfect, negatives, gerunds, and common Portuguese speaker mistakes with examples like I haven't finished yet.

Distinguish the meanings of trip, travel, and journey, and explain common mistakes Portuguese speakers make when translating to English.

Master when to use everybody, everyone, nobody, and no one, and apply singular verbs with these subjects, using Leonard Cohen's 'Everybody Knows' and REM's 'Everybody Hurts' as examples.

Correct common mistakes with near, close to, far from, and nearby by using examples like the hotel is near the beach, close to the beach, or far from the beach.

Differentiate history from story in English for Portuguese speakers, using actual past facts versus fiction, with examples like World War II, the Incas, and the Portuguese colonisation of Brazil.

Master common English preposition usage for Portuguese speakers, with verbs like call, ask, tell, and enter, using the gato example to translate cat and avoid mistakes.

Quick tips help Portuguese speakers avoid direct translations like isso, fix 'one more beer' and 'two more hours,' and clarify home versus house and leave home usage.

Explore how Portuguese speakers use so as an intensifier versus very, and learn correct night usage, including at night vs tonight, and common awaiting mistakes.

Explore why Portuguese speakers struggle with the present perfect, contrasting it with present simple and present continuous, and learn to think in English patterns instead of translating directly.

Explore how the present perfect marks a current state in English, using 'I have lost my key' to differentiate from past simple for Portuguese speakers.

Master present perfect strategy, distinguish it from past simple, and apply rules about life experience, since, for, and actions continuing to the present.

Explain using the present perfect for life experience with have you ever and past simple for specific times, using examples like reading Harry Potter and seeing Star Wars.

Identify which time expressions belong to past simple or present perfect using calendar-based rules, with emphasis on signal words like yet, already, ever, and never.

Explore present perfect strategy with common signal words and clear examples, including for, since, already, never, and so far.

Master present perfect usage by using signal words to differentiate life experience from a specific past time, and understand the two meanings of never, with clear examples.

Master present perfect through life experience cues like 'have you ever' and past time expressions; for daily actions, use present simple.

Learn to use the present perfect for announcing news, with strategies from life experience, signal words, and daily usage to avoid present simple errors.

Guide Portuguese speakers through present perfect and present perfect continuous with examples like 'has run for charity' and 'has been running for charity', highlighting signals like since and until now.

This lecture explains why native British English speakers use the present perfect to express current situations, especially in business, with examples like have ordered the food.

Master the preposition triangle for time and location, using in, on, and at with general versus specific cases, and apply visual strategies to avoid common mistakes by Portuguese speakers.

Learn the in vs. on distinction through surface-based rules and clear examples like in the room, on the table, and on the internet, including apps and devices.

Learn the transport prepositions strategy: use on for walking around objects like bus, train, plane, and off and in for car, boat, kayak, with exceptions such as horse and bike.

Learn the correct use of to, for, and from in English, emphasizing movement verbs, avoiding 'for' with infinitives, and applying to and from with verbs like send or give.

Master the rule that a preposition followed by a verb requires the verb in -ing form, with examples like at playing, in travelling, and accustomed to speaking.

Explore common mistakes with dependent prepositions in English, including different from and different to, depends on, same as, similar to, and participate in, with practical examples.

Master English plural rules by prioritizing noun plurality over adjectives, using hyphenated compounds, and applying correct age forms in examples like four-bedroom and 12-year-old phrases.

Discover how English word order places place and time at the end, and why following this structure in emails, reports, and messages helps you sound like a native speaker.

Master common word order errors by Portuguese speakers. Learn why phrases like 'i like pizza very much' and 'the accident happened' violate English norm, which requires a subject first.

Learn to pronounce and write English dates, mastering ordinals and cardinals, month capitalization, and year formats, with focus on common Portuguese speaker mistakes.

Learn about stative verbs grouped into three sets—like/want/need; know/realise/mean/understand/remember/believe; belong/contain/consist/seem—that express states of mind and do not take the -ing form, with examples like I like it.

See that would is the past of will. Use it in past and reported speech with examples like 'he would be here at 7 p.m.'

This lecture shows that in sentences with multiple verbs, place not after the first verb and use don't or didn't with that first verb, with examples like decide and intend.

Master English gerunds by learning when to use -ing versus the infinitive, with examples like can't help falling in love and the difference between stop eating and stop to eat.

Master zero, first, second, third, and mixed conditionals in English, avoid direct translation mistakes from Portuguese, and learn practical rules and examples to use the correct tense in each conditional.

Learn when to say 'I got my hair cut' or 'I got my nails done' instead of 'I cut my hair,' using the subject-to-get-object-past participle pattern.

Review common English question forms for different tenses, highlighting Portuguese structure versus English, with focus on present simple using do/does, question words, and future and present continuous constructions.

This lecture covers Portuguese speaker mistakes with uncountable nouns and a rule set using a piece of or pieces of for items like work, equipment, software, music, luggage, and information.

Identify the English 'double verbs' make and do, using a practical strategy to choose 'make' for creation, preparation, and touchable results, while memorizing key exceptions.

Identify common Portuguese fazer mistakes in English, using have for parties and ask for questions, as in did you have a party last night and I asked a question.

Learn when to use train and practice in English, with real-world examples from sports, work, and animals, such as Neymar training, workers training, and training a dog or horses.

Identify when to use lose versus miss in English, distinguishing possession from non-possession contexts like transport, events, deadlines, for Portuguese speakers. Explore how waste differs, with money and water examples.

Explain the difference between go out and leave. Use go out for fun activities and leave for exits that aren’t fun, and note mistakes like went out of vs left.

Ganhar means to win; earn applies to work and salary. The caption contrasts luck in lotteries with skill in poker, noted by a US court.

Learn to distinguish to know from to see and to get to know, with examples of saber and conhecer and common mistakes about knowing people versus information.

Differentiate advise from warn in English; advise informs and provides information in formal contexts, while warn signals potential danger with warning signs.

Discover how ficar is used differently from to stay and to be, with emotions, locations, and time expressions, and learn common Portuguese to English mistakes.

Learn how to translate suportar into English as 'to support' or 'to tolerate,' with natural phrases like 'I can't stand' and examples of financial support and sports supporters.

Explore how passar maps to many English expressions, highlighting common translation mistakes and teaching phrasal verbs from pass time to pass information.

Differentiate remember and remind with clear examples. My brother reminded me of my mother's birthday, and feijoada in Dublin reminded me of Brazil, like phone reminders that trigger memory.

Show the active listening concept and the passive hearing concept with examples like listening to music or someone speaking, versus hearing traffic or dogs barking.

Address common pronunciation issues for Brazilian learners, showing how mispronunciations like 'office' (off-fiss) and 'practice' (prac-tiss) can hinder understanding. Emphasizes R and H sound differences and tricky place names.

Explore why -ed endings confuse Portuguese speakers, and learn to unlearn the mistake by recognizing when -id occurs, as in painted and needed, versus other endings like helped or worked.

Learn to distinguish British and American English, stay consistent in TOEFL or IELTS exams, and focus on the present perfect, adverbs, and spelling to avoid common mistakes.

Learn how British and American English differ in present perfect usage, with British favoring the present perfect for recent events and American using past simple.

Explore adverbs and the -ly suffix, and compare British and American usage, including the think different versus think differently distinction and adjective use.

Identify British and American spelling differences, such as theatre/theater, centre/center, colour/color, and organisation/organization, and stress consistent usage on UK CVs and exams.