A Ponte Encantada
Dois jovens aventureiros tentam atravessar uma ponte encantada sobre o Douro respondendo a um enigma em português.
atravessar—to crossRead this in the PortuStories app
European Portuguese audio (Google neural voice) · Tap any word to translate · SRS vocabulary · Comprehension quizzes
Story opening — Portuguese with English Translation
Há muitos anos, os dois jovens aventureiros Filipe e Clara chegam às margens do rio Douro. Precisam de atravessar para o lado norte, mas a única ponte é uma ponte de pedra muito antiga. No centro da ponte, está sentada uma velha de cabelos brancos que não deixa ninguém passar.
Many years ago, the two young adventurers Filipe and Clara arrive at the banks of the Douro river. They need to cross to the northern bank, but the only bridge is a very old stone bridge. In the middle of the bridge, an old woman with white hair is seated who does not let anyone cross.
"Para atravessar esta ponte," diz a velha, "têm de responder a uma adivinha. A palavra que procuram é portuguesa e não tem tradução noutras línguas. É uma saudade de algo que talvez nunca tenha existido. Uma tristeza doce. Um amor ao passado. Qual é a palavra?"
"To cross this bridge," says the old woman, "you must answer a riddle. The word you seek is Portuguese and has no translation in other languages. It is a longing for something that perhaps never existed. A sweet sadness. A love of the past. What is the word?"
The remaining 3 paragraphs are in the reader, with audio for every sentence and tap-to-translate on every word.
Vocabulary Glossary
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| há | ago; there is/are |
| muitos | many (masculine plural) |
| anos | years |
| dois | two (masculine) |
| jovens | young (plural); young people |
| adventureiro | adventurer |
| aventureiros | adventurers |
| chegam | arrive (3rd person plural, present of chegar) |
| chegar | to arrive |
| margens | banks (plural of margem) |
| margem | bank (of a river) |
| rio | river |
| precisam | need (3rd person plural, present of precisar) |
| precisar | to need |
| atravessar | to cross |
| lado | side |
| norte | north |
| única | only; sole (feminine) |
| ponte | bridge |
| pedra | stone |
| muito | very; much |
| antiga | old; ancient (feminine) |
| centro | center; middle |
| está | is (3rd person singular, present of estar) |
| sentada | seated; sitting (feminine) |
| velha | old woman; old (feminine) |
| cabelos | hair (plural) |
| brancos | white (masculine plural) |
| não | not; no |
| deixa | lets; allows (3rd person singular, present of deixar) |
| deixar | to let; to allow; to leave |
| ninguém | nobody; no one |
| passar | to pass; to cross |
| esta | this (feminine) |
| diz | says (3rd person singular, present of dizer) |
| dizer | to say; to tell |
| têm | have (3rd person plural, present of ter) |
| ter | to have |
| responder | to answer; to respond |
| adivinha | riddle |
| palavra | word |
| procuram | look for; seek (3rd person plural, present of procurar) |
| procurar | to look for; to seek |
| portuguesa | Portuguese (feminine adjective) |
| tem | has (3rd person singular, present of ter) |
| tradução | translation |
| noutras | in other (contraction: em + outras) |
| línguas | languages |
| saudade | saudade (nostalgic longing, untranslatable) |
| algo | something |
| talvez | perhaps; maybe |
| nunca | never |
| tenha | has (3rd person singular, present subjunctive of ter) |
| existido | existed (past participle of existir) |
| existir | to exist |
| tristeza | sadness |
| doce | sweet |
| amor | love |
| passado | past |
| qual | which; what |
| é | is (3rd person singular, present of ser) |
| encantada | enchanted |
| encolher os ombros | to shrug |
| resposta | answer; response |
| responde | answers (3rd person singular, present of responder) |
| descreve | describes (3rd person singular, present of descrever) |
| descrever | to describe |
| significado | meaning |
| como | how; as; like |
| atravessas | cross (2nd person singular, present of atravessar) |
| atravessamos | cross (1st person plural, present of atravessar) |
| atravessam | cross (3rd person plural, present of atravessar) |
| atravessei | crossed (1st person singular, preterite of atravessar) |
| atravessaste | crossed (2nd person singular, preterite of atravessar) |
| atravessou | crossed (3rd person singular, preterite of atravessar) |
| atravessámos | crossed (1st person plural, preterite of atravessar) |
| atravessaram | crossed (3rd person plural, preterite of atravessar) |
| atravessarei | will cross (1st person singular, future of atravessar) |
| atravessarás | will cross (2nd person singular, future of atravessar) |
| atravessará | will cross (3rd person singular, future of atravessar) |
| atravessaremos | will cross (1st person plural, future of atravessar) |
| atravessarão | will cross (3rd person plural, future of atravessar) |
| atravessando | crossing (gerund of atravessar) |
| atravessado | crossed (past participle of atravessar) |
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