Maria Fez Pastéis de Nata
A história de Maria e os pastéis de nata contada no passado. Repara como "faz" (presente) se transforma em "fazia" ou "fez".
fazer—to make / to do — past tensesRead this in the PortuStories app
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Story opening — Portuguese with English Translation
Naquele aniversário de casamento, Maria decidiu fazer pastéis de nata caseiros pela primeira vez. Era o prato favorito do marido desde criança — a avó fazia-os todos os domingos numa pequena cozinha em Belém. Maria abriu um livro velho de culinária. As páginas estavam amareladas e cheias de notas a lápis.
On that wedding anniversary, Maria decided to make homemade pastéis de nata for the first time. They were her husband's favourite dish since childhood — his grandmother made them every Sunday in a small kitchen in Belém. Maria opened an old cookery book. The pages were yellowed and full of pencil notes.
Começou de manhã. A primeira tentativa foi um desastre: a massa ficou dura e o creme ficou líquido. "Não consigo fazer isto", murmurou ela. Mas releu a receita e percebeu o erro — tinha de usar manteiga muito fria. A segunda tentativa correu muito melhor.
She started in the morning. The first attempt was a disaster: the dough became hard and the cream too liquid. "I can't make this," she murmured. But she reread the recipe and understood the mistake — she had to use very cold butter. The second attempt went much better.
The remaining 1 paragraph are in the reader, with audio for every sentence and tap-to-translate on every word.
Vocabulary Glossary
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| releu | reread (preterite of reler) |
| correu | went / ran (preterite of correr) |
| provou | tasted / tried (preterite of provar) |
| orgulhosa | proud (fem.) |
| ficou a nova tradição | became the new tradition |
| fez | made / did (preterite of fazer) |
| fazia | used to make / was making (imperfect) |
| fiz | I made (preterite of fazer) |
| fizeste | you made (preterite of fazer) |
| fizemos | we made (preterite of fazer) |
| fizeram | they made (preterite of fazer) |
| fazias | you used to make (imperfect) |
| fazíamos | we used to make (imperfect) |
| faziam | they used to make (imperfect) |
| pastéis de nata | custard tarts (famous Portuguese pastries) |
| aniversário de casamento | wedding anniversary |
| caseiros | homemade (masculine plural) |
| prato favorito | favourite dish |
| marido | husband |
| criança | child / childhood |
| culinária | cookery / culinary arts |
| livro | book |
| amareladas | yellowed (feminine plural) |
| notas a lápis | pencil notes |
| tentativa | attempt / try |
| desastre | disaster |
| massa | dough / pastry |
| dura | hard / tough (feminine) |
| creme | cream / custard filling |
| líquido | liquid / runny |
| murmurou | murmured (preterite of murmurar) |
| receita | recipe |
| erro | mistake / error |
| manteiga | butter |
| fria | cold (feminine) |
| cheirava | smelled of (imperfect of cheirar) |
| canela | cinnamon |
| caramelo | caramel |
| admirado | amazed / astonished |
| deliciosos | delicious (masculine plural) |
| tradição | tradition |
| amor | love |
| todos os anos | every year |
| Belém | Belém (Lisbon neighbourhood, famous for pastéis de nata) |
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