B1 — Intermediate·10 min read·Everyday Life·sport

A Última Tentativa

Ana tenta qualificar-se para a maratona de Lisboa depois de uma lesão que a afastou do atletismo durante dois anos.

Theme verbtentar—to try / to attempt

Read this in the PortuStories app

European Portuguese audio (Google neural voice) · Tap any word to translate · SRS vocabulary · Comprehension quizzes

Open in App →

Story opening — Portuguese with English Translation

Ana tinha trinta e dois anos e uma lesão no joelho que a tinha afastado do atletismo durante vinte e três meses. Durante esse tempo, tinha tentado manter-se ativa — natação, ioga, caminhadas longas — mas nada substituía a corrida. A corrida era a linguagem do seu corpo. E agora tentava reaprendê-la, passo a passo, num parque às seis da manhã.

Ana was thirty-two years old and had a knee injury that had kept her away from athletics for twenty-three months. During that time, she had tried to stay active — swimming, yoga, long walks — but nothing replaced running. Running was the language of her body. And now she was trying to relearn it, step by step, in a park at six in the morning.

O seu fisioterapeuta, o doutor Ferreira, tinha-lhe dito que podia tentar correr curtas distâncias a partir de setembro. — Tens de tentar devagar — disse ele. — O joelho está bem, mas a cabeça tem de se habituar também. Ana ouviu o conselho. Mas a maratona de Lisboa era em novembro. E ela queria tentar qualificar-se. Tinha dez semanas.

Her physiotherapist, Dr Ferreira, had told her she could try running short distances from September. "You have to try slowly," he said. "The knee is fine, but the head has to get used to it too." Ana heard the advice. But the Lisbon marathon was in November. And she wanted to try to qualify. She had ten weeks.

The remaining 10 paragraphs are in the reader, with audio for every sentence and tap-to-translate on every word.

or read as a guest (3 stories free)

Vocabulary Glossary

WordMeaning
tentarto try / to attempt
últimalast / final (feminine)
tentativaattempt / try
tinhahad (imperfect of ter)
trinta e doisthirty-two
anosyears
lesãoinjury
joelhoknee
afastadokept away / sidelined
atletismoathletics / track and field
duranteduring / for (a period of time)
vinte e trêstwenty-three
mesesmonths
essethat (masculine demonstrative)
tempotime / weather
tentadotried (past participle of tentar)
manter-seto keep oneself / to stay
ativaactive (feminine)
nataçãoswimming
iogayoga
caminhadaswalks / hikes
longaslong (feminine plural)
nadanothing
substituíareplaced (imperfect of substituir)
corridarun / race
erawas (imperfect of ser)
linguagemlanguage / form of expression
corpobody
agoranow
tentavawas trying / used to try (imperfect of tentar)
reaprendê-lato relearn it (feminine)
passostep
passo a passostep by step
parquepark
seissix
manhãmorning
seuhis / her / its (possessive)
fisioterapeutaphysiotherapist
doutordoctor
ditosaid / told (past participle of dizer)
podiacould (imperfect of poder)
correrto run
curtasshort (feminine plural)
distânciasdistances
a partir defrom / starting from
setembroSeptember
tens deyou have to / you must
devagarslowly
dissesaid (preterite of dizer)
estáis (present of estar)
bemwell / fine
cabeçahead / mind
habituarto get used to
tambémalso / too
ouviuheard / listened (preterite of ouvir)
conselhoadvice
maratonamarathon
novembroNovember
queriawanted (imperfect of querer)
qualificar-seto qualify
dezten
semanasweeks
primeirafirst (feminine)
semanaweek
tentoutried (preterite of tentar)
cincofive
quilómetroskilometres
seguidosin a row / consecutive
conseguiumanaged / achieved (preterite of conseguir)
quatrofour
segundasecond (feminine)
de novoagain
chegouarrived / reached (preterite of chegar)
cada vez queevery time that
haviathere was / there were (imperfect of haver)
momentomoment
por volta dearound / about (approximate)
terceirothird
enviavawas sending (imperfect of enviar)
sinal de avisowarning signal
não erait was not
dorpain
exatamenteexactly
maismore / most
lembrançareminder / memory
cuidadocare / careful / watch out
jáalready
partisteyou broke (preterite of partir)
antesbefore
amigafriend (feminine)
acompanhavaaccompanied / went along with (imperfect of acompanhar)
treinostraining sessions / workouts
treinotraining / workout
fim de semanaweekend
aindastill / yet
certezacertainty / sureness
queresyou want (present of querer)
perguntouasked (preterite of perguntar)
enquantowhile
corriamwere running (imperfect of correr)
lado a ladoside by side
domingoSunday
outubroOctober
preciso deI need to
diferençadifference
assentiunodded / agreed (preterite of assentir)
conheciaknew / was acquainted with (imperfect of conhecer)
háthere is / there are; ago (with time)
suficientesenough / sufficient (plural)
saberto know
argumentoargument / reasoning
valessewould be worth (imperfect subjunctive of valer)
diasdays
pareciaseemed (imperfect of parecer)
impossívelimpossible
tardeafternoon
depois deafter
chuvarain
fortestrong / heavy (of rain)
fazerto do / to make
quinzefifteen
teve dehad to (preterite of ter de)
pararto stop
dozetwelve
sentou-sesat down (preterite of sentar-se)
bancobench
molhadowet
chorarto cry
sem grande sucessowithout much success
homemman
mais velhoolder
passavawas passing (imperfect of passar)
estavawas (imperfect of estar)
estouI am (present of estar)
sorriusmiled (preterite of sorrir)
é isso que contathat is what counts / what matters
maiorbiggest / greatest
atéuntil / up to
datadate
até à datato date / so far
vintetwenty
cedoearly
Parque das Naçõesmodern riverside park district in Lisbon
quasealmost / nearly
vazioempty
correuran (preterite of correr)
junto anext to / beside
rioriver
tentandotrying (gerund of tentar)
manterto maintain / to keep
ritmopace / rhythm
constanteconstant / steady
aguentouheld up / withstood (preterite of aguentar)
foiwas / went (preterite of ser/ir)
rápidafast (feminine)
fimend
ficoustayed / remained (preterite of ficar)
chãoground / floor
alíviorelief
gratidãogratitude
inscriçãoregistration / entry
exigiarequired / demanded (imperfect of exigir)
tempo de qualificaçãoqualifying time
sabiaknew (imperfect of saber)
atualcurrent
lentoslow
demaistoo much / excessively
entãothen / so
inscrever-seto register / to sign up
provarace / competition / event
vinte e umtwenty-one
meia-maratonahalf-marathon
Cascaiscoastal town west of Lisbon
obterto obtain / to get
necessárionecessary / required
estratégiastrategy
dois passostwo steps
primeirofirst (masculine)
depoisafter / then / afterwards
confiançaconfidence
acordouwoke up (preterite of acordar)
comeuate (preterite of comer)
bananabanana
manteiga de amendoimpeanut butter
apanhoucaught / took (preterite of apanhar)
comboiotrain
pensarto think
demasiadotoo much
físicobody / physique
preparadoprepared / ready
outraother / another (feminine)
questãoquestion / issue / matter
chegarto arrive / to reach
linha de partidastarting line
sentiufelt (preterite of sentir)
pulsarpulsing / throbbing
familiarfamiliar
nervosnerves
respirarto breathe
fundodeep / deeply
lembrar-seto remember
um passo de cada vezone step at a time
tolerassecould tolerate (imperfect subjunctive of tolerar)
tolerarto tolerate / to withstand
ao mesmo tempoat the same time
suficienteenough / sufficient
dezasseissixteen
acelerarto accelerate / to speed up
protestouprotested (preterite of protestar)
cedeugave in / gave way (preterite of ceder)
cruzoucrossed (preterite of cruzar)
linha de chegadafinish line
duas horastwo hours
minutosminutes
conseguisteyou did it / you managed (preterite of conseguir)
telemóvelmobile phone
ligoucalled / phoned (preterite of ligar)
regressoreturn
tenteiI tried (preterite of tentar)
corrigiucorrected (preterite of corrigir)
sorrisosmile
resultouworked / turned out (preterite of resultar)
desta vezthis time
pernaslegs
pesadasheavy (feminine plural)
coraçãoheart
levelight (adjective)
perceberto understand / to realise
tantoso much
mudarto change
tãoso (adverb of degree)
poucolittle / short (amount)
nevoeirofog / mist
TejoTagus (river in Lisbon)
desdesince / from
iníciobeginning / start
sairto go out / to start off
erromistake / error
clássicoclassic
maratonistamarathon runner
ansiososanxious (masculine plural)
pontesbridges
ignorarto ignore
ultrapassavamwere overtaking (imperfect of ultrapassar)
ouvirto hear / to listen
apenasonly / just
respiraçãobreathing
somsound
sapatilhastrainers / running shoes (plural)
sapatilhatrainer / running shoe
asfaltoasphalt / tarmac
horashours
dezoitoeighteen
recorderecord (personal best)
delahers / of her
inteiramenteentirely / completely
conquistarto earn / to achieve / to conquer
conquistadaearned / conquered (feminine past participle)
tentativasattempts / tries
recomeçosfresh starts / new beginnings
recomeçofresh start / new beginning
multidãocrowd
entreamong / between
apertandoshaking / squeezing (gerund of apertar)
mãohand
chegasteyou arrived / you made it (preterite of chegar)
desistirto give up / to quit
muitas vezesmany times / often
continuarto continue / to keep going
às vezessometimes
tudoeverything
resolverto solve / to resolve
problemaproblem
sozinhaalone (feminine)
semprealways
uma vezonce / one time
marcaçãoappointment / booking
ganharto win
recuperaçãorecovery
ligarto call / to phone
ontemyesterday
médicodoctor
falarto speak / to talk
tentáramoswe had tried (pluperfect of tentar)
chegaramarrived / came (preterite of chegar, 3rd plural)
tentaremoswe will try (future of tentar)
tentávamoswe were trying / we used to try (imperfect of tentar)
nãono / not
suahis / her (feminine possessive)
assimlike this / in this way
sóonly / just / alone
nuncanever

Want audio + tap-to-translate?

The PortuStories app adds European Portuguese audio (Google's neural voice), word-by-word translation, SRS vocabulary tracking, and comprehension quizzes to every story.