What does “bocadinho” mean in European Portuguese?
Jogo de adivinhar personagem de filme de animação
A2 Portuguese listening practice · European Portuguese · Curated for beginners
Bocadinho (“a tiny bit”) is one of the most-used softener words in everyday European Portuguese. It’s the diminutive of bocado (“a piece, a while”), and Portuguese speakers slip it into conversation to round off any quantity: espera um bocadinho (“wait a little while”), só mais um bocadinho (“just a tiny bit more”), tens um bocadinho de tempo? (“do you have a moment?”). Brazilians have a similar word, pouquinho, but bocadinho is the EP signature.
This clip is a Portuguese family playing twenty questions about an animated-film character. When asked the character’s age, the dad answers “sim, talvez bocadinho mais” (“yes, maybe a little bit more”). The hedge is classic European Portuguese: small, polite, softening.
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Source: HermitDave OpenSubtitles 2018 (pt-PT) (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave, pt-PT) (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Portuguese family dinner conversations
- ▸In Portuguese sitcoms and dramas (Morangos com Açúcar, Cuidado com a Língua)
- ▸In Portuguese radio and podcast banter (TSF, Antena 1)
- ▸In Portuguese language-learning content (Practice Portuguese, Talk the Streets)
- ▸In Portuguese parent-and-child conversations