What does “bocadinho” mean in European Portuguese?
Jogo de adivinhar personagem de filme de animação
A2 Portuguese listening practice · European Portuguese · Picked for people who know a little
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.
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A2 Portuguese listening practice video?
How common in written Portuguese
How common in spoken Portuguese
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: HermitDave OpenSubtitles 2018 (pt-PT) (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave, pt-PT) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸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