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| aantiix | Monday 06th of December 2004 02:19:40 PM |
| Black in Portuguese - In learning Portuguese (Brazillian) I see that Black is both preto and negro. Why two different Phrases? Are they interchangable or have slightly different meanings in certain situations? Is one more commonly used than the other? | |
| carla canivete | Thursday 09th of December 2004 05:23:56 AM |
| - Hey, Well, I'm portuguese from Portugal, not from Brasil, but I think I can try to explain some of the differences. To start with, both of them do mean black, but normally are used in different contexts. Preto is normally attached to the sense of colour ex. a black fabric, black paint, black handbag... And also, you can use it in some expressions, like "a coisa está preta", meaning "this looks nasty". Negro is used to express blackness, when you're not specifically refering to a colour. ex. the sky looks black, black as the night, ... Also, when refering to a person, preto is more blunt, and negro more polite (or at least that's how some people see it). In english it would be the difference between saying that someone is black or coloured. Does this make any sense to you? It's hard to explain, but I hope that this helped. Greets, CArla | |
| Thursday 09th of December 2004 06:13:05 AM | |
| - Yes, that is very helpful. Obrigada. | |
| aantiix | Thursday 09th of December 2004 06:13:53 AM |
| - Yes, that is very helpful... Obrigada. | |