Hello, dear students!
Today you’re going to learn 25 essential phrases related to house chores that most Brazilians use in their daily lives.
This lesson includes a free PDF with the list of phrases you’re going to learn in this class and exercises to help you memorize this vocabulary. Click here to download your worksheet.
How to say “chores” in Brazilian Portuguese?
Let’s start by talking about how to translate the term “chores” from English to Portuguese. I think this word in English is very useful, but unfortunately, we don’t have a simple term for “chores” in Portuguese.
Online translators translate this word as “tarefas,” but we don’t use the term “tarefa” in the same way. Never trust online translators completely.
A better translation for “chores” would be “tarefas domésticas” or “afazeres domésticos.” But even so, we don’t really use these terms much in daily life.
For example, if you want to say:
I have to do some chores today.
In Portuguese, we would say:
Hoje tenho que cuidar da casa. Tenho coisas para resolver em casa. Tenho que fazer faxina, lavar roupa, etc. (Today I have to take care of the house. I have things to take care of at home. I have to clean the house, do the laundry, etc.)
Rarely will someone say:
Hoje vou fazer tarefas domésticas. (Today I’m going to do chores.)
It sounds a little artificial. But to make our communication easier, let’s say that today’s topic will be essential vocabulary related to “tarefas domésticas” (house chores).
25 Essential Phrases that Brazilian Use Every Day!
1. Fazer a cama ou arrumar a cama (Make the bed or fix the bed)
Todos os dias, eu arrumo a cama depois de me levantar. (Every day, I make the bed after I get up.)
2. Trocar os lençóis (Change the sheets)
Eu troco os lençóis uma vez por semana. (I change the sheets once a week.)
3. Colocar roupa no cesto (Put clothes in the hamper)
Eu sempre peço para meu marido colocar a roupa no cesto. (I always ask my husband to put the clothes in the hamper.)
4. Lavar roupa (Do the laundry)
Eu lavo roupa uma vez por semana. (I do the laundry once a week.)
5. Colocar roupas para lavar (Put clothes to wash)
Geralmente, eu coloco roupas para lavar enquanto eu faço outra coisa. (Usually, I put clothes to wash while I do something else.)
6. Colocar roupas para secar (Put clothes to dry)
Depois de lavar, eu coloco as roupas para secar na secadora. (After washing, I put the clothes to dry in the dryer.)
7. Pendurar roupas no varal (Hang clothes on the clothesline)
Eu penduro algumas roupas mais delicadas no varal para secar naturalmente. (I hang some more delicate clothes on the clothesline to dry naturally.)
8. Dobrar roupas (Fold clothes)
Meu marido não gosta de dobrar roupas. (My husband doesn’t like to fold clothes.)
9. Guardar roupas (Put clothes away)
Depois de dobrar as roupas, eu as guardo no guarda-roupas. (After folding the clothes, I put them away in the closet.)
10. Passar roupas (Iron clothes)
Eu não gosto de passar roupas. (I don’t like to iron clothes.)
11. Preparar o café da manhã, almoço ou jantar (Prepare breakfast, lunch, or dinner)
Meu marido prepara nosso café da manhã todos os dias. (My husband prepares our breakfast every day.)
12. Lavar a louça (Wash the dishes)
Eu lavo a louça após cada refeição. (I wash the dishes after every meal.)
13. Colocar a louça na máquina de lavar louça (Put the dishes in the dishwasher)
Eu coloco a louça suja na máquina de lavar louça todas as noites. (I put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher every night.)
14. Guardar a louça (Put the dishes away)
Depois de secar a louça, eu a guardo no armário da cozinha. (After drying the dishes, I put them away in the kitchen cabinet.)
15. Limpar a casa ou a cozinha (Clean the house or the kitchen)
Eu limpo a cozinha regularmente. (I clean the kitchen regularly.)
16. Arrumar ou organizar a casa ou a cozinha (Tidy up or organize the house or the kitchen)
Eu arrumo a cozinha todas as noites depois do jantar. (I tidy up the kitchen every night after dinner.)
17. Fazer faxina (Do a deep cleaning)
A nossa faxineira faz uma faxina na casa uma vez por semana. (Our house cleaner does a deep cleaning of the house once a week.)
18. Varrer o chão (Sweep the floor)
Meu marido varre o chão do terraço no verão. (My husband sweeps the terrace floor in the summer.)
19. Passar aspirador (Vacuum)
A faxineira passa aspirador na casa toda semana. (The house cleaner vacuums the whole house every week.)
20. Passar pano no chão (Mop the floor)
Nós passamos pano no chão da cozinha toda semana. (We mop the kitchen floor every week.)
21. Tirar o lixo (Take out the trash)
Meu marido tira o lixo da cozinha toda segunda-feira. (My husband takes out the kitchen trash every Monday.)
22. Levar o lixo para fora (Take the trash outside)
Meu marido leva o lixo para fora uma vez por semana. (My husband takes the trash outside once a week.)
23. Colocar a lata de lixo na rua (Put the trash can on the street)
Meu marido coloca a lata de lixo na rua para coleta de lixo uma vez por semana. (My husband puts the trash can on the street for garbage collection once a week.)
24. Regar ou aguar as plantas (Water the plants)
Meu marido rega as plantas regularmente. (My husband waters the plants regularly.)
25. Fazer compras no supermercado (Go grocery shopping)
Nós fazemos compras no supermercado uma ou duas vezes por semana. (We go grocery shopping once or twice a week.)
Free PDF!
Remember that this lesson includes a free PDF with all the phrases and examples that I used in this class, and exercises to help you memorize this vocabulary. Click here to download your worksheet.
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