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Portuguese (Portugal)

### Setting the Scene

Glassblowing is a delicate, high-stakes art. It requires intense focus, and a single mistake can ruin a piece.

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Because the margin for error is so small, glassblowers often experience near-misses. To describe these dramatic close calls, Portuguese uses a special trick with the word *quase* (almost).

### The Emphatic "Quase que"

In Portuguese, you can add the word **que** immediately after **quase**.

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When used this way, *que* is a *partícula de realce* (an emphatic particle). It does not change the literal meaning of the sentence—both *quase* and *quase que* simply mean "almost"—but it adds stylistic flair. It highlights the shock, danger, or relief of a narrow escape.

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### Another Emphatic Tool: "É que"

This concept of a *partícula de realce* is quite common in Portuguese. Another frequent emphatic structure is **é que**. Placed immediately after a specific noun or pronoun, it puts intense focus on that word, similar to saying "is the one who" or "is what" in English.

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### More Close Calls

You will hear *quase que* very frequently in spoken Portuguese whenever someone is recounting a dramatic story or a sudden accident. Notice how it elevates the emotion in these high-heat examples:

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Emphasis with quase (quase que)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

prep

preposition

pron

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstratives and the verb to be (isto é, o, a)

Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)

Yes/no questions and question words (quem, o que)

Plural pronouns, articles, and verbs (somos, são, os, as)

Origin and possession (de, do, da)

Introductions (chamar-se)

Indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)

The verb to be for locations (estar)

Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)

Preposition for locations (em, no, na)

Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)

The verb to have (tenho, tem)

Regular -ar verbs (falar, trabalhar)

Regular -er verbs (comer, beber)

Regular -ir verbs (abrir, partir)

My, your, and our (o meu, a nossa)

His, hers, and theirs (dele, dela)

Adjective agreement and placement

Days of the week (segunda-feira)

Months of the year (janeiro)

Counting by tens to 100 (trinta, quarenta...)

Telling time (é uma, são...)

Asking about time (quando, a que horas)

The verb to go (ir)

Prepositions of direction (a, para)

Preposition a contractions (ao, à, aos, às)

Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)

Demonstratives (este, esse, aquele)

Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)

Asking which and how many (qual, quanto)

Plurals ending in -ão (-ões, -ãos, -ães)

Plurals ending in consonants (-ns, -is, -es)

The verb to like (gostar de)

The verb to need (precisar de)

The verb to want (querer)

The verb can or may (poder)

Expressing obligation (ter de)

Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)

Quantifiers (muito, pouco)

Comparatives (mais... do que, menos... do que)

Equality comparisons (tão... como)

The preposition com (comigo, contigo)

Coordinating conjunctions (e, mas, ou, porque)

The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Double negation (nunca, nada, ninguém)

Present continuous (estar a)

Near future (ir)

Past tense of regular -ar verbs

Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs

Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)

Direct object pronouns (me, te, o, a, nos, os, as)

Pronoun placement with negatives and questions

Greetings and courtesy (bom dia, obrigado)

Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)

Asking the way (à direita, sempre em frente)

Colours (vermelho, amarelo, cor-de-rosa)

Money and shopping (custar, a moeda)

Getting around (o motorista, a paragem de autocarro)

Weather and seasons (faz calor, o inverno)

Omitting the subject pronoun

Where things are: ficar (Onde fica...?)

Richer questions: que + noun and é que

Numbers above 100 (cento e vinte, mil)

First-person sound changes (durmo, prefiro)

Advice and ability: dever and saber

Asking why: porquê and porque

When one thing happens: quando-clauses

Here and there: aqui, aí, ali (cá e lá)

Formal and plural possessives: o seu, o vosso

Irregular presents: ver, vir, dar

Present irregulars

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Stem-changing reflexives

Attached object pronouns (-lo, -la, -los, -las)

Nasal attached pronouns (-no, -na, -nos, -nas)

Pronoun placement with adverbs

Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

Past tense of ter, estar, poder, and saber

Past tense of querer and vir

Past tense of ver, dar, and ler

Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)

Time elapsed in the past (há)

Question	Answer
the artisan (m)	o artesão
to blow	soprar
the bubble	a bolha
The artisan is slowly blowing the bubble.	O artesão está lentamente a soprar a bolha.
expletive que after 'quase' (emphatic particle)	que
to shatter	estilhaçar
incandescent	incandescente
He almost shattered the incandescent glass!	Ele quase que estilhaçou o vidro incandescente!
the rod	a haste
The artisan almost dropped the rod.	O artesão quase que deixou cair a haste.
to handle	manusear
the blowtorch	o maçarico
The artisan is the one who handles the blowtorch.	O artesão é que manuseia o maçarico.
The glass is so hot that it almost melted the rod!	O vidro está tão quente que quase que derreteu a haste!
to rotate	rodar
You have to rotate the piece, otherwise the heat shatters the bubble.	Tens de rodar a peça, senão o calor estilhaça a bolha.
the breath	o fôlego
I almost ran out of breath while blowing!	Eu quase que fiquei sem fôlego enquanto soprava!
Is it possible to handle incandescent glass with tweezers?	Dá para manusear vidro incandescente com a pinça?
He almost burned himself rotating the rod.	Ele quase que se queimou a rodar a haste.
The heat is what took his breath away.	O calor é que lhe tirou o fôlego.
I almost turned off the blowtorch accidentally.	Eu quase que apaguei o maçarico sem querer.