Defending a joint decision in Portuguese

Level B2

Defending a joint decision in Portuguese

Bruno and Ana are planning their building’s first book swap; Carla cannot attend the discussion. You will connect a room notice with a residents’ survey, adjust a proposal and send Carla an accurate record. The sources and figures are fictional practice material, not a claim about real residents.

Words for one shared decision

Sala de convivência is the building’s common room; pesquisa is a survey here, livros books and limpeza cleaning. The same room, people and sources stay in view throughout the model.

Recover the tools before combining them

Embora o horário seja possível means although the schedule is possible: acknowledge that point before naming the problem; embora introduces a clause with seja here, whereas apesar de can precede a noun. Precisamos de meia hora means we need half an hour; turn that concrete need into a feasible change, not a threat. Com base no aviso e na preferência means based on the notice and the preference, keeping the two sources distinct.

State the proposal, its reason and what remains uncertain; a preference does not establish attendance. Speak cooperatively to a partner, then make the written record explicit for an absent reader; no new verb paradigm is required.

Two sources with different limits

Aviso da administração is a building management notice; disponível means available, sábado Saturday, das duas às cinco da tarde from 2 to 5 p.m., and sem som amplificado without amplified sound. Moradores are residents; dezoito is eighteen, doze twelve, presença attendance and ainda sem confirmação not yet confirmed. The notice gives the permitted room window and sound condition; the survey gives a preference of twelve among eighteen respondents, not twelve confirmed guests. Listen to both source cards for understanding; their wording is not a production target.

Model: a proposal changes through discussion

Speaker a is Bruno and b is Ana: listen to all six turns as one exchange. Troca de livros is a book swap, horário a time slot, possível possible, meia hora half an hour, tarde demais too late, ajuste adjustment and terminar finish. Bruno proposes 2–5 p.m.; Ana accepts its possibility but objects that cleaning needs thirty minutes, so Bruno changes the finishing time to 4:30. Ana accepts the change while limiting what the survey proves; they then divide the work.

Notice that five o’clock is the room deadline, while four thirty becomes the event’s finishing time; the extra thirty minutes are Ana’s practical requirement, not a figure from the survey.

Make the counterproposal solve the objection

Proponho + infinitive, as in proponho terminar, means I propose doing something; com meia hora para a limpeza states the condition that makes the plan work. The template’s ação and condição mean action and condition: replace them with a feasible action and its practical condition. Então connects the new proposal to the objection; repeating the original plan would not answer it. In às quatro e meia, meia refers to half an hour; das duas às cinco gives a from–to interval with the understood feminine horas.

Proponho a ação, com a condição.

Confirm both the adjustment and the work

Concordo com esse ajuste means I agree with that adjustment; mas uma preferência não é confirmação de presença keeps agreement separate from evidence. Certo and combinado acknowledge the arrangement, um teste is a trial, confirmo a reserva I confirm the booking, até sexta by Friday, aviso os moradores I let the residents know, na sexta on Friday and faço a limpeza I do the cleaning. Here fazemos, confirmo, aviso and faço refer to planned actions, although their forms are present tense; the context supplies the future time. Bruno undertakes the booking, and Ana undertakes notifying people and cleaning; their two occurrences of eu name different speakers.

A record Carla can understand without being there

Read the three lines as one message to Carla: the agreed action and limits, the two attributed reasons, then responsibility and deadlines. Decidimos fazer means we decided to do; segundo o aviso and segundo a pesquisa mean according to the notice and according to the survey, and podemos usar means we can use. The source is named at each change of evidence, so availability is not presented as a survey result. Bruno confirma and Ana avisa… faz replace the conversation’s eu with names; the shorter event leaves time for Ana to finish cleaning by five. The sound restriction comes from the notice and still applies, even though the speakers do not repeat it in every turn.

Negotiate, then write for the absent reader

Before rereading the model, take one minute to note each source’s fact and limit. With a partner, or changing roles alone, negotiate for 60–90 seconds: propose a book swap, raise the cleaning objection, adjust the time, confirm what the survey does not prove and assign the work. Then write Carla a connected message of about 60–80 Portuguese words with the decision, attributed reasons, names, room condition and deadlines; use the record above to check after writing. You may reformulate slowly and choose different workable details, provided you identify them as your agreement rather than source facts.

New information for another Saturday

Outro sábado is another Saturday; só das nove ao meio-dia means only from nine in the morning to noon, entrega da sala limpa handing back the clean room, nova new, oito de dez eight out of ten, manhã morning and nenhum dado no data. Read the new notice and survey, without carrying over the old afternoon preference or the twelve-out-of-eighteen figure. The new notice requires a clean room at noon; the survey still gives no attendance information.

Transfer: negotiate with the changed evidence

For this new task, keep the practical requirement of thirty minutes for cleaning and use only the two new source cards for the room window and preference. Take two minutes to prepare, then negotiate another 60–90 second exchange: propose a morning slot, object to finishing at noon, make a workable counterproposal and distribute the work with an agreed notification deadline. A partner should ask one unprepared question about the evidence or responsibilities; alone, pause and answer what is still unknown. Write a new 60–80 word message to Carla, naming the two sources and the people responsible; keep your chosen details distinct from the sources. Check that the room is clean by noon, the event ends by 11:30 if cleaning follows it, eight of ten stays eight of ten, and nobody promises eight participants.

A decision that remains traceable

Proponho puts an option forward; embora acknowledges a point without cancelling the objection, and então proponho changes the plan in response. Concordo and combinado confirm the agreement, not the truth of every possible inference. In the written synthesis, segundo names the source, decidimos names the decision, and people plus deadlines make the follow-up clear to someone who missed the discussion.

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