Understanding news in Portuguese: events and comments
You will pass on a short school news item to someone who has not read it. Keep the event, its source and a reader’s reaction distinct, then try the same task with another announcement.
Recover the event, time and source
A short narrative places an event in time: ontem means “yesterday”, and a completed event can use a past form such as anunciou, “announced”. To recover someone’s words, identify who supplied the information; a report does not mean you have checked it yourself. Na minha opinião means “in my opinion”, while porque gives a reason. Here you will use those familiar tools to summarize a news item rather than add your own view to the reported event.
Words for the school news
A diretora is the female school principal; um curso is a course, and uma aula is one class or lesson. Novo means “new”, gratuito means “free of charge”, and bom means “good”; being free is a reported detail, whereas calling the course good is an evaluation. Uma reunião is a meeting, escola is school, and durante a reunião means “during the meeting”. Começam means “start”, as aulas means “the classes”, na segunda-feira means “on Monday”, and na sexta-feira means “on Friday”. Curso de música is “music course”, segundo names a source, and anunciar is “to announce”; listen to the word cards and use their translations as support.
One item, then a reader’s comment
Read or listen to the first three lines together as a short news item; the last line is a reader’s comment added afterward. Who made the announcement, what was announced, and when did it happen? Anunciou is the completed past of anunciar here: the principal announced the course aloud at the meeting. Segundo a diretora attributes the free tuition to the principal, without independently confirming it. As aulas começam na segunda-feira places the start of the classes after the announcement, while na minha opinião marks the reader’s evaluation and porque introduces its reason.
Ontem, a diretora anunciou um novo curso durante a reunião.
Yesterday, the principal announced a new course during the meeting.
Segundo a diretora, o curso é gratuito.
As aulas começam na segunda-feira.
Na minha opinião, o curso é bom porque é gratuito.
In my opinion, the course is good because it is free of charge.
Focus on what was announced
Compare the two lines: after Ontem, the first has a diretora, the person acting, as its subject; the second starts with um novo curso, what was announced, as its subject. Foi anunciado means “was announced”: foi is the past auxiliary ser here, not the movement verb ir. Anunciado is the past participle of anunciar; for this verb, replace infinitive -ar with -ado, keeping the course singular and masculine in these examples. This passive pattern lets the sentence foreground the announcement without naming its maker. It reports the same announcement yesterday, not a different event or the course’s start. To preserve who made the announcement in a summary, name the principal as well.
Um novo curso foi anunciado ontem
Ontem, a diretora anunciou um novo curso durante a reunião.
Yesterday, the principal announced a new course during the meeting.
Um novo curso foi anunciado ontem durante a reunião.
Recognize a headline with se
Anuncia-se novo curso na escola means “A new course is announced at the school”. Here se helps present the course as what is announced, leaving the person making the announcement unstated; it does not mean “the course announces itself”. The headline uses the present anuncia, but the article gives the event’s date, ontem. Recognize this written headline pattern; you do not need to produce it or learn all uses of se here.
Anuncia-se novo curso na escola.
Send the essential information
Before reading the model, tell a friend who announced what and when, using only the news item’s first three lines. You can leave out the meeting detail, but keep the principal, the new course and yesterday. The two model lines keep the announcement and the attributed free tuition distinct; add the Monday start if your friend needs it. If you also want to react, add the separate line beginning na minha opinião rather than presenting good as something the principal said. A summary follows what the source says; it does not prove that source right.
Ontem, a diretora anunciou um novo curso.
Segundo a diretora, o curso é gratuito.
Try another announcement
The first two lines now form a different news item: a music course was announced on Friday during the meeting, and the principal says it is free. Without copying the earlier summary, tell a friend who announced what and when, then name the source for the cost. Next write one sentence starting with the course and using foi anunciado; compare it with the last model line afterward. That last line gives the event and time but leaves out who announced it, so it cannot by itself answer all three questions. Do not add Monday’s start to this new item: its start date is not given.
Na sexta-feira, a diretora anunciou um curso de música durante a reunião.
On Friday, the principal announced a music course during the meeting.
Segundo a diretora, o curso é gratuito.
Um curso de música foi anunciado na sexta-feira.
Keep event, source and comment distinct
For a useful news summary, find who did what and when, and retain an important source with segundo, “according to”. Foi anunciado brings the thing announced into focus; the announcement date is not automatically the course’s start date. Keep a personal evaluation such as na minha opinião separate, and check whether a new summary still answers your reader’s questions.