Tuesday, September 24, 2013

"Assim" - how do you use it

Last night, I couldn't find a good explanation on how "assim" is used differently than "portanto".  Thankfully, this guy has a great Wordpress post on the topic.

According to On Learning Brazilian Portuguese, assim is best translated as "in this manner".  Lets test it (using random sentences from Tatoeba).

Random sentence 1

Meu irmão é muito importante. Ao menos ele pensa assim.
English translation of assim: "that he his" or "that this is true"

Random sentence 2

Ele deve estar muito bravo para dizer algo assim.
English translation of assim: "such a thing [in this way]"

Random sentence 3

Ela gostou do Charles assim que o conheceu.

English translation of assim: "as soon as"

In my mind, only example sentence 2 met the general "in this manner" definition of assim.  However, it is useful to point out that when "assim" is used with the preposition "que", that the phrase (assim + que) takes on the meaning "as soon as". Examples:


"Quero que você me escreva assim que você chegar lá." - I want you to write me as soon as you get there

"Virei assim que possível" - I will come as soon as possible

"Partiremos assim que estiver pronto" -  We will leave as soon as possible

"Eu te ligarei assim que puder" - I will call as soon as I can

When "assim" is preceded by a translation of the verb "ser", "[ser] + assim" takes a construction of "that way" or "in this way" or "in xyz manner" something happened.  (poor explanation I know)


"Foi assim que ele fracassou" - This is how he failed

"Não foi assim que aconteceu" - Thats not how it turned out
"É assim que costumo preparar peixe"  - This is usually how I cook fish
"Entendo, mas as coisas são assim"  - I understand, but this is how things are
"E assim que eu fiz" - This is how I made it

To get further help, I went to the WordReference forums.  Here's a few more great examples:

"Olha, é assim" - Look, it's like this

"Eu faço assim" - I do it like this

"É bom assim" - It's good like that
"Assim não dá" - It doesn't work like that / that way

Hope that helps.  I can tell this word will require some practice to get the loose hang of it.  Here's a Brazilian podclass that also addresses "assim".  




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