How’s it going? Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre o uso da expressãozinha as though em inglês.

Transcrição

Hi, everyone. Today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone and iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app.

Today let me give you examples of how to use the expression “as though”. Do you recognize those sounds, especially the last one? “Though” is spelled t-h-o-u-g-h. Listen again: though. We can use “as though” in many ways: It’s as though, It sounds as though, It was as though and the list goes on. Now, what does that mean? The title of this podcast sort of gives it away. Here’s an example: Mary has a three-year old boy. She says that, sometimes, it’s as though she has two children.

Listen again: Mary has a three-year old boy. She says that, sometimes, it’s as though she has two children. How many kids does Mary have? Just one. She has a three-year old boy. However, she says that sometimes it’s as though she has two children. What does that mean? That probably means that she has a very active child; maybe… maybe Mary’s son is a handful! When someone is a handful, that means that person is difficult to manage, or that they get themselves in trouble a lot, or maybe they have a difficult personality, or they demand a lot of attention all the time. If you’re responsible for looking after a kid who’s a handful, you’ll probably be very busy; too busy to take care of anything else. Do you know anyone who’s a handful? I think I know a few kids who are a handful.

But anyway, back to our example: Mary’s kid is probably a handful, so it feels as though she has two children, and not one. It is as though she has two children, and not one. How would we say that in Portuguese? We could say “A Mary tem um filho, mas é como se fossem dois”. We could also say “A Mary tem um filho só, mas parece dois”. It’s as though she has two children. I live in a big city but on Sundays it’s as though I’m in a small town. São Paulo is a huge city. During the week there’s a lot of car traffic in my neighborhood… it’s really noisy and crowded. On Sundays, though… sometimes, in the afternoon, it’s as though I’m in a small town. Very few cars driving by, only a few people on the street, all very quiet. It is as though I live in a small town. I have a dog, but sometimes I feel as though I have a cat. Why? Because my dog is very quiet and she enjoys being on her own a lot. It’s as though I have a cat.

Last night I walked into a room full of flowers. The scent was unbelievable. It was as though someone had sprayed ten bottles of perfume around the room. Since I’m talking about a smell, or a scent, I could say “The room smelled as though someone had sprayed ten bottles of perfume inside it”. Ok, and who knows what it feels like when you overeat? You know, when you’re not even hungry anymore but you keep eating, and then your belly hurts? So here’s another example: last Saturday Tom had feijoada, then a steak with fries. Ice cream for dessert. He felt as though he was going to explode afterwards. How about this one? Yesterday I tried to lift a suitcase but it was too heavy and I just gave up. My dad then lifted the suitcase with such ease… It was as though the suitcase was full of feathers. It was as though the suitcase wasn’t heavy at all!

So you have probably noticed that we can use “as though” in combination with many different words.  If we’re listening to someone talk about how they spent...