Alternation “nós” / “a gente”
(Nós and a gente are both ways of saying ‘we’ in Portuguese.)
The percentages of usage indicate that the substitution of nós for a gente still haven’t reached the level of formal speech, to the point that they have in informal speech. In the decade of the ’90′s, the use of a gente within Rio de Janeiro reached 75% and amongst the youth, a staggering 90%. This fact suggests an accelerated substitution of nós for a gente in the last 20 years.
Recife
a gente – 37%
nós – 63%
Salvador
a gente – 37%
nós – 63%
Rio de Janeiro
a gente – 59%
nós – 41%
São Paulo
a gente – 36%
nós – 64%
Porto Alegre
a gente – 28%
nós – 72%
This information is an excerpt taken from a purchased book called “Como falam os brasileiros.” (“How the Brazilians Speak”). The research was published in 1998.
ahahhah, adoorei este site.
aqui na minha cidade, Sorocaba, interior de São paulo, falam muuuito a gente, quando corretamente conjugado tudo bem, agora a gente vai, ninguém merece ! Hahahahahah
beeeijos
This is great – I popped “a gente vs. nos” into google and this came right up. Actually, I was wondering if there is an inclusive/exclusive factor tied up with the formal/informal nuance. For example, do people tend to use “a gente” when they want to say something like “we, including you”? Just curious…
Good question. I have used it to mean “we” (Americans, even though I was the only one within a group) even though it was jokingly mistaken as though I were referring to “we, including you all” (the others around me at that moment). My usage is pretty much purely “a gente” and I would guess I picked it up via hearing it so much from regular people. I rarely hear “nós” anymore.
Nós sabemos que esta pesquisa é de 1998 e, por isso talvez os resultados já não sejam fiés a realidade.
A gente sabe . . .
O que importa é comunicar, né não?
Lana ;)
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The brazilian Portuguese is more and more informal, but it’s normal.