Como digo em inglês: Não pode ser, só pode ser

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

Mar 28
Como digo em inglês Não pode ser, só pode ser

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O podcast de hoje fala sobre “Só pode ser… “ e “Não pode ser…”

Transcrição

Hey, how’s it going? This is Ana Luiza with a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

In this podcast I’m gonna talk about a couple of simple expressions, very simple… And these expressions are somewhat related. So I’m going to make up a little story so that I can use all the expressions in the context of this story. It’s a silly story… It’s very silly, but bear with me.

Imagine this: you are watching a reality show on TV, but it has only one episode, OK? It’s like a game, or a quick competition, and this is how it works: there’s a group of people… Let’s say five people, men and women, and one of them is actually an extra-terrestrial, OK? One of them is not from planet Earth. But no one knows who the extra-terrestrial is, and the first person to figure that out will win a big prize.

So let’s say the contestants’ names are Sara, Mike, Jennifer, Brad and Anna. One of these people is not a human being, and someone has to figure that out in order to win the big prize. The extra-terrestrial looks like a human being, so it’s not that easy to figure out who the ET is.

And these five people are hanging out in this very nice house, and you and your friend are watching them on TV. And, of course, you guys are very curious. The two of you wanna know which one is the creature from outer space. When you start watching the show, you notice that they all look human. You know, they look like regular men and women. However, the host of the show explains that, although they LOOK like regular human beings,  if you pay close attention to their behavior you will be able to identify the extra-terrestrial.

So you and your friend are glued to the TV for hours. You guys are watching these people, trying to notice any strange behaviors, or just anything that would give away who the ET is. And… you start noticing that there’s something unusual about one of the contestants, Jennifer. You think you saw her lifting a cup without touching it. That’s right, she didn’t grab the cup with her hand. She just placed her hand right above the cup, and the cup kinda jumped into her hand! So you say to your friend “I know who the extra-terrestrial is. I definitely know.”

And your friend then says “I know too. It can only be Mike”. So you and your friend disagree, of course. You think it’s Jennifer, but he is sure it’s Mike. He said “It can only be Mike”. That means that your friend thinks there is no other possibility. “It can only be Mike” means Mike is the only possibility. He’s the one. In Portuguese we might say “Só pode ser o Mike”. It can only be Mike.

And you say “I disagree! It can’t be Mike.” It can’t be Mike. You think there’s no way it’s Mike. It can’t be Mike. Mike? That’s not possible! There’s only one ET and you’re almost 100% sure it’s Jennifer. So, it can’t be Mike. In Portuguese, we would say “Não pode ser o Mike!” It can’t be Mike. And your friend continues: “It has to be Mike! He has super powers! He lifted that heavy rock with no one else’s help!” And you say “Well, that makes him Superman, but he’s not the ET. It’s Jennifer! It has to be Jennifer.”

So ‘it can only be’, ‘it can’t be’, ‘it has to be’… Here’s another example: you and your friend are hosting a party. The doorbell rings and you say “Oh, it has to be Melissa. She’s the only one missing’. And your friend says “No, it can’t be Melissa… She’s out of town’. It can’t be her… It can’t be Melissa. Why not? Because she’s out of town.

And one more: you ask your friend to buy you whole wheat flour. Your friend comes back with white flour and you say “Oh no! It can’t be white flour! It has to be whole wheat flour! The recipe won’t work with white flour” It can’t be white flour. It has to be whole wheat flour. Alright, that’s it! Enjoy the website and talk to you next time.

Key expressions

  • It can only be
  • It can’t be
  • It has to be

Glossary

somewhat = um pouco

are somewhat related = tem a ver um pouco uma com a outra

make up a story = inventar uma história

bear with me = essa frase é usada quando você quer pedir paciência à pessoa que está te escutando, pois o que você diz pode não fazer muito sentido no início, etc. É como “guenta mão”.

host = apresentador

glued to the tv = de olho grudado na tv

oddly = de maneira estranha

that makes him Superman = (lit.) isso faz dele o Super homem

the only one missing = a única que falta

out of town = viajando (lit. ‘fora da cidade’)

whole wheat flour = farinha de trigo integral

white flour = farinha (normalmente de trigo) branca

Ana
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Marília 06/07/2011

Ana Luiza.. You’re a very talented teacher .. You impress me every time. Congrats and keep up!

Ana Luiza 11/04/2011

Oi Julio – fico feliz de saber q aproveita!
Pra mim, não há diferença nenhuma – não sei o q um livro c/ os fonemas diria, mas na prática não percebo diferença.

Julio Cesar 11/04/2011

Hi Ana Luiza,
q ótimo trabalho hein?
Sempre acompanho o teu podcast e adoro!!!

Eu gostaria que me respondesse uma coisa:
tem diferença na pronúncia de flour para flower? Parecem iguais para mim.
Até mais.

Ana Luiza 11/04/2011

@ Cristiano – you may be right! A historinha estranha talvez ajude.
@ Debora – you’re very welcome. Enjoy smile
@ Isaque – olá! aproveite mesmo.. tem muita coisa.. bjão
@ Rubio- thanks!

Rubio 11/04/2011

Thanks, now I can say I have figured out an inteligent english course.

Isaque Batera 08/04/2011

OI Ana,
Sua irmã Cristina indicou este Site.
Gostei muito, Parabens. Vou continuar acompanhando ao material. Muito legal. Bjo.

dbarboni 08/04/2011

Hi Ana Luiza, how are you?
Congratulations for your website. There are many tips and interesting topics with clear explanations.
Keep going with this good job, because you help many people.I always listen to your podcasts
Thank you, very much!

Cristiano Tavares 06/04/2011

Ana Luiza,

Parabéns pelo site, muito bom mesmo! Gostei desse podcast, a história é um tanto surreal mas muito útil para o aprendizado e fixação de novas expressões e palavras. Acredito que o fato de a história ser exótica contribui justamente para a memorização de novo vocabulário. Além disso o texto é de leitura agradável, parabéns.

Ana Luiza 05/04/2011

@ Vera Graña: have you sent me a message that I missed? I’m doing the best I can to get to all messages—sometimes I miss a few smile

Ana Luiza 05/04/2011

Hi everyone! I’m back and I’m reading your comments right now.

Thanks for writing and.. haha, I made up the ET story smile so it can be whoever you like (ele/ela pode ser quem vc quiser)

Gosto bastante de saber que vocês estão aproveitando. Essas expressões “it can’t be”, “it can only be”, etc… são consideradas ‘básicas’, mas até elas estarem ‘rolling off our tongue naturally’ (saindo da nossa boca com naturalidade), ainda não ficaram básicas demais pra gente.

Janaina 04/04/2011

I liked this podcast!thanks!

Juliana 31/03/2011

Olá Ana!!
Eu nunca consigo baixar o audio, apenas o pdf. Há outra maneira de você postar o audio?

Thanks!

Tácio 30/03/2011

Hello. What a nice place for learning english. You really make a great job. I could to listening to you all the time ‘cause I loved your voice.

Hete Correia Silva 30/03/2011

I want to know who the ET was.

Marcelo 30/03/2011

Opss… desculpem-me pela tentativa de assassinato do português.. deve ser o conflito do inglês.. rss

Marcelo 30/03/2011

Ola ana, boa noite.. parabéns pelo site… ja há um tempinho venho estudando através dele… tenho uma pergunta: se estou conseguindo entender 90% dos seus podcast que vc postou, significa que já estou com nível intermediário em listening?? obrigado até..

Vera Graña 30/03/2011

Hi Ana Luiza:

By the way Do you see all these mesages, have we sent you?

Actually who was the ET, I’ve got the use of it can’t be….. but I didn’t make up who was the ET?
Hugs

Rafaela Cristina Gonçalves dos Santos 30/03/2011

hello nossa esse sate é muito bem explicado eu amo INGLÊS por que a minha ticher ANA CAROLINA da aula no sesi 349 de Araçatuba e ela me ensinou a gostar cada vez mais do Inglês e ela passou esse site para todos os alunos visitar yes rsrsrsrsr

Maysa 30/03/2011

amazing.

Trak Trak Trugui 29/03/2011

Wow!! awesome wink
This way is very easy to learn.

Glau Ribeiro 29/03/2011

It can only be Ana Luiza to make a great podcast like this!

But… who was the ET?

wink

Joy 29/03/2011

Very Good! Great.

magda 29/03/2011

Muito bem explicado.  Quem seria o Et?  Fiquei curiosa. rsrsrs.

Roger Mota 28/03/2011

Hello,,, it was a very good explanaition!!!
Great, thanks

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