Como falo em inglês: conhecido, colega, um cara do trabalho

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

May 07
Como falo em inglês conhecido, colega, um cara do trabalho

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Hi, how are you? Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre palavras relacionadas a relacionamentos de amizade e profissionais em inglês.

Transcrição

Hello. What’s up? Nothing much? Well, today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app.

So you know the difference between “um amigo” and “um conhecido, um cara que eu conheço”, right? That’s the difference between a friend and someone you know. Some guy you know. He’s not really a friend… you wouldn’t probably invite him to your birthday party or to your wedding, you wouldn’t give him a call and say “Let’s go see a movie” ’cause he’s just an acquaintance. A-c-q-u-a-i-n-t-a-n-c-e. An acquaintance is someone you know, maybe a friend of a friend, maybe someone that goes to the same school as you, maybe someone who goes to the same church, or club, who you kinda know… but you guys haven’t developed a close relationship. I think you know what I’m talking about. Everyone can think of people in their lives who are not really close friends, but acquaintances.

So you could say, “Oh, Mary? We’re not that close; she’s an acquaintance. We were introduced by a mutual friend and I never saw her again until today”. So Mary isn’t a close friend, she’s just someone you kinda know; she’s an acquaintance. Sometimes you and your acquaintances have mutual friends, right? Maybe you and your siblings have mutual friends. You know, you and your sisters and brothers. In my case… my cousin and I have a few mutual friends. My cousin introduced me to a few different people, and I ended up befriending some of them. For example: my cousin is friends with Maria. She introduced me to Maria, and Maria and I became friends. So my cousin and I now have a mutual friend – Maria. So, tell me: do you and your relatives have mutual friends?

Now, when we say colleagues, that’s more about professional relationships. A colleague may be someone who works with you, but very often there’s some sort of fellowship between you and a colleague: you’re in the same field of work, or in the same department, or you’re both professors at some school and so on. A colleague is not necessarily a friend. In Brazil we use the word “colega” meaning a professional relationship, I guess, but we also use “coleguinha de escola” for kids, right?  In this case, it’s more about friendship; but not so in English. When you say “my colleagues” you’re referring to people who work with you, or have the same profession, or are in the same field. Of course, a colleague can become a friend. For example, a professor might say “Dr. Howard was an esteemed colleague and friend…”

They're coworkersNow, when you talk about a coworker – that’s a bit more specific than ‘colleague’. A coworker is someone who works with you and you guys are probably in the same building and have some kind of regular interaction. Coworkers are people you usually see on a regular basis at the office; you have lunch with your coworkers and sometimes you guys go out for a drink after work. You know when we wanna tell… a friend, for example, that someone at work said this or that… Here in Brazil many times we say something like “um cara lá do trabalho…” In English we could say “This guy at work said this or did that” but we could also say “my coworker said…” or “one of my coworkers did this or that”.

Can you name a few of your coworkers? What about a few acquaintances? Some of my neighbors are just acquaintances of mine. What are your examples for these words? Let us know and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

  • acquaintance
  • colleague
  • mutual friend
  • coworker

 

Glossary

someone you kinda know = alguém que você não conhece direito

siblings = irmãos, irmãs

fellowship = uma relação baseada em interesses comuns (profissionais, por exemplo)

Ana
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Gerusa 22/11/2019

This is a very good podcast. I’ll use it to create a quiz for my students. Thanks a lot!

CCllaro 09/06/2013

Very good this podcast, very clear explanations and without ado.

MARIA DENISE 20/05/2013

HI , ANA..!!
CAN I USE FELLOWSHIP FOR SAY (COMPANHEIRISMO) ??

Wilson 17/05/2013

Hello, Ana.

Great podcast, as usual.

Ana’, l’d like to hear from you a podcast about this phrase “if you will”, as in this example:

I think you’re going to understand a lot of what we’re saying, you know so, i mean we’re going to keep doing the dialogue and all that stuff, but for this one it’s just going to be sort of an off-the-cuff chat, a hangout IF YOU WILL, we’re going to teach some terms along the way and it’s going to be the real story that really nobody else including our parents and friends, nobody really knows, we’ve never told it to anyone so we’re just going to kind of talk about what we’ve really been doing all these years and how it actually is behind the scenes.

Once again, thank you very much for this podcast.

Nivea Slva 16/05/2013

Hi
I guess very interesting this text about friend, acquaintance, colleague, teaching the difference between its. Very good. I’m loving these post Inglês Online. Thanks so much. We can learn different form. I’ve learned English a long time, but I’d want to learn speak, write and listen very well. Very good! Thank you.
Bye, Nivea

Débora 13/05/2013

I must say that all my neighbors are just acquaintances of mine.

Suellen 09/05/2013

I love your podcast !!!

jorge de jesus 08/05/2013

i like speak inglish

Alex Sandro 08/05/2013

Great podcast as usual! That´s a great subject! I did a exchange and i did thousands of acquaintances that was in the exchange as well and thats not bad, i mean, acquaintances are great to spend time in a pub or some places like that.

    Ana 08/05/2013

    Hi Alex – agreed.. Sometimes we spend time with people we barely know and it’s a great time…

Cléber Rodrigues 08/05/2013

Hi Ana, great very good the podcasts!!!!!!

carla 08/05/2013

Hello Ana,

I love your podcasts. I think that they are help me a lot to practice English.
You have a very nice voice (can i say that?). In january I saw one podcast and them i went to onether city and them i talk a little english. The podcast was about we talk…and he says l gimme five and my friends dont understand. hahaha thats was good! I can explain to my friend what the guy want with the phrase “gimme five”. Thanks

I missed your exercícios de compreensão de texto.

Kisses

    Ana 08/05/2013

    Hi Carla,
    You can say that – and thanks :)
    And congratulations on your learning!

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