dar cartas

Portuguese

Etymology

Literally, “to give cards”.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈda(ʁ) ˈkaʁ.tɐs/ [ˈda(h) ˈkah.tɐs]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈda(ʁ) ˈkaʁ.tɐs/ [ˈda(h) ˈkah.tɐs]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈda(ɾ) ˈkaɾ.tɐs/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈda(ʁ) ˈkaʁ.tɐʃ/ [ˈda(χ) ˈkaχ.tɐʃ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈda(ɻ) ˈkaɻ.tas/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈdaɾ ˈkaɾ.tɐʃ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈdaɾ ˈkaɾ.tɐʃ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈda.ɾi ˈkaɾ.tɐʃ/

Verb

dar cartas (first-person singular present dou cartas, first-person singular preterite dei cartas, past participle dado cartas)

1. (Portugal, idiomatic) to be skilled in

   Ela dá cartas no futebol. ― She's skilled in football.

   Pensei que ele era mau a xadrez, mas ele até dá algumas cartas. ― I thought he was bad at chess, but he's actually somewhat skilled.

Usage notes

• The degree of skill can be quantified, using quantifiers on the number of cards. So dar muitas cartas (literally, “gives many cards”) means to be very skilled, while dar algumas cartas (literally, “gives some cards”) means to be somewhat skilled, and não dá cartas (literally, “doesn't give cards”) means to be unskilled.