Ask a Coworker for Help in Brazilian Portuguese — Practice

Ask for a specific kind of help

Use Você pode me ajudar com…? to ask whether someone can help you with a task. If you want a short explanation, ask Pode me mostrar como…? (Can you show me how…?). Naming the exact file, step, or question makes it easier for a coworker to respond.

You can also explain what you have already tried, so the person knows where to begin.

Agree on a time or a smaller next step

If the coworker is busy, offer a short alternative: ask when they might have a few minutes or whether they can point you to a document. This keeps the request flexible while still moving the task forward.

When the other person helps, summarize the instruction in your own words to confirm you understood it.

Remember: Explain where you are stuck, ask for one useful kind of help, and confirm the next step in your own words.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. Can you help me with this spreadsheet?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você pode me ajudar com esta planilha?

2. Can you show me how to update this report?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Pode me mostrar como atualizar esse relatório?

3. I’ve checked the data, but I haven’t found the right formula.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Já conferi os dados, mas não encontrei a fórmula certa.

4. Do you have ten minutes after the meeting?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você tem dez minutos depois da reunião?

5. If you’re busy, could you point me to an example?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Se estiver ocupado, pode me indicar um exemplo?

6. So first I update the table and then send the link.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Então primeiro eu atualizo a tabela e depois envio o link.

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Explain where you are stuck, ask for one useful kind of help, and confirm the next step in your own words.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our Ask a Coworker for Help in Brazilian Portuguese lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.