Is there any difference between using the "a gente" person of a verb and using "nos"? Everyone has told me they are "pretty much" or "just about" the same but is there a difference in register (written v spoken) or politeness, or perhaps the people who are included? Some languages distinguish between a "we" including the interlocutor and one not.
Also, do they say "a gente" in Portugal?
And lastly how is "a gente" meaning "we" distinguished from it meaning "the people"?
In Brazil, 'a gente' is more informal than 'nós'. Context will make it clear - and there are other words that can be used for 'people', such as 'povo' and 'pessoas', depending on the situation. 'A gente' is also used in Portugal.
In Portugal, 'a gente' meaning we or us, is quite uncommon . In fact it may be a brasileirismo, picked up in Portugal from tv and songs. Certainly it's used in Portugal to mean people in a general sense, and 'toda a gente' is the standard phrase for "everyone".
I don't suppose there's a great deal of difference between everyone is upset by rising prices, and people are upset by rising prices.
Callidus, I should have been clearer. I've heard Portuguese in London use 'a gente' but that could well be due to Brazilian influence - I had always presumed it was common in Portugal too.
Thanks very much all.
Callidus, no but there is quite a difference between " we are upset by rising prices" and " people are upset by rising prices".
If a Brazilian said "A gente e chateado por o aumento dos precos" (with the accents) would you assume that it meant "we", and if you wanted it to mean "people" would it be better to use pessoas or o povo?
Thanks again.
Yes, I agree the Brazilian phrase is ambiguous, but I'm sure it would be understood in conversation. In writing, something else may be preferable.
I hope you don't resent the following corrections. Sem querer ofender.
Por o should be pelo, but in fact the more usual preposition following chateado/a is com. Portuguese prepositions are as erratic as English. Since a gente is feminine, and the state of being annoyed is not inherent, the verb is estar and the adjective ends with a.
In Portugal, A gente está chateada com... would be taken as meaning 'people are annoyed with'. 'Estamos chateados com' means we are annoyed with. The nós is optional. To say 'We’re all annoyed with... it would be 'estamos todos chateados com...'
In the context of being annoyed, ‘pessoas’ would be unlikely, but not incorrect. O povo means the people, and as in English, can have political implications. The people are starving. In Brazil, todo mundo, means everyone, and pessoal is used colloquially for ‘all you’. Olhe pessoal! = Listen everyone! Oi pessoal = Hey you lot (a group of friends).
The main differences are:
''A gente'' is more coloquial and ''nós'' is more formal. For example, you shouldn´t write a scientific text using 'a gente'', and you will hear a lot of people using ''a gente'' to talk to each other, specially in Brasil.
Besides that, ''a gente'' is followed by the third person in the singular form, like: A gente vai morar no Brasil.
''Nós'' is followed by the third person of the plural form, like: Nós vamos morar no Brasil.
And lastly how is "a gente" meaning "we" distinguished from it meaning "the people"?
By the context, I guess.