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Pedir Tempo Livre no Trabalho

Asking for time off · a free Portuguese (Portugal) immersion capsule

10 sentences10 wordsreadinggrammar pattern5 exercises
Section 1

Useful sentences · 10

Phrases you'll actually use today. Tap Explain for the why behind each one.

01

Gostaria de pedir uma semana de férias no mês de agosto.

I would like to request a week of vacation in the month of August.

Literal I-would-like of ask a week of vacations in-the month of August.

Uses 'gostaria de' (conditional of 'gostar') as a polite way to express a request, equivalent to 'I would like to'. It is the standard opener for formal workplace requests in European Portuguese.

  • 'Gostaria de' is the conditional tense of 'gostar de', used to make polite requests rather than direct demands.
  • 'Pedir' means 'to ask for / to request'; combined with 'gostaria de' it creates a professional, measured tone.
02

Seria possível falar consigo sobre as minhas férias anuais?

Would it be possible to speak with you about my annual leave?

Literal Would-be possible to-speak with-you about the my vacations annual?

'Seria possível' (would it be possible) is a very polite conditional opener for making workplace requests. 'Consigo' is the formal second-person pronoun meaning 'with you', standard in European Portuguese.

  • 'Seria possível + infinitive' forms a polite conditional request; 'seria' is the conditional of 'ser'.
  • 'Consigo' = 'with you' (formal); used in European Portuguese when addressing a superior or stranger formally.
03

Preciso de tirar alguns dias de licença por motivos familiares.

I need to take a few days of leave for family reasons.

Literal I-need of take some days of leave for reasons family.

'Preciso de' (I need to) expresses direct necessity. In European Portuguese, 'precisar de + infinitive' always keeps the 'de', unlike Brazilian Portuguese which often drops it.

  • European Portuguese requires 'precisar de + infinitive'; omitting 'de' sounds Brazilian or informal.
  • 'Tirar licença' or 'tirar dias de licença' = to take leave; 'licença' covers both sick leave and personal leave.
04

Tenho uma emergência familiar e não consigo vir trabalhar amanhã.

I have a family emergency and I cannot come to work tomorrow.

Literal I-have an emergency family and not I-manage to-come to-work tomorrow.

'Não consigo' (I cannot manage to) expresses genuine inability and sounds more natural in urgent situations than 'não posso'. 'Vir trabalhar' means 'to come to work'.

  • 'Não consigo + infinitive' signals inability; it is more emphatic than 'não posso' and implies the obstacle is real.
  • 'Vir trabalhar' = to come to work; no preposition joins the two infinitives in this collocation.
05

Gostaria de saber quais são os feriados da empresa este ano.

I would like to know what the company holidays are this year.

Literal I-would-like of know which are the holidays of-the company this year.

Reuses the polite 'gostaria de' pattern, this time to request information about the company calendar. 'Feriados' refers to public holidays, distinct from 'folgas' (personal days off).

  • 'Quais são' = 'which are / what are', used before plural nouns to ask for a list.
  • 'Feriados' are official public holidays; 'folgas' are individual non-working days — these are not interchangeable.
06

Preferia trabalhar a partir de casa nas próximas duas semanas.

I would prefer to work from home for the next two weeks.

Literal I-would-prefer to-work from home in-the next two weeks.

'Preferia' is the imperfect/conditional of 'preferir', used to state a preference diplomatically. 'A partir de casa' is a natural European Portuguese expression for working remotely.

  • 'Preferia' (imperfect of preferir) functions as a conditional to express polite preference without imposing.
  • 'A partir de casa' = working from home (literally 'from/starting at home'); 'teletrabalho' is also commonly used.
07

Uma vez que já concluí os projetos principais, poderia tirar sexta-feira de folga?

Since I have already completed the main projects, could I take Friday off?

Literal One time that already I-concluded the projects main, could-I take Friday of day-off?

'Uma vez que' is a formal explanatory conjunction meaning 'since / given that', appropriate in written or professional spoken requests. 'Poderia' is the conditional of 'poder', used for polite yes/no questions.

  • 'Uma vez que' = 'since / given that' — a formal conjunction that introduces justification; more formal than 'porque'.
  • 'Poderia + infinitive' = 'could I/you + verb' — polite conditional for requests or questions.
08

Enviei um email com o pedido de férias para aprovação do departamento.

I sent an email with the vacation request for departmental approval.

Literal I-sent an email with the request of vacations for approval of-the department.

Uses the pretérito perfeito 'enviei' to report a completed action. 'Pedido de férias' is the standard collocation for a formal leave request in Portuguese workplaces.

  • 'Enviei' is the first-person singular pretérito perfeito of 'enviar' (to send); this tense describes completed past actions.
  • 'Pedido de férias' = formal vacation or leave request — a fixed workplace collocation worth memorising whole.
09

Dado que a minha mãe está hospitalizada, precisaria de pelo menos três dias.

Given that my mother is hospitalized, I would need at least three days.

Literal Given that the my mother is hospitalized, I-would-need of by-the-least three days.

'Dado que' (given that) is a formal explanatory conjunction, ideal for written requests. 'Precisaria de' is the conditional of 'precisar de', expressing a polite or hypothetical need rather than a blunt demand.

  • 'Dado que' = 'given that' — more formal than 'porque'; suitable for official written communication.
  • 'Precisaria de' is the conditional of 'precisar de'; it softens the request compared to the direct 'preciso de'.
10

Agradeço a sua compreensão e fico à espera da sua resposta.

I appreciate your understanding and I look forward to your reply.

Literal I-thank the your understanding and I-stay at-the wait of-the your reply.

A polished, conventional closing for formal emails or conversations. 'Fico à espera de' is a fixed European Portuguese phrase meaning 'I await / I look forward to', and 'agradeço' (from 'agradecer') means 'I thank / I appreciate'.

  • 'Agradeço' = I thank / I appreciate — first-person singular present of 'agradecer'.
  • 'Fico à espera de' = I look forward to / I await — a fixed EP phrase for formal correspondence closings.
Section 2

New words · 10

Themed vocabulary, each with an example you can borrow.

férias

vacation / annual leave

nounfeminine plural

Marquei as férias para julho.

I booked my vacation for July.

Almost always used in the plural in Portuguese; saying 'uma féria' is not standard.

licença

leave / absence

nounfeminine

Estou de licença médica esta semana.

I am on medical leave this week.

Covers medical leave, parental leave, and other official absences.

feriado

public holiday

nounmasculine

O dia dez de junho é feriado em Portugal.

The tenth of June is a public holiday in Portugal.

Refers to nationally or locally declared holidays, not personal days off.

folga

day off

nounfeminine

Posso tirar uma folga na sexta-feira?

Can I take a day off on Friday?

pedido

request

nounmasculine

O meu pedido de férias já foi aprovado.

My vacation request has already been approved.

aprovação

approval

nounfeminine

Aguardo a sua aprovação para confirmar as datas.

I await your approval to confirm the dates.

emergência

emergency

nounfeminine

Tive uma emergência familiar ontem à tarde.

I had a family emergency yesterday afternoon.

prazo

deadline

nounmasculine

Posso tirar folga depois de entregar dentro do prazo?

Can I take time off after delivering by the deadline?

gostaria

I would like

verb (conditional)

Gostaria de marcar as férias para agosto.

I would like to schedule my vacation for August.

Conditional of 'gostar'; the go-to polite opener for requests in professional contexts.

compreensão

understanding

nounfeminine

Agradeço a sua compreensão nesta situação difícil.

I appreciate your understanding in this difficult situation.

Section 3

Short reading

A tiny story stitched from today's words. Translation is hidden, tap to peek.

A Ana trabalha numa empresa de design em Lisboa e quer pedir férias para visitar a família no Algarve. Ela envia um email ao seu chefe: «Gostaria de pedir uma semana de férias entre os dias quinze e vinte e dois de agosto. Uma vez que já concluí os projetos do trimestre, acredito que este seria um bom momento. Agradeço a sua compreensão e fico à espera da sua resposta.» O chefe responde no próprio dia, aprovando o pedido e desejando-lhe boas férias.

Sentence by sentence

Gostaria de pedir uma semana de férias

I would like to request a week of vacation

Polite conditional opener: 'gostaria de + infinitive' softens the request, making it appropriate for professional written communication.

entre os dias quinze e vinte e dois de agosto

between the fifteenth and twenty-second of August

Date range using 'entre...e...' (between...and...). Cardinal numbers are standard for dates in Portuguese: quinze = 15th, vinte e dois = 22nd.

Uma vez que já concluí os projetos do trimestre

Since I have already completed the quarter's projects

'Uma vez que' (since / given that) introduces the justification. 'Já' (already) with pretérito perfeito signals the work is done and supports the request.

acredito que este seria um bom momento

I believe this would be a good time

'Acredito que' (I believe that) + conditional 'seria' (would be) creates a diplomatic, non-pushy tone — offering reasoning rather than demanding.

Fico à espera da sua resposta

I look forward to your reply

Fixed EP closing phrase for formal emails. 'Fico à espera de' = I await / I look forward to — a natural, professional sign-off.

aprovando o pedido e desejando-lhe boas férias

approving the request and wishing her a good holiday

Two present participles ('aprovando', 'desejando') describe concurrent actions. The clitic '-lhe' in 'desejando-lhe' means 'to her/him/you', attaching to the verb in EP style.

Section 4

Pattern of the day

One grammar move, explained once, that unlocks dozens of sentences.

Polite Conditional Requests: 'Gostaria de' and 'Seria possível'

In European Portuguese professional contexts, the conditional tense signals politeness and respect. The two most useful patterns for requesting time off or any workplace favour are 'gostaria de + infinitive' (I would like to) and 'seria possível + infinitive' (would it be possible to). Both are considerably softer than the direct present tense and are strongly preferred in formal speech and writing.

[Subject +] gostaria de + infinitive  |  Seria possível + infinitive + ?

Gostaria de marcar uma reunião para amanhã.

I would like to schedule a meeting for tomorrow.

Seria possível adiar o prazo em dois dias?

Would it be possible to postpone the deadline by two days?

Gostaria de trabalhar a partir de casa na próxima semana.

I would like to work from home next week.

Seria possível confirmar a aprovação por email?

Would it be possible to confirm the approval by email?

Section 5

Mini practice · 5

Low-pressure, never graded. Just enough to make it stick.

Q1Translate to target

I would like to request a week of vacation in August.

Hint Use 'gostaria de' for a polite request.

Q2Fill in the blank

_____ possível falar consigo sobre as minhas férias anuais?

Hint Think of a polite conditional phrase meaning 'Would it be…'

Q3Translate to native

Dado que a minha mãe está hospitalizada, precisaria de pelo menos três dias.

Hint 'Dado que' introduces a reason, and 'precisaria' is the conditional of 'precisar'.

Q4Choose the best

You've finished your main projects and want Friday off. Which sentence is most appropriate to send to your manager?

Hint Look for the option that provides a reason and uses a polite conditional question.

Q5Make it polite

Rewrite this sentence to sound more polite using the conditional: 'Quero tirar alguns dias de licença por motivos familiares.'

Hint Replace 'quero' with the conditional form that means 'I would like'.

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