Hear shop substitutions without losing the request

Build a wanted–available–accepted grid

Choose a real shop exchange with a clear request and response. Clothing, food and household goods all work. Draw three boxes labelled wanted, available and accepted. The first box records the request. The second records the offer. Leave the third empty until the customer decides. This simple delay stops you from treating every item named by the assistant as something the customer buys. A product held up to the camera may be an example, not the final choice.

In the sample, the customer wants a small blue umbrella. The assistant offers a large blue one or a small black one. The final choice is not the first offer. Your task is to keep colour and size attached to the right object. Use two columns for those properties rather than writing a loose list of adjectives.

Listen for the limit in the offer

Só temos means we only have. In this setting, só limits the stock described by the assistant. Do not mistake it for a quantity of one. Já não temos means we no longer have. Ainda temos means we still have. Those small words change whether a request can be met. When checking captions, underline the whole phrase. A saved noun such as guarda-chuva will not preserve the difference between available and unavailable.

Guarda-chuva is a common Brazilian word for umbrella. In Portugal, guarda-chuva is also understood, and chapéu de chuva is common. The sample uses a form that readers can recognise across both settings. The exercise does not assume that every speaker chooses the same noun. If your video uses another term, put that term at the top of your grid.

Match pronouns to the item

O preto means the black one here. The noun is not repeated because both speakers already know that they mean an umbrella. The masculine form matches guarda-chuva. In the final turn, fico com means I will take, or I will keep, in this purchase context. Do not translate ficar with one fixed English word in every scene. Identify the decision that the phrase performs.

Play your real scene once and write each offered combination. On the next pass, listen only to the customer's decision. Join that decision to one combination with an arrow. If the final line says vou pensar, I will think about it, there may be no accepted purchase. Write undecided. A blank purchase box can be the correct result, not a failed worksheet.

Check a decision rather than a word list

We make Jibber Jabber. Word lookup in its captions can help you check an unfamiliar product or property. Use the linked vocabulary guide for a wider way to work with these phrases. The app does not confirm stock in a real shop. Keep practice content separate from information you need for an actual purchase. Prices, colours and availability can change outside a recording.

To finish, explain which original requirement the customer gives up. In our sample, the customer keeps the small size but gives up blue. This explanation checks the relationship between the alternatives. Then choose a second scene where the customer rejects all options. Compare the outcomes. The useful skill is not memorising a sale; it is hearing whether a proposal becomes a decision.

Questions & answers

Sources for this entry

• Jibber Jabber feature documentation ↗ — supports the caption and vocabulary feature statements. Checked 9 November 2026.
• Workbook method — explains our original examples, regional labels and limits. The exercises are editorial practice, not research findings or recorded transcripts.

Connected entries

• Track a changed café order in Portuguese
• Compare spoken Portuguese alternatives without choosing too soon
• Decode a Portuguese parcel collection message

Useful terms: repair, listening evidence, inference and listening task.