“Poder” and “Conseguir”: A Study on their Usage by Learners of Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract In this paper, we study the use of the verbs “poder” and “conseguir” among basic level learners of Portuguese as a foreign language. These verbs in context are discussed from a semantic-pragmatic perspective, in the light of modal theories such as those of Kratzer (1977; 1981; 1991; 2008; 2012) and others, as well as the classical notions of “accomplishment” and “achievement”, according to Vendler (1957; 1967), Dowty (1979), Abusch (1985) and Smith (1997). Since the Brazilian-Portuguese (BP) and South American Spanish language pairs differ in several aspects, the objective is to verify wether or not non-facilitative transfer from Spanish to Portuguese occurs, according to Cabrelli et al. (2020). By analyzing the occurrences of these verbs in oral speech during classroom moments, the study suggests the possibility of adopting practices to raise awareness of these differences between BP and Spanish so that learners can use these forms appropriately according to their context of use.摘要 本文以葡萄牙语作为外语的基础阶段学习者为研究对象，探讨其对动词poder与conseguir的使用行为。本文结合Kratzer（1977、1981、1991、2008、2012）等人的情态理论，以及Vendler（1957、1967）、Dowty（1979）、Abusch（1985）与Smith（1997）提出的“完结事件（accomplishment）”与“达成事件（achievement）”的经典概念，从语义-语用视角对这两个动词的语境用法展开分析。鉴于巴西葡萄牙语（Brazilian-Portuguese, BP）与南美西班牙语在诸多维度存在差异，本研究依据Cabrelli等（2020）的研究成果，旨在验证是否会发生西班牙语向葡萄牙语的非促进性迁移（non-facilitative transfer）。通过分析课堂口语场景中这两个动词的使用实例，本研究提出可通过相关教学实践，帮助学习者提升对巴西葡萄牙语与西班牙语之间差异的认知，使其能够结合具体使用语境恰当地运用这两类动词。