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Brazilian capital outlaws the use of gerunds

12:58 pm By Maegan La Mala · Brazil|language

3 Oct 2007

brazil.brasilia.jpgCan a change in the way we speak change our behavior? The capital of Brazil, Brasilia, thinks so: they’ve outlawed the use of gerunds such as “doing”, “studying”, etc. because this verb form is associated with an inefficient government:

The governor of the Federal District of Brazil, José Roberto Arruda, has ordered regional public employees to abolish the use of gerunds, a measure that he defines as a “nice” message against inefficiency.

Upon defending the decision, Arruda said that he has lost patience with some members of his own government who are always “doing”, “getting”, “studying”, “sending” or “preparing” but never finish their work or establish ways to finish it.

Local government calls the use of gerunds “a plague”, which only serves to make excuses for unsolved problems.

Meanwhile, one Brazilian university professor says that Arruda’s measure only shows that he is “profoundly ignorant about the Portuguese language“, since the gerund is a verb category that cannot be eliminated from use.

Via / 20 Minutos

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2 Responses to Brazilian capital outlaws the use of gerunds

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Louis Pagan

October 3rd, 2007 at 2:45 pm

The way you think can change your behavior. And if you are watching your tongue, then you are mindful of your thoughts. So, if everyone is serious about this then it can create a change.

The only problem is I am not sure how he is going to replace the words (gerunds), which he so loathes.

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Erwin C.

October 3rd, 2007 at 4:22 pm

A suggestion for Senhor Arruda-

pay more attention to the inept politicos that use such “inefficient” words rather than the words themselves.

Hola!

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