# te amo muito, viu?



## bluetart2

Hi,
Te amo muito, viu?!!! was written on a birthday card. I know te amo muito means I love you vey much, but what does it mean with viu at the end? Isn't viu a past tense of ver(to see)?
Thanks,
Bluetart2


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## Denis555

Welcome to the forums!
Yes, literally it is the past tense of "ver". So "viu?" means "have you seen it?" But in this case it's used as a kind of "question tag", but it's more in the sense of "Pay attention to what I'm saying".

Te amo muito, viu? = I love you very much/so much, do you know that?


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## Macunaíma

There is this old samba composed by Paulinho da Viola and beautifully interpreted by Marisa Monte called_ Desilusão_ in which she says _",viu?"_ a couple of times. Coincidentally, I was just listening to it. In the song it means something like _"you know what I mean?"_.


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## bluetart2

Thanks a lot.
Bluetart2


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## doido4181

You're correct, viu is from the verb 'ver' (to see), but it's also shorthand for the same tense of 'ouvir' (to hear). 

Te amo muito, viu? can be thought of as Te amo, 'viu?/ouviu? So in this sense of 'did you hear/see?' comes the rough translation of 'did you know?'


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## cheshire

One of my textbook says "viu" is 3rd person singular past tense of "ouvir" but makes no mention about "ver".

In association with other European languages, I first thought it's the latter (3rd person singular past tense of "ver), but what do you think about it, native speakers?

EDIT: Reading Vanda's reply, I realized I should have written more clearly what the textbook exactly wrote in what context. Let me rewrite as following:

One of my textbook says, in explaining the interjection "viu" Brazilian speakers frequently use, "viu" is *a truncated form* of 3rd person singular past tense of "ouvir" but makes no mention about "ver".


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## Vanda

Ceshire, it might be a typo in your textbook. Viu is the 3rd person past tense (pretérito perfeito) of ver. Ouviu is the 3rd person past tense of ouvir. Whenever you want to conjugate a verb you can go to this dictionary type the verb and click in *conjuga*r.

And yes, we do like to say *viu? *in the end of a sentence whenever we want to emphasize it or any of the explanations the natives have made above.


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## uchi.m

Vanda said:


> And yes, we do like to say *viu? *in the end of a sentence whenever we want to emphasize it or any of the explanations the natives have made above.



I agree with Vanda.

Cheshire-san, the verb _viu_ in this case is equivalent to _-yo_ at the end of sentences in Japanese._sawattara abunai yo_ = _é perigoso tocar, viu? _[a machine, for instance]​


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## cheshire

Muito obrigada, Vanda and uchi-m san! The interjection "viu," is it "ver" or "ouvir"? Or does it depend on sentences?


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## Vanda

See my answer in the post above: I've appointed the difference between viu and ouviu.


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## cheshire

Is the textbook I mentioned wrong, in that it explained that "viu" is the truncated form of one conjugation of "ouvir"?


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## uchi.m

cheshire said:


> Muito obrigada, Vanda and uchi-m san! The interjection "viu," is it "ver" or "ouvir"? Or does it depend on sentences?



In fact, I have never thought about that... Personally, I use _viu? _as a tag question regardless of which sense it is about.

I will look for the etymology.


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## Vanda

Vanda said:


> *Ceshire, it might be a typo in your textbook*. Viu is the 3rd person past tense (pretérito perfeito) of ver. Ouviu is the 3rd person past tense of ouvir. Whenever you want to conjugate a verb you can go to this dictionary type the verb and click in *conjuga*r.
> .....
> .




Ouvir - ouviu
ver - viu

Yes, it is a typo. Take a look at the dictionary linked above.


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## olivinha

bluetart2 said:


> Hi,
> Te amo muito, viu?!!! Isn't viu a past tense of ver(to see)?


 
Hi, Bluetart.
I think you already have all the explanations you need; I'm just here to draw an analogy, as in English you can also convey the same meaning of _viu_ with the verb _to see_, only in the present:

You see, I love you very much.

O


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## bhagavan dasa

In fact, we are not very meticulous about listen/see/smell/feel... we usually use ver/olhar for any one of our senses, like:

"Olha só essa música! É muito boa!".

"Será que você não consegue ver a dor que você me causa?".

"Olha esse cheiro! Que delícia!"


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## boneca

glad i found this when i googled. i had an idea as to what "viu" meant, like "you hear/you see?" 
great forum!


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## Istriano

We can interpret VIU? in this sense as OK? or Got it? The reply is VIU. (and never VI).


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