Não Devia – Bilingual Lyrics Portuguese/English

• By: Nuno Ribeiro, Loony Johnson
• Album: Sentido

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music can be a deeply enriching experience, and 'Não Devia' by Nuno Ribeiro and Loony Johnson offers a perfect opportunity to dive into Portuguese. The song's heartfelt and relatable lyrics about love and loss provide a poignant context for learning new vocabulary and expressions. Its gentle Afro-pop rhythm makes it an enjoyable and memorable way to immerse yourself in the sounds and emotions of the Portuguese language.

[English]

I don't know if you can explain to me

Our feelings no longer speak

Tell me if we could work out

Or if the days are going to be so dull

Without you, everything died inside me

Without you, everything feels so trivial

That was the rhythm of our dance

But now the beat has stopped moving

I don't know if it's worth fighting for

I feel like love is about to leave us

That was the rhythm of our dance

But now the beat has stopped moving

I don't know if it's worth fighting for

I feel like love is about to leave us

I shouldn't have

I shouldn't have

But I gave my heart to someone who didn't deserve it

I shouldn't have

I shouldn't have

But I gave my heart to someone who didn't deserve it

I think it's not worth it

If this is a play, let's end the scene

Go ahead, try, try

Today, mom tries, tries

I ask for help to stop feeling anymore

What does it matter to you

I've wasted so much time, too much

That was the rhythm of our dance

But now the beat has stopped moving

I don't know if it's worth fighting for

I feel like love is about to leave us

That was the rhythm of our dance

But now the beat has stopped moving

I don't know if it's worth fighting for (I don't know, no, I know)

I feel like love is about to leave us

I shouldn't have (I shouldn't have)

I shouldn't have (I never should have)

But I gave my heart to someone who didn't deserve it

I shouldn't have (I shouldn't have)

I shouldn't have (I never should have)

But I gave my heart to someone who didn't deserve it

...

No, no

Shouldn't have

...

Shouldn't have

...

[Portuguese]

Não sei se me consegues explicar

Nosso sentimento já não fala mais

Diz-me se pudemos resultar

Ou se os dias vão ser assim tão banais

Sem ti, tudo morreu em mim

Sem ti, tudo é banal assim

Essa era a batida da nossa dança

Mas o ritmo já não avança

Não sei se vale a pena lutar

Sinto que o amor nos vai deixar

Essa era a batida da nossa dança

Mas o ritmo já não avança

Não sei se vale a pena lutar

Sinto que o amor nos vai deixar

Eu não devia

Eu não devia

Mas entreguei meu coração a quem não merecia

Eu não devia

Eu não devia

Mas entreguei meu coração a quem não merecia

Acho que não vale a pena

Se é uma peça pomos fim à cena

Vu sabi mami tenta, tenta

Hoje a mami tenta, tenta

Eu peço ajuda pra não sentir mais

O que pra ti tanto faz

Já perdi tempo por demais, por demais

Essa era a batida da nossa dança

Mas o ritmo já não avança

Não sei se vale a pena lutar

Sinto que o amor nos vai deixar

Essa era a batida da nossa dança

Mas o ritmo já não avança

Não sei se vale a pena lutar (não sei, não, sei)

Sinto que o amor nos vai deixar

Eu não devia (eu não devia)

Eu não devia (eu nunca devia)

Mas entreguei meu coração a quem não merecia

Eu não devia (eu não devia)

Eu não devia (eu nunca devia)

Mas entreguei meu coração a quem não merecia

Não, não

Não devia

Não devia

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
sentimento /seɪˈtɪmɛntu/ B1	noun - feeling or emotion
lutar /luˈtaʁ/ B1	verb - to fight or struggle
amor /aˈmoʁ/ A2	noun - love
coração /koɾaˈsɐ̃w/ A2	noun - heart
batida /baˈtʃidɐ/ B1	noun - beat or rhythm
dança /ˈdɐ̃sɐ/ A2	noun - dance
morrer /moˈʁɛʁ/ B1	verb - to die
entregar /ẽtɾeˈɡaʁ/ B1	verb - to deliver or hand over
vale /ˈvalɨ/ B2	verb - to be worth
tentar /tẽˈtaʁ/ A2	verb - to try or attempt
ajuda /aˈʒudɐ/ A2	noun - help or assistance
tempo /ˈtẽpu/ A2	noun - time
peça /ˈpɛsɐ/ B1	noun - piece or part
banais /baˈnajʃ/ B2	adjective - trivial or mundane
sabi /ˈsabi/ B2	adjective - wise or knowledgeable

Key Grammar Structures

• Sinto que o amor nos vai deixar

  ➔ Future tense with 'vai' indicating an upcoming action

  ➔ 'Vai' is used with the infinitive to form the near future tense, expressing an intention or prediction.

• entreguei meu coração a quem não merecia

  ➔ Preterite tense (pretérito perfeito) to indicate completed past action

  ➔ 'Entreguei' is the past tense of 'entregar', expressing that the action of giving or entrusting was completed in the past.

• Mas entreguei meu coração a quem não merecia

  ➔ Preterite tense with the pronoun 'meu' (my) to show possession

  ➔ 'Meu' is a possessive pronoun meaning 'my', showing possession of 'coração' (heart).

• Não sei se me consegues explicar

  ➔ Subjunctive mood introduced by 'se' to express uncertainty or possibility

  ➔ 'Se' introduces a conditional clause expressing uncertainty about the ability to explain.

• Acho que não vale a pena

  ➔ Use of 'vale a pena' as an idiomatic expression meaning 'it is worth it'

  ➔ 'Vale a pena' is an idiomatic expression used to indicate that something is worthwhile or worth doing.