What does "unir o útil ao agradável" mean?

Daniel Moreira
Mar 8
1 min read

Hi, everyone! 👋

As someone who kinda loves to use "catch phrases" (as my lovely partner would say), I want to bring you another expresion that is quite often used by Brazilians: "unir or útil ao agradável".

This one is said when you simultaneously do something that you have to do (or something that is useful) and something that is pleasurable.

Some expresions in English that could be related to that saying are "to kill two birds with one stone" and "to combine business with pleasure".

Here are some example sentences:

Lavar a louça e enquanto escuta música é uma forma de unir o útil ao agradável.

"Doing the dishes while listening to music is one way to combine business with pleasure"

Gosto de unir o útil ao agradável sempre que posso

"I like to combine business with pleasure whenever I can"

Now that you already know the whole meaning of the sentece, let's break it down and learn the meaning of some of the words:

Unir = to gather, to combine, to couple.

útil = useful, handy.

agradável = pleasurable, enjoyable.

Did you learn something new today?

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Kind regards,

Daniel.

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About the author

Oi! My name is Daniel and I started Portuguese With Dan out of my passion for teaching and language learning. I graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (#3 in Brazil) with a bachelor's degree in Modern Languages (Portuguese and English) and conducted research in the field of Linguistics, more specifically in Phonetics and Phonology.

I have been teaching Portuguese and English online since 2020. My teaching experience also includes working as a teaching assistant in Phonetics and Phonology and volunteering to help students write essays for college entrance exams. Currently, I work in the civil service as an English Teacher while also creating language-learning content on social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

On a more personal note, I grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and have a deep love for travel and lifelong learning. Speaking of which, learning new languages has given me the opportunity to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and broaden my horizons. I’m also passionate about music and enjoy playing the guitar and the keyboard in my free time.