Portuguese Classes

The pronouns

Official forms:

• eu – I
• tu – you (singular, very informal) This is used only in Portugal; Thou was once used as the informal you in English (found in Medieval and Renaissance English and earlier translations of the Bible)
• você = you (singular, informal) This form is used in Brazil.
• ele – he or it (For people and objects of the male gender)
• ela – she or it (For people and objects of the female gender)
• nós – we
• Vós – you (singular and plural, very formal) *
• eles – they (For male people and objects or both genders)
• elas – they (For female people and objects)

* – Nowadays, This form is only used in northern Portugal and by intellectuals. When used, it can also be intended as a 3rd person of singular formal form. Colloquial forms:

• Você – you (singular, formal), it was Vossa Mercê (Your

Grace)*₂

• A gente – we (singular, informal) (Just in Brazil) ₂
• Vocês – you (plural) *₂
• O senhor – he/sir (male, singular, formal) *₃
• A senhora – she/madam (female, singular, formal) *₃
• Os senhores – they (males, formal)
• As senhoras – they (females, formal)

*₂ – In colloquial language, most Portuguese speakers use the forms você and vocês instead of tu and vós. *₃ – These expressions can also be honorific forms for important or unfamiliar people. Example: O senhor João (…) -> Mr John (…) As you can see, there is sometimes more than one pronoun in Portuguese for the equivalent English word. The reason for this is to show both the gender and the level of formality that you wish to use to address the other person. Subject Pronouns___

Singular Portuguese	Singular English
eu (m & f)	I
tu (m & f)—limited use in Brazil	thou (you)
ele (m)	he
ela (f)	she
você (m & f)	you
o senhor (formal-m)	you
a senhora (formal-f)	you
a senhorita (formal-f—”Miss”)	you
Plural Portuguese	Plural English
nós (m & f)	we
vós (m & f)—limited use in Brazil	ye (you)
eles (m)	they
elas (f)	they
vocês (m & f)	they
os senhores (formal-m)	they
as senhoras (formal-f)	they
as senhoritas (formal-f—”Misses”)	they

Basic Portuguese Phrases:

Hello! / Good morning!	Bom dia!
Good afternoon!	Boa tarde!
Good evening! / Good night!	Boa noite!
Hi! / Bye!	Oi/Olá! Tchau!
Good bye.	Adeus.
Please.	Por favor.
See you / See you later.	Até mais.
See you later.	Até logo.
See you tomorrow.	Até amanhã.
Thank you (very much).	(Muito) Obrigado. (if a man is speaking) (Muito) Obrigada. (if a woman is speaking)
You’re welcome. / Don’t mention it.	Não há de quê.
Welcome	Bem-vindo
I’m sorry	Desculpe-me
Excuse me / Pardon	Com licença / Perdão.
Let’s go!	Vamos!
How are you? (formal; male)	Como o senhor está?
How are you? (informal)	Como vai?
How’s it going? (Only in Brazil)	E aí?
Well / Very well	Bem / Muito bem
Bad / Very bad / More or less	Mal / Muito mal / Mais ou menos
Yes / No	Sim / Não
What is your name? (formal; male)	Como o senhor se chama?
What is your name? (informal)	Qual é o seu nome?
My name is…	Me chamo…
Nice to meet you.	Prazer em conhecê-lo
Same here.	Igualmente.
Mister / Mrs. / Miss	Senhor / Senhora / Senhorita
Where are you from? (formal; male)	De onde o senhor é?
Where are you from? (informal)	De onde você é?
I’m from…	Eu sou de…
How old are you? (formal)	Quantos anos o senhor tem?
How old are you? (informal)	Quantos anos você tem?
I am _____ years old.	Eu tenho _____ anos.
Do you speak Portuguese? (formal)	O senhor fala português?
Do you speak English? (informal)	Você fala inglês?
I (don’t) speak…	(Não) Falo…
Do you understand?	Compreende? / Entende?
I (don’t) understand.	(Não) Compreendo. / (Não) Entendo.
I (don’t) know.	Eu (não) sei.
Can you help me?	Pode me ajudar?
Of course	Claro que sim
What? Pardon me?	Como?
Where is … / Where are … ?	Onde está / Onde estão… ?
Here.	Aqui
There is / are… / There was / were…	Há / Havia…
How do you say ___ in Portuguese?	Como se diz ____ em português?
What is that?	O que é isto?
What’s the matter (with you)?	Qual é o problema?
It doesn’t matter.	Não importa.
What’s happening?	O que aconteceu?
I have no idea.	Não tenho idéia.
I’m tired / sick.	Estou cansado / doente.
I’m hungry / thirsty.	Estou com fome / sêde.
I’m hot / cold.	Estou com calor / frio.
I’m bored.	Estou chateado.
I don’t care.	Não me importa.
Don’t worry	Não se preocupe.
That’s alright.	Tudo bem / ‘Tá bom.
I forgot.	Me esqueci.
I must go now.	Tenho que ir agora.
Bless you!	Saúde!
Congratulations!	Parabéns!
Good luck!	Boa sorte!
It’s your turn. (informal)	É a sua vez.
Shut up!	Cale-se! / Cala a boca!
I love you. (informal and singular)	Eu te amo.

Meeting People in Portuguese

De onde você é? Eu sou do Canadá. Eu sou francês. Onde você mora? Você é brasileiro? Eu sou dos Estados Unidos. Há quanto tempo você está no Brasil? Acabei de chegar. Cheguei semana passada. Chegamos já faz um mês! Onde você trabalha? Você trabalha em quê? Quantos anos você tem? Quando é o seu aniversário? Você é casado? Qual o nome da sua esposa? A senhora é casada? Qual o nome do seu marido? Vocês têm filhos? Temos um casal. Qual é a idade da sua filha? Você tem namorado? Você tem namorada? Quantos irmãos você tem? Qual é o seu telefone? Você quer dançar? Quer sair comigo essa noite? Vamos ao cinema?

Where are you from? I’m from Canada. I’m French. Where do you live? Are you Brazilian? I am from the US. How long have you been in Brazil? I’ve just arrived. I arrived last week. We arrived a month ago! Where do you work? What do you do? How old are you? When is your birthday? Are you married? What’s your wife’s name? Are you married? What’s your husband’s name? Do you have children? We’ve got a couple. How old is your daughter? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you have a girlfriend? How many siblings do you have? What’s your phone number? Would you like to dance? Would you like to go out tonight? Let’s go to the movies?

Portuguese Question Words:

what	o que*	which	qual (quais)
who	quem	how much	quanto (-a) (-s)
how	como	how many	quanto (-a) (-s)
when	quando	whom	a quem
where	onde	whose	de quem
why	por que*

* The word que always receives the circumflex when it is placed at the end of a sentence.

Você está procurando o quê? You’re looking for what? Ele acha isso por quê? (Why) does he think so?

Notice that qual changes to quais when the following word is plural, while quanto agrees in gender and number with the noun that follows. Change final -o to -a for feminine, and add -s for plural.

Portuguese Articles & Demonstratives:

	Masc. Singular	Fem. Singular		Masc. Plural	Fem. Plural
the	o	a	the	os	as
a, an	um	uma	some	uns	umas
this	este	esta	these	estes	estas
that	esse	essa	those	esses	essas
that	aquele	aquela	those	aqueles	aquelas

Portuguese Days of the Week The days of the week in Portuguese are a combination of ordinal numbers and feira for Monday through Friday.

Monday	segunda-feira
Tuesday	terça-feira
Wednesday	quarta-feira
Thursday	quinta-feira
Friday	sexta-feira
Saturday	sábado
Sunday	domingo
today	o dia
week	a semana
weekend	o fim de semana
today	hoje
tomorrow	amanhã

The days from Monday to Friday have this name because they were called according to the fair (feira) that used to take place in that day a long time ago. A “feira” is a set of tents pitched in the street where you can buy vegetables, fruits, and other food items.

Portuguese Months of the Year

The months of the year in Portuguese are quite similar to the words in English.

January	janeiro
February	fevereiro
March	março
April	abril
May	maio
June	junho
July	julho
August	agosto
September	setembro
October	outubro
November	novembro
December	dezembro
month	o mês
the first of [a month]	primeiro de [month]
year	o ano

To say a specific day of a month, use cardinal (two, three, four, etc.) and not ordinal numbers (second, third, fourth, etc.) except for the first of the month when you do use primeiro. Also notice that the date is written with the day first, and then the month: 16/04/2005 – Dezesseis de abril de dois mil e cinco. The Seasons in Portuguese

spring	primavera	in the spring	na primavera
summer	verão	in the summer	no verão
autumn	outono	in the autumn	no outono
winter	inverno	in the winter	no inverno

Remember that Brazil is in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons are the opposite of those in the northern hemisphere, i.e. it is summer in January and winter in July.

Learn how to say the directions in Portuguese:

north	norte	northeast	nordeste
south	sul	southeast	sudeste
east	leste	northwest	noroeste
west	oeste	southwest	sudoeste

right	à direita
left	à esquerda
straight ahead	sempre em frente

Portuguese Prepositions

a	at	ao lado de	beside
com	with	ao redor de	around
contra	against	perto de	near
de	of, from	longe de	far from
em	in, on	em frente a	in front of
entre	between, among	em baixo de	below, under
cerca de	towards, about	em frente de	opposite
para	for, in order, by	atrás de	behind
por	for, through, along, via	em cima de	above
sobre	on, over	até	till, until
sem	without	desde	from, since

The word after the prepositions em and de sometimes needs to have the article, so you combine the two words.

em + o = no  –  em + a = na  –  em + um = num  –  em + uma = numa

de + o = do  –  de + a = da  –  de + um = dum  –  de + uma = duma

a + o = ao  –  a + a = à

Estou no escritório.     I’m in the office.

Ficamos numa fazenda.   We stayed at a farm.

Learn the verbs be and have in Brazilian Portuguese

There are two verbs that mean to be: ser and estar. The verb ter means to have. Each subject pronoun requires a different form of the verb, called conjugations. Remember that nouns or names can also replace the third person pronouns he, she, it and they.

ser – to be
eu sou	I am	nós somos	we are
tu és	you are (informal singular)	vós estais	you are (informal plural)
ele é ela é você é o senhor é a senhora é	he / it is (masculine) she / it is (feminine) you are (informal singular) you are (formal masculine singular) you are (formal feminine singular)	eles são elas são vocês são os senhores são as senhoras são	they are (masculine) they are (feminine) you are (informal plural) you are (formal masculine plural) you are (formal feminine plural)

estar – to be
eu estou	I am	nós estamos	we are
tu estás	you are (informal singular)	vós estais	you are (informal plural)
ele está ela está você está o senhor está a senhora está	he / it is (masculine) she / it is (feminine) you are (informal singular) you are (formal masculine singular) you are (formal feminine singular)	eles estão elas estão vocês estão os senhores estão as senhoras estão	they are (masculine) they are (feminine) you are (informal plural) you are (formal masculine plural) you are (formal feminine plural)

ter – to have
eu tenho	I have	nós temos	we have
tu tens	you have (informal singular)	vós tendes	you have (informal plural)
ele tem ela tem você tem o senhor tem a senhora tem	he / it has (masculine) she / it has (feminine) you have (informal singular) you have (formal masculine singular) you have (formal feminine singular)	eles têm elas têm vocês têm os senhores têm as senhoras têm	they have (masculine) they have (feminine) you have (informal plural) you have (formal masculine plural) you have (formal feminine plural)

Remember that tu and vos conjugations are not used in Brazil. Ser is used to say when you are something (inherent characteristic), and estar is used to say when you are in/at somewhere (location): Eu sou o novo aluno.     I am the new student. Eu estou no meu novo carro.     I am in my new car.

Many common expressions that use the verb be in English use the verb ter in Portuguese:

to be afraid – ter medo to be against – estar contra to be at fault – ter culpa to be careful – ter cuidado to be cold – estar com frio to be curious – ser curioso/a to be happy – estar contente to be hot – estar com calor to be hungry – estar com fome to be in a hurry – ter pressa, estar com pressa to be jealous – ter ciúmes to be lucky – ter sorte to be patient – ser paciente to be successful – ter sucesso to be thirsty – estar com sêde to be tired – estar cansado/a

Portuguese Plural Nouns

There are four main ways to form plural nouns in Portuguese:

1. Words that end in -l : drop the l and put -is if the word does not have an i before the l. If it has an e you change it to é to make the same sound.

pastel (pastry) – pastéis

2. Words that end in -ão : it has no rule. Sometimes you change it to -ões or -ães, or just add -s, depending on the word. It’s better to memorize the plural when you learn the word.

coração (heart) – corações

mão (hand) – mãos cão (dog) – cães

3. Words that end in -s or -z : have no plural form, so the singular and plural are the same.

ônibus (bus)

óculos (glasses) arroz (rice)

4. All other words : just add an -s.

pêra (pear) – pêras maçã (apple) – maçãs guaraná (soda) – guaranás

Learn how to say the family members and some animals in Portuguese

family	família	nephew	sobrinho
parents	pais	niece	sobrinha
husband	marido / esposo	cousin (m)	primo
wife	esposa / mulher	cousin (f)	prima
father	pai	relatives	parentes
mother	mãe
son	filho	dog	cachorro/cão
daughter	filha	cat	gato
children	filhos	bird	pássaro
sister	irmã	fish	peixe
brother	irmão	horse	cavalo
grandfather	avô	goat	cabra
grandmother	avó	pig	porco
grandson	neto	cow	vaca
granddaughter	neta	rabbit	coelho
uncle	tio	turtle	tartaruga
aunt	tia	mouse	rato

Talking on the phone

Posso usar seu telefone? Posso fazer uma chamada a cobrar? É chamada local? Alô. Aqui é o Charlles. Posso falar com o Valdoir? Só um momento. Um momento, por favor. Ele deu uma saidinha. Quer deixar recado? Ele está no telefone. Vai esperar na linha? Alô. Ramal 4243, por favor. Você pode me transferir, por favor? Ele não está no momento… Quer deixar recado? Pode anotar recado? Posso anotar algum recado? Não, obrigado. Eu ligo mais tarde. Alô. Eu queria falar com o gerente. Quem gostaria? Alô. O Sargento Nunes está? Só um minuto. Vou chamar… Qual é o seu nome, por favor? Diz a ele que é o amigo do Marcelo. Alô. Posso falar com a Martha? Ela está no outro telefone. Vai esperar na linha? Alô. Posso falar com o Ed? Tá falando com ele! É ele mesmo, pode falar. Que número você ligou? Aqui é do 123 456 7890. Desculpe. Foi engano. Número errado. Desculpe. À que horas ele volta? Sabe que horas ela vai voltar? Pode me informar quando ela volta? Pede a ela pra me ligar de volta? Tá chamando… mas ninguém atende. A linha tá ocupada. Acabei de ligar. Só tá dando ocupado… Fala mais alto, por favor! Pode falar um pouquinho mais alto? Só chama, ninguém atende. Caiu a ligação.

May I use your telephone? Can I make a collect call? Is it a local call? Hello, this is Charlles. May I talk to Valdoir? Hold on, please. One moment, please. He has just left. Do you want to leave a message? He is on the phone. Can you wait on the line? Hello. Extension 4243, please. Can you transfer me, please? He is not in at the moment… Do you want to leave a message? Can you take a message? May I take a message? No, thanks. I’ll call again later. Hello. I’d like to talk to the manager. Who would like? Hello. Is the Sgt. Nunes in? Hold on a minute. I’ll call him. What’s your name, please? Tell him it’s Marcelo’s friend. Hello. May I talk to Martha? She is on the phone. Can you wait on the line? Hello. May I talk to Ed? You’re talking to him! It’s him. Can I help you? Which number did you dial? It’s 123 456 7890. Sorry. Wrong number. Wrong number. I’m sorry. What time will he come back? Do you know what time she will be back? Can you tell me when she is back? Ask her to return the call, please? It’s dialing… but nobody is answering. The line is busy. I’ve just called. It’s busy… Speak louder, please! Could you please speak a bit louder? I’ve been calling, but I can’t get through. The call fell through.

Portuguese Present Tense of Regular Verbs

Learn how to conjugate regular verbs in Portuguese

Verbs in Portuguese end in -ar, -er or -ir.  Before a verb is conjugated, it is called the infinitive.  Removing the last two letters gives you the stem of the verb (cantar is to sing, cant– is the stem.)  To conjugate regular verbs in the present tense, add these endings to the stems:

-ar verbs		-er verbs		-ir verbs
-o	-amos	-o	-emos	-o	-imos
-as	-ais	-es	-eis	-es	-es
-a	-am	-e	-em	-e	-em

Regular verbs:

-ar verbs		-er verbs		-ir verbs
dançar	to dance	aprender	to learn	partir	to leave
desejar	to desire	comer	to eat	imprimir	to print
escutar	to listen	correr	to run
estudar	to study	ler	to read
falar	to speak	vender	to sell
praticar	to practice	beber	to drink
tomar	to take	compreender	to understand
viajar	to travel

To make sentences negative, simply put não in front of the verb.

Portuguese Possessive Adjectives

	Singular		Plural
	Masc	Fem	Masc	Fem
my	meu	minha	meus	minhas
your	teu	tua	teus	tuas
your/his/her/its	seu	sua	seus	suas
our	nosso	nossa	nossos	nossas
your	seu	sua	seus	suas
your/their	dele	dela	deles	delas

Portuguese Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense

In addition to estar, ter, ser, vir, ir, fazer, and saber,there are a few other irregular verbs in the present tense that you need to memorize:

caber – to fit
eu caibo	nós cabemos
tu cabes	vós cabeis
ele/ela/você cabe	eles/elas/vocês cabem

crer – to believe
eu creio	nós cremos
tu crês	vós credes
ele/ela/você crê	eles/elas/vocês crêem

dar – to give
eu dou	nós damos
tu dás	vós dais
ele/ela/você dá	eles/elas/vocês dão

dizer – to say
eu digo	nós dizemos
tu dizes	vós dizeis
ele/ela/você diz	eles/elas/vocês dizem

ler – to read
eu leio	nós lemos
tu lês	vós ledes
ele/ela/você lê	eles/elas/vocês lêem

ouvir – to hear
eu ouço	nós ouvimos
tu ouves	vós ouvis
ele/ela/você ouve	eles/elas/vocês ouvem

pedir – to ask
eu peço	nós pedimos
tu pedes	vós pedis
ele/ela/você pede	eles/elas/vocês pedem

poder – to be able to; can
eu posso	nós podemos
tu podes	vós podeis
ele/ela/você pode	eles/elas/vocês podem

pôr – to put
eu ponho	nós pomos
tu pões	vós pondes
ele/ela/você põe	eles/elas/vocês põem

querer – to want
eu quero	nós queremos
tu queres	vós quereis
ele/ela/você quer	eles/elas/vocês querem

trazer – to bring
eu trago	nós trazemos
tu trazes	vós trazeis
ele/ela/você traz	eles/elas/vocês trazem

ver – to see
eu vejo	nós vemos
tu vês	vós vedes
ele/ela/você vê	eles/elas/vocês vêem

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Learn Portuguese in Coimbatore[/caption]

Present tense / Verbos – Presente do Indicativo

In Portuguese there are 3 different classes of verbs: verbs ending in “ar”, verbs ending in “er”, verbs ending in “ir”. Each class of regular verbs has its own pattern of termination when conjugated. When conjugating regular verbs in Portuguese you just have to preserve the root of the verb and substitute“ar”, “er” or “ir” for the following bold terminations:

	Person	Amar(to love)	Comer(to eat)	Abrir(to open)
Singular	Eu	amo	como	abro
	Ele / Ela / Você A gente	ama	come	abre
Plural	Nós	amamos	comemos	abrimos
	Eles/ Elas/ Vocês	amam	comem	abrem

Examples: 

• Eu amo. (I love.)
• Ela ama. (She loves)
• Ele ama. (He loves)
• Você ama. (You love)
• A gente ama. (We love)
• Nós amamos. (We love)
• Eles amam. (They love)
• Vocês amam. (You love)

Verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “e” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root changed when they are conjugated in the Present tense. The vowel “e” is changed for “i” just for the first person“eu”. The other conjugations follow the same pattern that is presented above.

	Person	Vestir(to wear)	Mentir(to lie)
Singular	Eu	visto	minto
	Ele / Ela / Você /   A gente	veste	mente
Plural	Nós	vestimos	mentimos
	Eles/ Elas/ Vocês	vestem	mentem

Examples: 

• Eu minto. (I lie)
• Ela mente. (She lies)
• Ele mente. (He lies)
• Você mente. (You lie)
• A gente mente. (We lie)
• Nós mentimos. (We lie)
• Eles mentem. (They lie)
• Vocês mentem. (You lie)

  Verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “o” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root changed when they are conjugated in the Present tense. The vowel “o” is changed for “u” just for the first person “eu”.

	Person	Dormir(to sleep)	Descobrir(to discover)
Singular	Eu	durmo	descubro
	Ele / Ela / Você /    A gente	dorme	descobre
Plural	Nós	dormimos	descobrimos
	Eles/ Elas/ Vocês	dormem	descobrem

Examples: 

• Eu durmo cedo. (I sleep early)
• Ela dorme cedo. (She sleeps early)
• Ele dorme cedo.. (He sleeps early)
• Você dorme cedo.. (You sleep early)
• A gente dorme cedo.. (We sleep early)
• Nós dormimos cedo.. (We sleep early)
• Eles dormem cedo.. (They sleep early)
• Vocês dormem cedo.. (You  sleep early)

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Basic Portuguese Phrases

Remember that, when travelling, if you know a few basic phrases, you can get by in any Portuguese speaking country. Armed with basic Portuguese phrases you can communicate with the locals, even if you don’t know how to say anything else in Portuguese. If you are travelling to a Portuguese-speaking country, I strongly recommend you to go though this page now, and learn the words and expressions you need to get by. OK, so… let’s go straight to business. It’s quite common in any Portuguese speaking country, specially in small towns and villages, to greet people in the streets, even if you don’t know them. So as they pass by you, you’ll be likely to hear: Bom dia. [bong-deer]* which means “Good morning”. Boa tarde. [boah-tard]* for “Good afternoon”. Boa noite. [boah-no-ee-te]* for “Good evening” or “Good night”. You should greet them back the same way. It shows that you respect them and like to be respected as well. You will hear Bom dia from midnight to midday, Boa tarde from 12pm until it gets dark and Boa noite since it gets dark until midnight,or when you want to wish a good night to anyone. Como? [komoo?] is another very important word. If someone comes to you and say something that you can’t hear properly or can’t understand, this is the way you say “Sorry?” or “I didn’t get that”. In other words, you can also use this word to ask someone to repeat something again. Desculpe! [des-cool-peh] is the word you use when you are sorry or when you “did something wrong and you want to apologise for it. In short, this means “I’m sorry!”. You may also use this word to catch someone’s attention as well, for instance at the restaurant when you want to call the waiter. Não faz mal! [nah-fash-mahl] is the way you reply to “desculpe” . Equivalent ways to say “Não faz mal” this in English would be “no worries” or “no problem”. Com licença! [co-lee-sensah] is also one of the most important basic Portuguese phrases. This means “excuse me” You might use this when you want to get out of the bus when it is very crowded inside and you have people in your way. Obrigado/obrigada [oobree-gado] or [oobree-gadah]. Men say “obrigado” and women say“obrigada” to say “thank you”. De nada! [de nah-dah] in Portugal and [chee nah-dah] in Brazil. This is what you say when people thank you for something you did for them. The equivalent in English would be “you’re welcome!” These last 2 basic Portuguese phrases are of extreme importance and you should use them without thinking. Practice them with a friend or with your partner. Por favor! [poorh pha-vohr]. You say this to say “please” in any circumstance you can imagine. However, in Portuguese, when you give commands to people (when you ask them to do something) you don’t have necessarily to say “por favor” all the time, like you do in English. Normally the intonation of your voice will show whether you are being suggestive or bossy! Está bem! [tah baing] to say “It’s OK” when you agree with someone’s suggestion, or to mean “thatºs enough” when the waiter is putting food on your plate and you want him to stop. Fixe! [feesh] (in European and African Portuguese) to say the modern expression “cool!” Legal! [lay-gah-oo] (in Brazilian Portuguese) to say the modern expression “cool!” Então? tudo bem? [eng-ta-ong? too-doo bah-ing?] means in colloquial European Portuguese “So, how are you?” or “So, what’s up?”. Oi! e aí? [oy? ee ah-ee?] means in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese “So, how are you?” or “So, what’s up?”. Como se diz em português + English word? [coo-mo seh deesh en poor-too-gaysh]. You would use this sentence to find out how you say something in Portuguese. You obviously can use this sentence only if you know the person you are talking to knows some English, so they will tell you the meaning you are looking for. (e.g. Como se diz em português “please”? – how do you say in Portuguese “please”?) Como se pronuncia em português + Portuguese word? [coo-mo seh proo-noon-seeah en poor-too-gaysh] this means: How do you pronounce in Portuguese?” Obviously if you are struggling with pronouncing any Portuguese word you see somewhere (in a menu, advert, or article, etc), and you want to pronounce it correctly, you will use this phrase. Como se escreve? [coo-mo seh sh-cray-veh]. You’d use this sentence if you want to know how you’d spell something in Portuguese. This means “How do you spell?”. O que quer dizer “xyz” em inglês? [Oo kay kehr dee-zerh “xyz” en een-glaysh?] is the sentence you use if you have the Portuguese word but you don’t know what it means. So you ask “What does it mean in English?”. Pode repetir? [pod ray-peh-teer?]. This is the same as “como?” see above, but in a more polite way. It means “could you repeat it please?”. Não percebo! [naw pehr-say-boo] – I don’t/can’t understand. Não percebi! [naw pehr-say-bee] – I didn’t understand / I didn’t catch it. Não entendo! [naw en-tehn-doo] – I don’t/cant understand (more used in Brazilian Portuguese). Não entendi! [naw en-tehn-chee] – I didn’t understand (more used in Brazilian Portuguese). Não sei! [naw say] – “I don’t know”. This phrase is particularly useful, because anyone in the streets can come to you and ask for information about something. So this is what you have to say – “I don’t know!”. Não me lembro! [now meh lim-broo] – I don’t/can’t remember.
I’d recommend you print out this page and take it with you every time you need to communicate with someone in Portuguese. One of the reasons you should print this out may be because you may want to put 2 of these sentences together to sound more natural, for instance, “desculpe, não sei”, and you’ll have them at hand to remember. You’ll see that, with these basic Portuguese phrases, you’ll feel more confident when you talk to people or people talk to you. You will also feel much more comfortable when travelling around and socialising with Portuguese native speakers. I’d also advise you not to stop your learning with this basic Portuguese phrases, but to surf through the other pages of this site to find out more useful information about Portuguese and Portuguese speaking countries. And that’s it! These are the basic Portuguese phrases you need to get by! Armed with these basic Portuguese phrases, you can get by without embarrassment. Believe me! Last thing to remember: If you don’t know any more Portuguese, you may choose to walk away… or find out if they speak English. If you want to ask them if they speak English say: Desculpe! Fala inglês? [des-cool-peh! fah-la een-glaysh?]. You may also inform them that you only speak a little Portuguese. If this is the case, you must say. Não falo muito português! [nah fahloo moo-too poor-too-gaysh]. And yes! This is the end of this page now! So these are the basic Portuguese phrases you need to know if you are going to any Portuguese speaking country.

Essentials

English↕	Portuguese↕
Hello	Bom dia
Good evening	Boa tarde
Goodbye	Adeus
See you later	Até Logo
Yes	Sim
No	Não
Excuse me!	Por favor!
Excuse me	Se faz favor
Thanks	Obrigada
Thanks a lot	Muito obrigado!
Thank you for your help	Obrigada pela sua ajuda
Don’t mention it	De nada
Ok	De acordo !
How much is it?	Quanto custa por favor?
Sorry!	Desculpe !
I don’t understand	Não compreendo
I get it	Compreendi
I don’t know	Não sei
Forbidden	Proibido
Excuse me, where are the toilets?	Onde é a casa de banho por favor?
Happy New Year!	Feliz ano novo!
Happy birthday!	Feliz aniversario!
Happy holiday!	Boas festas!
Congratulations!	Parabéns

Conversation

English↕	Portuguese↕
Hello. How are you?	Bom dia. Tudo bem?
Hello. I’m fine, thank you	Bom dia Vou bem, obrigado
Do you speak Portuguese?	Tu falas português?
No, I don’t speak Portuguese	Não, não falo português
Only a little bit	Só um pouco
Where do you come from?	De onde és ?
What is your nationality?	És de que nacionalidade?
I am English	Eu sou inglesa
And you, do you live here?	E tu, vives aqui?
Yes, I live here	Sim, moro aqui
My name is Sarah, what’s your name?	O meu nome é Sarah. E o teu?
Julian	Juliano
What are you doing here?	O que é que fazes por aqui?
I am on holiday	Estou de férias
We are on holiday	Nós estamos de férias
I am on a business trip	Ando em viagem de negócios
I work here	Trabalho aqui
We work here	Nós trabalhamos aqui
Where are the good places to go out and eat?	Quais são os bons lugares para comer?
Is there a museum in the neighbourhood?	Há algum museu aqui perto?
Where could I get an internet connection?	Onde tenho acesso à internet?

Restaurant

English↕	Portuguese↕
The restaurant	O restaurante
Would you like to eat?	Queres comer alguma coisa?
Yes, with pleasure	Quero, pois !
To eat	Comer
Where can we eat?	Onde podemos comer?
Where can we have lunch?	Onde podemos almoçar?
Dinner	O jantar
Breakfast	O pequeno almoço
Excuse me!	Por favor!
The menu, please	A ementa, se faz favor
Here is the menu	Aqui tem o menu
What do you prefer to eat? Meat or fish?	O que preferes comer? Carne ou peixe?
With rice	Com arroz
With pasta	Com massa
Potatoes	Batatas
Vegetables	Legumes
Scrambled eggs – fried eggs – or a boiled egg	Ovos mexidos – estrelados – ou ao casco
Bread	Pão
Butter	Manteiga
Salad	Uma alface
Dessert	Uma sobremesa
Fruit	Fruta
Can I have a knife, please?	Você tem uma faca por favor?
Yes, I’ll bring it to you right away	Sim, trago já
a knife	Uma faca
a fork	Um garfo
a spoon	Uma colher
Is it a warm dish?	É um prato quente?
Yes, very hot also!	Sim, e muito temperado também
Warm	Quente
Cold	Frio
Hot	Temperado com especiarias
I’ll have fish	Vou escolher peixe!
Me too	Eu também

Taxi

English↕	Portuguese↕
Taxi!	Táxi!
Where would you like to go?	Onde deseja ir?
I’m going to the train station	Vou para a estação
I’m going to the day&night Hotel	Vou para o hotel Dia e Noite
Can you take me to the airport, please?	Podia levar-me ao aeroporto?
Can you take my luggage?	Pode levar a minha bagagem, se faz favor?
Is it far from here?	Fica longe daqui ?
No it’s close	Não, é mesmo aqui ao lado
Yes it’s a little bit further away	Sim é um pouco mais longe
How much will it be?	Quanto vai custar?
Take me there, please	Leve-me aqui por favor
You go right	É à direita
You go left	É à esquerda
It’s straight on	É sempre à direito
It’s right here	É aqui
It’s that way	É por ali
Stop!	Pare!
Take your time	Não se apresse
Can I have a receipt, please?	Pode-me fazer uma factura por favor?

Transportation

English↕	Portuguese↕
Excuse me! I’m looking for the bus stop	Por favor! Procuro a paragem de autocarros
How much is a ticket to Sun City?	Qual é o preço do bilhete para a cidade do sol por favor?
Where does this train go, please?	Por favor, para onde vai este comboio ?
Does this train stop at Sun City?	Este comboio pára na cidade do Sol?
When does the train for Sun City leave?	Quando parte o comboio para a cidade do Sol?
When will this train arrive in Sun City?	Quando chega o comboio da cidade do Sol?
A ticket for Sun City, please	Um bilhete para A cidade do Sol por favor
Do you have the train’s time table?	Tem o horário dos comboios
Bus schedule	O horario dos autocarnos
Excuse me, which train goes to Sun City?	Qual é o comboio para A cidade do Sol por favor?
This one	É este
Thanks	Obrigada
Don’t mention it, have a good trip!	De nada. Boa viagem!
The garage	A oficina
The petrol station	O posto de gasolina
A full tank, please	Pode atestar, se faz favor
Bike	Bicicleta
Town centre	O centro da cidade
Suburb	A periferia
It is a city	É uma grande cidade
It is a village	É uma aldeia
A mountain	Uma montanha
a lake	Um lago
The countryside	A campanha – O campo

In case of trouble

English↕	Portuguese↕
Can you help me, please?	Podes ajudar-me por favor?
Can you help me please?	Pode dar-me uma ajuda ?
I’m lost	Estou perdido
What would you like?	Posso ajudar?
What happened?	O que é que aconteceu?
Where could I find an interpreter?	Onde posso encontrar um tradutor?
Where is the nearest chemist’s shop?	Onde é a farmácia mais próxima?
Can you call a doctor, please	Pode chamar um médico por favor?
Which kind of treatment are you undergoing at the moment?	Que tratamento é que segue neste momento?
a hospital	Um hóspital
a chemist’s	Uma farmácia
a doctor	Um médico
Medical department	Serviço médico
I lost my papers	Perdi os meus documentos
My papers have been stolen	Roubaram-me os documentos
Lost-property office	Seviço de perdidos e achados
First-aid station	Posto de socorro
Emergency exit	Saida de emergência
The police	Polícia
Papers	Documentos
Money	Dinheiro
Passport	Passaporte
Luggage	Bagagens
I’m ok, thanks	Està tudo bem , nâo obrigado
Leave me alone!	Deixem-me em paz!
Go away!	Saia!

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Possessive Pronouns / Pronomes Possessivos

Possessive pronouns are used to show ownership. They indicate who the owner of a certain thing is. Those Pronouns can accompany, describe or replace a noun. Example:

• Meu carro é novo – My car is new (observe that “meu” accompanies and describes the noun “carro”)

In Portuguese the possessive pronouns have feminine, masculine, singular and plural forms. Usually those pronouns agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, not with the person that possesses. But there is an important exception for the possessive pronouns dele / deles / dela / delas. They agree in gender and number with the person. Possessive pronouns can be used alone, without the noun they’re referring to. In this case, they are accompanied by definite articles (except with verb ser). Example:

• Meu carro é novo. O seu é velho – My car is new. Yours is old. (In the first sentence “meu”accompanies and describe the object “carro”. In the second sentence observe that “seu” is masculine, replaces the word “carro” and it is used along with the definite article “o”)

Study the possessive pronouns in the chart below.

English	Masculine	Feminine
My / mine	Meu      / Meus	Minha    / Minhas
Your / yours	Seu       /  Seus	Sua      / Suas
His / Her/ hers / its	Dele	Dela
Our / ours	Nosso     / Nossos	Nossa      / Nossas
Their / theirs	Deles	Delas

Examples: Observe that in all examples below the possessive pronouns agree with the thing possessed and are used before the noun.

• Meu pai – My father
• Seu pai – Your father
• Nosso pai – Our father

• Minha mãe – My mother
• Sua mãe – Your mother
• Nossa  mãe – Our mother

Examples: Note that in the examples below the possessive pronouns are used without article, because theycome after verb to be

• O carro é meu. The car is mine
• O carro é seu. The car is yours.
• O carro é dele. The car is his.
• O carro é dela. The car is hers.
• O carro é nosso. The car is ours.
• O carro é deles. The car is theirs.
• O carro é delas. The car is theirs.

More Examples: Note that in the examples below the possessive pronouns are used with definite articles

• Minha casa é verde. A sua é vermelha. My house is green. Yours is red.
• Sua casa é verde. A minha é vermelha. Your house is green. Mine is red.
• Nossa casa é branca. A dele é azul. Our house is white. His is blue.
• Nossa casa é branca. A dela é azul. Our house is white. Hers is blue.

Note I The possessive pronouns seu /seus /sua / suas can be used to refer to your (yours), his, her (hers) andtheir (theirs) causing ambiguities, because you don’t know if the pronoun is referring to you or to other person. In some cases to avoid ambiguity of the noun’s ownership, the possessive pronouns dele / deles / dela /delas are used to refer to his – dele, her/hers – dela, their/theirs – deles, their/theirs, but for feminine group – delas. These pronouns agree in gender and number with the person who owns the thing, because these possessive pronouns always refer to the person and not to the object. Examples: Ele não encontrou seu amigo. He did not meet your/his friend. – This sentence has an ambiguity because you don’t know if the person is referring to your or his friend. If the person is referring to his friend is better to say: Ele não encontrou o amigo dele.  He did not meet his friend. – You can observe that “dele” agrees in gender and number with “ele” and comes after noun. More examples:

• Seu pai – Your father
• Pai dele – His father
• Pai dela – Her father
• Pai deles – Their father
• Pai delas – Their father

Note II The possessive pronouns teu /teus /tua / tuas can also be used to refer to your and yours. And in this case, they also agree in gender and number with the thing possessed. Examples: 

• Teu pai – Your father
• Teu carro – Your ca

• Tua mãe – Your mother
• Tua casa – Your house

Note III Usually Portuguese grammar books recommend that it is not necessary to use possessive pronouns before body parts, especially when they are used to complement the verb. But colloquially is very common to use possessive pronouns along with body parts. Example: Eu quebrei o dente. (I broke my tooth). You can observe that there is no possessive pronoun along with the body’s part.]]>

• Interrogatives are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. Interrogatives are the question-words. They allow us to ask questions like “Onde?” [on-deh] – “where”, “Quando” [kwando] – “When”, etc.

The interrogatives of the Portuguese vocabulary are like this:

Portuguese Interrogative	Word sound	Meaning
A que horas?	[ah kay oh-rash?	What time at?
Com que frequência?	[con kay fray-kwen-ceeah?]	How often?
Com quem?	[con kaing?]	With who?
Como?	[koh-moh?]	How / What?
Como (é)?	[koh-moh (ay)?]	what (is it) like?
Donde?	[don-deh?] EU {don-chee?] BR	Where from?
De que côr?	[deh kay cohr?] EU [chee-kee-cohr] BR	What colour?
Há quanto tempo?	[ah kwan-too teing-poo?]	How long ago?
* (O) que?	[oo kay?]	what?
Onde?	[on-deh?] EU [on-chee?]	where?
Para onde?	[pah-rah on-deh?] EU [pah-rah on-chee?]	where to?
Para que?	[pah-rah kay?] EU [pah-rah kee?]	What for?
Porque? / Por que?	[poohr kay?] EU [poohr kee?]	Why?
Qual Quais?	[kwal?] [kwaiss?]	Which one Which ones?
Quando?	[kwan-doo?]	When?
Quanto?	[kwan-too?]	How much?
Quantos?	[kwan-toosh?] EU [kwan-tooss?]	How many?
Quantos anos?	[kwan-toos ah-noos?]	How old?
De que tamanho?	[deh kay tah-mah-nyio?] EU [chee kee tah-mah-nyio?]	How big/small? What size?
Quem?	[kaying?]	Who?
Quem?	[kaying?]	Who?

* “O que?” is normally followed by a verb, (e.g. “O que bebe?” – “what would you like to drink?”), whereas “Que?” is followed by a noun (e.g. “Que carro tem?” – “What car do you have?”). Note: When European (EU) Portuguese native speakers ask a question, they normally emphasize these question words of the Portuguese vocabulary with “é que” (e.g. Quem é que come carne? – Who eats meat?). If you ask questions with this “é que”, you’ll impress your Portuguese friends, because normally, only native speakers use it! However, it has to be said really fast to sound natural. My suggestion is: practise them all running the words together like this: “Como é que?” [koo-may kay?], “porque é que?” [poohr-kay-kay?], and so on.]]>

Portuguese Prepositions

Prepositions are small words or combination of words that connect some elements (nouns, pronouns or phrases)  to other words in a sentence. Thus, it’s very important to learn PREPOSITIONS and its structure because they are used in every day conversation. Are also vital words in the Portuguese vocabulary because they are linking words. These words place the position or movement of something in time and place. There are many but, basically, we only need 9 to communicate. In Portuguese some of them must be contracted with the definite articles above. 1) Eu vou viajar depois de amanhã. (I’m going to travel after tomorrow.) 2) João vai estudar Português comigo próximo ano. (João will study Portuguese with me next year.)/ Eu  estou com ela. (I’m with her) 3) O cachorro está dentro de casa. (The dog is inside the house.) 4) As chaves estao sob a mesa. (The keys are under the table.) 5) Eu quero encontrar você antes do pôr-do-sol. (I want to see you before the sunset.) 6) Onde você está? Eu estou em casa. (Where are you? I’m at home) 7) Entre eu e você só existe amizade. (Between me and you there is only friendship.) 8) Há sete alunos e um professor entre nós. (There are seven students and one teacher among us) Some verbs are also followed by preposition, such as GOSTAR, PRECISAR. In Portuguese these verbs are ALWAYS followed by the preposition “DE”(in English it is not necessary): Eg: Eu gosto de você. (I like you) Ana gosta de chocolate. (Ana likes chocolate.) Carlos gosta de feijoada. (Carlos likes feijoada.) Many students have difficulties to make difference between: DE and DO, DOS, DA, DAS. There are many situations where you can use them,  let’s see some exemples how to use it properly. First of all, remember that main preposition is “DE”, the other ones are combination of DE + articles: DE + A: DA (feminim, singular) DE + AS: DAS (feminim, plural) DE + O: DO (masculin, singular) DE + OS: DOS (masculin, plural)

• DE:

__De onde você é? (Where are you from?) __Eu sou de Fortaleza. /Eu sou de Sao Paulo/ Eu sou de Brasília/ Eu sou de Bogotá/ Eu sou de Buenos Aires/ Eu sou de Londres. *exceptions: Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. Eu sou do Rio de Janeiro/ Eu sou da Bahia. Use “DE” when you’re talking about the city where you’re from.

• DO/DA/DOS/DAS

__De onde você é? (Where are you from?) __ Eu sou do Brasil/do Japao/do Peru./da Colômbia/da Inglaterra/ da República Tcheca/dos Estados Unidos/das Ilhas Malvinas. *exceptions: Eu sou de Portugal./ Eu sou de Cuba Use DO/DA/DOS/DAS when you’re talking about the country you’re from. To use the correct preposition in this case you must learn the gender of the countries in Portuguese. We have a helpful list for you: Let’s look at the Prepositions, and then their contractions.

Prepositions	Meaning	Sound	Contractions	Meaning
De	From Of About	[deh] EU [chee] BR	Do da dos das	From the Of the About the
A	To At (with time)	[Ah]	Ao À Aos Às	To the At the
Até	Up to Until Even (e.g. Even Maria was there)	[Ah-tay]	Até o Até a Até os Até as	Up to the Until + time Even the
Em	In On At	[eng]	No Na Nos Nas	In the On the At the
Por *	For Through Via By	[poohr]	Pelo Pela Pelos Pelas	For the Through The Via The By the
Para *	To Towards For (as aim) In orther to	[pah-rah]	Para o Para a Para os Para as	To the Towards the For the In order to
Com	With	[con]	Com o Com a Com os Com as	With the
Sem	Without	[seng]	Sem o Sem a Sem os Sem as	Without the
Sobre	About	[soh-bray]	Sobre o Sobre a Sobre os Sobre as	About the

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Portuguese Days of the Week

The days of the week in Portuguese are a combination of ordinal numbers and feira for Monday through Friday.

Monday	segunda-feira
Tuesday	terça-feira
Wednesday	quarta-feira
Thursday	quinta-feira
Friday	sexta-feira
Saturday	sábado
Sunday	domingo
today	o dia
week	a semana
weekend	o fim de semana
today	hoje
tomorrow	amanhã

The days from Monday to Friday have this name because they were called according to the fair (feira) that used to take place in that day a long time ago. A “feira” is a set of tents pitched in the street where you can buy vegetables, fruits, and other food items.

Portuguese Months of the Year

The months of the year in Portuguese are quite similar to the words in English.

January	janeiro
February	fevereiro
March	março
April	abril
May	maio
June	junho
July	julho
August	agosto
September	setembro
October	outubro
November	novembro
December	dezembro
month	o mês
the first of [a month]	primeiro de [month]
year	o ano

To say a specific day of a month, use cardinal (two, three, four, etc.) and not ordinal numbers (second, third, fourth, etc.) except for the first of the month when you do use primeiro. Also notice that the date is written with the day first, and then the month: 16/04/2005 – Dezesseis de abril de dois mil e cinco.

The Seasons in Portuguese

spring	primavera	in the spring	na primavera
summer	verão	in the summer	no verão
autumn	outono	in the autumn	no outono
winter	inverno	in the winter	no inverno

Remember that Brazil is in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons are the opposite of those in the northern hemisphere, i.e. it is summer in January and winter in July.

Learn how to say the directions in Portuguese:

north	norte	northeast	nordeste
south	sul	southeast	sudeste
east	leste	northwest	noroeste
west	oeste	southwest	sudoeste

right	à direita
left	à esquerda
straight ahead	sempre em frente

Portuguese Plural Nouns

There are four main ways to form plural nouns in Portuguese:

1. Words that end in -l : drop the l and put -is if the word does not have an i before the l. If it has an e you change it to é to make the same sound.

pastel (pastry) – pastéis

2. Words that end in -ão : it has no rule. Sometimes you change it to -ões or -ães, or just add -s, depending on the word. It’s better to memorize the plural when you learn the word.

coração (heart) – corações

mão (hand) – mãos cão (dog) – cães

3. Words that end in -s or -z : have no plural form, so the singular and plural are the same.

ônibus (bus)

óculos (glasses) arroz (rice)

4. All other words : just add an -s.

pêra (pear) – pêras maçã (apple) – maçãs guaraná (soda) – guaranás

Learn how to say the family members and some animals in Portuguese

family	família	nephew	sobrinho
parents	pais	niece	sobrinha
husband	marido / esposo	cousin (m)	primo
wife	esposa / mulher	cousin (f)	prima
father	pai	relatives	parentes
mother	mãe
son	filho	dog	cachorro/cão
daughter	filha	cat	gato
children	filhos	bird	pássaro
sister	irmã	fish	peixe
brother	irmão	horse	cavalo
grandfather	avô	goat	cabra
grandmother	avó	pig	porco
grandson	neto	cow	vaca
granddaughter	neta	rabbit	coelho
uncle	tio	turtle	tartaruga
aunt	tia	mouse	rato

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