Olá / Oi. = Hi / Hello. Bom dia = Good morning Boa tarde = Good afternoon Boa noite = Good evening or night While we’re at it, it’s also useful to know time phrases: Manhã = Morning Dia = Day Noite = Evening or night Tarde = Evening before 6 Pela manhã = In the morning De dia = In the day À tarde = In the afternoon De noite = At night
Eu não falo português. – I don’t speak Portuguese. (Você) Fala inglês? - Do you speak English? Eu sou de. . . (Londres).
- I am from. . . (London). Eu sou português.
- I’m Portuguese. Desculpe / Com licença.
- Excuse me. Muito obrigado/a.
- Thank you very much. De nada.
- You are welcome/No problem. Desculpe.
- Sorry. Até mais.
- See you later. Tchau! - Bye!
De onde você é? - Where are you from? Onde vocês moram? - Where do you live? Quem é ela? - Who is she? O que é isso? - What is this? Onde é o banheiro? - Where is the bathroom, please? O que você faz? - What do you do? Quanto custa isso? or Quanto isso custa? - How much is this?
O que você quer comer? - What would you like to eat? Você está com fome? - Are you hungry? O que você quer beber? - What would you like to drink? Eu queria um cafezinho.
- I’d like an espresso. O que você recomenda? - What do you recommend? Eu quero fazer um pedido - I would like to order now. Uma cerveja, por favor.
- A beer, please. A conta, por favor.
- The bill (check), please.
Feliz Aniversário = Happy Birthday Feliz Natal = Merry Christmas Feliz Ano Novo = Happy New Year Feliz Dia Dos Namorados = Happy Valentine’s Day Feliz Dia das Mães = Happy Mother’s Day Feliz Dia dos Pais = Happy Father’s Day
1 - um/uma (a masculine noun would use um and a feminine noun, uma) 2 - dois/duas 3 - três 4 - quatro 5 - cinco 6 - seis 7 - sete 8 - oito 9 - nove 10 - dez 20 - vinte 21 - vinte e um 30 - trinta 31 - trinta e um 40 - quarenta 41 - quarenta e um 50 - cinquenta 51 - cinquenta e um See the pattern? It’s always the tens place followed by “e” and the ones place.
Domingo = Sunday Segunda-feira = Monday Terça-Feira = Tuesday Quarta-Feira = Wednesday Quinta-Feira = Thursday Sexta-Feira = Friday Sábado = Saturday
Black - preto Blue - azul Brown - marrom Gray - cinza Green - verde Orange - laranja Pink - rosa Purple - roxo Red - vermelho White - branco Yellow - amarelo
Bad - mau/má Good - bom/boa Beautiful - bonito/bonita Big - grande Delicious - delicioso/deliciosa Easy - fácil Sad - triste Small - pequeno/pequena Ugly - feio/feia New - novo/nova Nouns are inherently feminine or masculine in Portuguese and the adjective must match them. Whatever you’re talking about, know that it has a gender—if you need to describe it, that gender must match. Generally, feminine versions end in “-a. "
I - Eu You - Tu or você He/Her/It - Ele/Ela We - Nós or a gente “You guys” - vós They - Eles/elas
To be - ser To buy - comprar To drink - beber To eat - comer To give - dar To speak - falar To write - escrever To say - dizer To walk - andar to see = ver
“Ar” verbs, like comprar, conjugate like -o, -as, -a, -amos, -ais, -am. So that’s “compro,” “compras,” “compra,” “compramos,” “comprais,” “compram. " “Er” verbs, like comer, conjugate like -o, -es, -e, -emos, -eis, -em. So that’s “como,” “comes,” “come,” “comemos,” “comeis,” “comem. " “Ir” verbs, like partire, conjugate like -o, -es, -e, -imos, -is, -em. So that’s “parto,” “partes,” “parte,” “partimos,” “partis,” “partem. " Of course, these are just three regular examples and that’s just in the indicative. There are tons of irregular verbs and loads of tenses, but to cover those would take hours and hours and hours of your time.
É uma hora = It is 1 o’clock São duas horas = It is 2 o’clock São três horas = It is 3 o’clock São dez horas = It is 10 o’clock São onze horas = It is 11 o’clock São doze horas = It is 12 o’clock São oito horas da manhã = It is 8 o’clock in the morning É uma hora da tarde = It is 1 o’clock in the afternoon São oito horas da noite = It is 8 o’clock in the evening É uma hora da manhã = It is 1 o’clock in the morning
A = ah B = bayh C = sayh D = day E = eh F = ehfee G = zhayh H = ah-gah I = ee J = zhota L = eh-lee M = eh-mee N = eh-nee O = ohr P = peh Q = qay R = eh-rre S = eh-sse T= teh U= oo V= vay X= shiss Z= zay The letters K, W and Y are used only for scientific symbols and foreign words.
The tilde (~) indicates nasalization. Any letter with this symbol will be said through your nose. Ç/ç is pronounced like “s. " That’s a cedilla underneath that “c,” by the way. Ê/ê is used for stressing and is just pronounced like /e/. The accent grave (`) is only used in the letter “A” and it’s just for contractions. For example, the feminine pronoun for “the” and “to” are both “a. " If you go “to the city,” it’s “à cidade. " The “á” in Portuguese is just used to denote stress and only written when it’s abnormal.
Nasalize (that is, say through your nose) every “m” and “n” at the end of every syllable (but not between vowels) so they sound like “ng. " “Bem” (well) then is pronounced like “beng. “[4] X Research source The sound “-ão” sounds a lot like “ow,” but that tilde on top of the “a” means it must be said entirely through your nose. “S” sounds like “z” when it is between two vowels, and like “s” otherwise. So “casa” is pronounced “caa-za”, “absinto” is pronounced “abi-ssin-too”, and “suave” is “ssu-aa-ve”. “D” and “t” become “j” and “ch” sounds before “e” or “i. " So “saudades” is pronounced sa-oo-DA-jeez. Speaking of “saudades,” unstressed “e” at the end of words turns to an “ee” sound. It’s tempting to want to say “sa-oo-da-jayz,” but that “jayz” becomes “jeez. " Unstressed “o” does something similar – it turns to “oo. " “Como” then is pronounced more like “co-moo. " Sometimes, it’s not pronounced at all. “Cohm” would be how it’s said, depending on the dialect. “L” turns to “oo,” too, when not between vowels and at the end of a syllable. “Brazil” then is pronounced “bra-ZEE-oo. " That trilled “r” we all know so well in Spanish turns into an “h” sound. So using what we know, how would you pronounce “morro?” It’s a very strange “MO-hoo. " Yep. Really.
“Secretária” or “automático” on the other hand, tells you that the stress is on the antepenultimate syllable.
Always use the “ustedes” conjugation for the second person plural and third person plural; that is, “they” and “you guys” are the same – even with regard to formality. Whether you’re giving a speech or talking to friends, it’s “ustedes” all the way. The vocabulary can be quite different – even with the most basic of words. Red in Spanish is “rojo”; in BP, it’s “vermelho. " Never make any assumptions; there are a ton of false cognates out there! There are only three person-conjugations. Yay! But they do use an entirely new tense, the future subjunctive. So it’s a give and take when it comes to difficulty.
Things like “OK” to confirm an offer are instead “Demorou!” “Bacana” means “cool,” and “inteligente” becomes “cabeçudo. " And that’s just three examples! Cursing is frowned upon in more formal situations, obviously, but if you’re blending in at the local bar watching the football game, it’s gonna come up. “Porra” is a good word to start with for expressing general frustration. As for sounds, the starkest contrast is with the “r” and it should be a bit more guttural (remember how it’s pronounced like an “h?”) Think something closer to “loch. " This goes for all “r” sounds that are at the beginning or end of a word, those that have been doubled, or those preceded by an “n” or “l. " “S” at the end of words or syllables that are followed by an unvoiced consonant (t, c, f, p) gets turned to “sh” here. So “meus pais” becomes “mih-oosh pah-eesh. "
Loan words are actually a lot more common in Brazilian Portuguese than European Portuguese and European Spanish. For example, it’s “mouse” for a computer mouse in all of South America but “ratón” across the pond. Kinda makes sense – the majority of them are from America – it’s harder to make a jump across the Atlantic.
Listen to tracks and videos online to help you with pronunciation. Since the rules are a bit all over the place, immersing yourself in them as often as possible is the best thing you can do to curve the mistakes that keep springing up.
The smaller the class, the better. And if it’s large, try to meet someone that you can practice one-on-one with whose skills are a bit better than yours. Study groups can get you practicing every day when class isn’t often enough to really build and grow.
This is part of the reason signing up for a class is such a good idea. Your teacher or your classmates may have access to a circle that you don’t and that you can become a part of. You’ll be able to meet people in ways you never could’ve otherwise—and get something out of it, too.
YouTube is a great place to start. There are myriad tutorials online that can get your brain primed for this language, triggering your words faster and easier.
