Portuguese 101: Easy Phrases for First Time Visitors
So you’re going to visit Portugal, fantastic! The Portuguese are so friendly, and happy to help you communicate and help you get what you need, whether in a small store, or a restaurant. However, a little knowledge of Portuguese goes a long way toward showing you are making an effort to appreciate their culture. We often find even rather gruff-looking older men break into a smile when we use a bit of basic Portuguese.
We are expats living in Porto, working hard on our language skills. From the perspective of tourists and expats, here are some basic phrases that will help you on your travels, as well as a brief explanation of how the language works and sounds. We’ll talk a little about pronunciation and how European Portuguese differs from Spanish and even Brazilian Portuguese.
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Older people also usually speak decent English, but will often tell you they don’t, all the while communicating with you in English just fine. We always smile, compliment their English, and lament the difficulty of learning Portuguese.
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Portuguese Language Basics
Here are some basic examples of European Portuguese that may be helpful as you travel around the country. While there is a different accent in the North (Porto) versus the South (Lisbon and the Algarve), as a visitor, you probably won’t notice much difference.
We are not fluent speakers and are in the process of learning European Portuguese ourselves. These are some of the things that we found useful as we started our expat journey. Also known as “what we wished someone had told us sooner!”.
If you need to communicate with someone who doesn’t speak English, we recommend the app DeepL, which is more accurate than Google Translate, though for most tourists, Google Translate will work just fine as well.
Also, the pronunciation guides are all my own, and not at all official. I hope you find them useful. I’ve included a short guide to pronunciation in European Portuguese to help you stumble through new words.
Hello and Goodbye
These are really important, as you should say “Hello” every time you enter a store, whether you need help or not, and “goodbye” as you exit.
Olá, Bom Dia: Hello and good day, used before Noon. Note that the pronunciation in European Portuguese sounds more like “Bon” dia, you don’t hear the “m”. Olá sounds similar to “hola” in Spanish.
Olá, Boa Tarde: Hello and good afternoon, used after lunchtime- 12 noon or 1 pm depending on who you ask.
Olá, Boa Noite: Hello and good evening, used after sunset.
Note: All three of these can also be used as “goodbye”, but they are rather formal. Boa Noite is the most common, to say goodnight at the end of an evening.
Tchau: The “T” is silent, this is pronounced like the Italian “ciao”, and is the most common, casual way to say goodbye.
Até logo: See you soon, meaning in a bit, probably later today.
Até breve: See you soon, but we’re not sure when. You’ll sometimes see this on at the airport.
Adeus: like the Spanish “adios”, this means something like “go with God”, but is pronounced, “Ahh Day-oosh”. Used less often than the previous phrases, and a bit formal, usually used when you won’t see someone again soon, but easy to remember.
Please and Thank You
Por favor: Just like in Spanish, this is a simple, easy “please” and should be used often.
You can also say se faz favor, but that’s probably more complicated than you need.
Obrigado/Obrigada: Thank you. The important thing here is gender. This does not change according to whom you are addressing, but it is the gender of the person speaking.
So if you are female, you say “Obrigada”, if you are male, you always say “Obrigado”. It basically translates to “I’m obligated”, so your gender is the one that matters. Pronounced: oh-bree-Gah-doo or oh-bree-Gah-dah. Thought to make this more complicated, women can use both versions, men cannot.
Do You Speak English?
Falas Inglês?: This is the informal “you”, and is sufficient for most purposes. You can also say “Fala Inglês”, but this is the formal “você” which is reserved for older people or government officials.
Pronunciation Guide: Fah-lash eng-Lay-SH
This is a polite thing to say, for example, when speaking to someone in a pharmacy or at a customer service desk. Start with “Olá, bom dia”, and then use this phrase. It is polite to not assume that they speak English, even though you are really hoping they do!
If they don’t speak English, they may also tell you which other languages they do speak, and then you can whip out your high school French, German, or Spanish as needed. When we signed up for our government-sponsored Portuguese class, we used Portuguese, French, German, and English in the registration process!
Yes and No, With and Without
Sim: “Yes”, pronounced with a very closed, nasal “m”.
Não: “No”, pronounced with a nasal sound, a bit like “now”.
Com: “with”, as in “agua com gas” is sparkling water. The M is closed and swallowed. Ordering a traditional francesinha? The server will want to know if you want it “com ovos” (with an egg).
Sem: “without”, as in “agua sem gas” is water without bubbles. Again, the M is closed and swallowed.
The and At
O or A: These are “the”, masculine and feminine. The plurals are Os (masc.) and As (fem.), pronounced with a “sh” at the end.
“At the” becomes “no” or “na” which can be confusing for English speakers.
The Necessities
Ok, here are a few full phrases that may come in handy. However, often when speaking a little Portuguese, you’ll get a full reply in Portuguese that is hard to follow. Don’t worry, it happens to all of us, just keep trying!
Desculpe! – Sorry! Make sure not to pronounce the e on the end. “desh-koolp”
Desculpe, não falo português. – Sorry, I don’t speak Portuguese. “Desh-koolp, now fah-loo poor-too-gesh”
Não entendo – I don’t understand. “Now en-ten-doo”
Onde fica a casa de banho? – Where is the bathroom? “on-duh fee-ca ah ka-zah duh ban-yoo”
Interested in more phrases? Check out our guide to ordering coffee like a local! Try out your new skills at one of our recommended coffee shops.
Planning to rent a car? Our guide to driving in Portugal includes useful words phrases you’ll see on the highway and at gas stations.
Portuguese vs Spanish
So, how similar is Portuguese to Spanish? The first thing to know is that the Portuguese do not consider them the same, and do not appreciate you assuming they will understand your Spanish. They are very proud of their culture and don’t like the assumption that the languages are similar enough to be interchangeable.
The structure of Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, and you will find a lot of overlap in the vocabulary. However, Spanish is a syllable-timed language, meaning it stresses every syllable. For example, if a word ends in “e” in Spanish, you pronounce it; in Portuguese, that ending “e” is very soft or silent.
Portuguese is a stress-timed language, which means that it stresses important parts of a sentence and drops other sounds. In that way, it is similar to English. It sounds odd or formal to say “She is going to the store.” Instead, we often would say something closer to “she’s goin’ t’the store”. Portuguese also drops and compresses sounds, as well as having several silent letters.
European Portuguese vs Brazilian Portuguese
If you decide to dig deeper into studying Portuguese, you should understand the difference between Brazilian and European Portuguese. Consider it a bit similar to the differences between British and American English, but heightened.
The basis is the same, but the accent is different, and the vocabulary is often also different. Also, in Brazil, they use primarily the “você” form of “you”, while the Portuguese use the less formal “tu” form.
For example, “bom dia” with a Brazilian accent sounds more like “bon Gee-ah”. Even as a foreigner, I can spot a Brazilian accent the minute they say hello, it’s very distinct. Brazilian Portuguese is closer to a syllable-timed language, with a more even, sing-song cadence that is less condensed than European Portuguese. This can make it a little easier to learn, but it won’t help you understand what you hear on the streets of Portugal.
Over 250 million people worldwide speak Portuguese, but with 213 million people in Brazil vs 10 million or so in Portugal, you’ll find many more resources for learning the Brazilian version of the language.
To continue learning European Portuguese, we recommend the apps Dinolingo (for kids, not be confused with Duolingo), Memrise, and Practice Portuguese.
Understanding Portuguese Pronunciation (at least a little)
Here are a few key points that we think may help you start to understand how to pronounce things in European Portuguese
-S at the end of a word is pronounced “sh”. There are lots of these!
-S in between two vowels is a “z” sound. So “casa” (house) is pronounced “Cah-Zah”
-O without an accent is more like the “u” in “tune”, or an “oo” but short. For example, cat in Spanish is “gato” (Gah-tow), but in Portuguese it is “gato” (Gah-tu).
-E at the end of a word is very soft or silent. Green is “verde”, with a strong D sound being the end of the word.
-M at the end of a word indicates a nasal sound but is not a strongly pronounced letter. Your lips should never close at the end. “Bom Dia” sounds more like “bon dia” with a nasal “n”.
-H at the start of a word is silent. “Hoje” means “today”, and is pronounced “Oh-j”
-NH and LH, when combined, make special sounds that are hard to describe, but think of them as if the H becomes a “Y” sound, but together the letters make one sound, not two. Vinho (wine) is more like “veen-yoo”.
-K, W, and Y don’t exist in Portuguese except in foreign words.
Don’t Skip the Accents!
Accents are really important in Portuguese, so you cannot ignore or drop them. In French, if you capitalize a word that begins with an accent, you can drop it; that is not the case for Portuguese.
Dropping an accent can change the meaning, as well as the pronunciation of the word.
If there is no accent in a word, the stress is on the penultimate syllable. If there is an accent in the word, that accent indicates where the stress of the word is placed.
There You Have It
Your beginner’s guide to Portuguese phrases to help you travel around Portugal. You’ll start to understand how to pronounce words you see written, and how European Portuguese differs from Brazilian Portuguese.
If you’re headed to Porto, check out our 3-day itinerary to see the highlights of the city. Rushed or have a stopover? We’ve got you covered with our 1-day itinerary, or check out or list of the top sights in Porto.
Need some beach time? Head to Matosinhos on the Porto Metro for surfing and more.
Have a few rainy days? Check out our list of fun activities for rainy days.
