Portuguese Basic Phrases for Beginners

How do you say “hi” in Portuguese? and what about “thank you”? It is time for you to learn those basic Portuguese sentences that we use non-stop in day-to-day life – definitely a must for all beginners and travelers planning to visit a Portuguese-speaking country any time soon.

Let’s get started.

• Greetings
• Introduce yourself
• Politeness
• Other helpful expressions
• Numerals (bonus)

Greetings

1.	Olá!	Hi!
2.	Tudo bem?	How are you doing?
3.	Bem obrigado/a, e tu? (informal) Bem obrigado/a, e você? (formal)	I am fine, what about you?
4.	Bom dia	Good morning
5.	Boa tarde	Good afternoon
6.	Boa noite	Good evening Good night
7.	Adeus	Bye
8.	Até à próxima	See you next time
9.	Até já	See you in a minute
10.	Até logo	See you later
11.	Até amanhã	See you tomorrow

Note that you will say either obrigado or obrigada depending on if you identify with a man or a woman respectively.

Also, you will often hear Viva! or Então? instead of Olá! And most of the time folks will be combining different expressions into one greeting such as Viva, tudo bem?

Boa noite is used to greeting both Good evening and Good night – the context nuances it.

Reading tips! Learn more Portuguese greetings: Saying Hello! in Portuguese: A Comprehensive Rundown on Portuguese Greetings.

Introducing yourself

12.	Como te chamas? (formal) Como se chama? (informal)	What’s your name?
13.	Chamo-me …	My name is …
14.	Tenho trinta e três anos	I’m 33 years old
15.	Sou da Suécia	I am from Sweden
16.	Vivo em Estocolmo	I live in Stockholm
17.	Prazer em conhecer	Nice to meet you
18.	Igualmente	The same

Instead of saying Chamo-me Sofia you may as well say Sou a Sofia (with the verb ser), just as you’d say in English my name is … or I am …. You will also hear Moro em Lisboa instead of Vivo em Lisboa since the verbs morar and viver can be used interchangeably in this context.

In Portugal, it is common to address people using the third person pronoun você, especially when you don’t know them well. When among friends or relatives, we normally use the second person pronoun tu.

Reading Tips! Get your feet wet in Portuguese grammar: Dabbling in Portuguese Grammar – First Impressions for Beginners.

Being polite

19.	Por favor! or  Desculpe!	Excuse me!
20.	Desculpe! or  Perdão!	I am sorry!
21.	Queria …	I would like to have …
22.	Onde fica … ?	Where is … ?
23.	Obrigado/a	Thanks
24.	De nada	You’re welcome
25.	Sim	Yes
26.	Não	No
27.	Talvez	Perhaps

Just as in other languages, we often “swallow” letters when we speak and the word obrigado is a good example. So, don’t be surprised if you hear ~brigado instead.

You’ve probably noticed that Portuguese is quite a nasal language. For instance, words that end in -ão or -m such as não and sim produce nasal sounds.

Reading tips! Dive deeper into Portuguese phonology: Portuguese Pronunciation: A Helpful Guide to Portuguese Basic Sounds and Spelling Patterns.

For the sake of clarity

28.	Não falo Português	I don’t speak Portuguese
29	Falo um pouco de Português	I can speak a little Portuguese
30.	Fala Inglês?	You speak English?
31.	Não percebi	I didn’t understand
32.	Um momento, por favor	Just a moment please
33.	Pode repetir?	Can you say that again?
34.	Pode falar mais devagar?	Can you speak slower?
35.	O que significa … ?	What does it mean … ?

The expressions above are useful when you are interacting with native speakers. People will, in general, be happy to talk to you, but they might as well speak at their ‘normal’ speed, which will be probably too fast for you. So, never shy from asking Pode falar mais devagar?

The verbs Perceber, Entender, Compreender are all synonyms. If someone says Não entendi to you, that means that he or she didn’t understand you.

Reading tips! Speaking of clarity, sometimes you may need to spell out a word, or other people may do it for you. Here’s something to help you with that: The Portuguese Alphabet: Spelling in Portuguese from A to Z.

Portuguese Numerals

1. um/uma	12. doze	[…]
2. dois/duas	13. treze	30. trinta
3. três	14. catorze	40. quarenta
4. quatro	15. quinze	50. cinquenta
5. cinco	16. dezasseis	60. sessenta
6. seis	17. dezassete	70. setenta
7. sete	18. dezoito	80. oitenta
8. oito	19. dezanove	90. noventa
9. nove	20. vinte	100. cem
10. dez	21. vinte e um	103. mil
11. onze	22. vinte e dois	106. milhão

Notice that the first two numbers have their endings changed according to gender: um carro but uma mesa; dois carros but duas mesas.

Reading tips! Become a pro with counting in Portuguese: Numbers in Portuguese: counting from 1 to infinity

Tips! If you are serious about learning Portuguese, you will want to click on the link below. See, there’s nothing more practical than a solid language learning strategy: Mindsets and Strategies to Learn Portuguese the Best.