Learn Basic Portuguese Phrases for Beginners

How do you say “Hi!” in Portuguese? And what about “Thank you”? And what about if you want to introduce yourself to others?

If you are an absolute beginner or someone planning to visit a Portuguese-speaking country any time soon, you have come to the right place. You are about to learn simple Portuguese phrases that we use non-stop in day-to-day life. Here we go.

Note that you say 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 greet both “Good evening” and “Good night” – the context tells you of course which one it is.

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

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 3-person (você, o senhor, a senhora) especially when you don’t know them well. Among friends and relatives, though, we usually use the 2-person (tu). The verb endings change accordingly.

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

We often swallow consonant and vowel sounds 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 sounds are quite nasal. For instance, words that end in -ão or -m such as Não and Sim produce nasal sounds.

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

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 forget that they need to slow it down for you to understand. So, never shy away from asking Pode falar mais devagar?

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

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

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

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

Last but not least. 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 learning strategy: Mindsets and Strategies to Learn Portuguese the Best.