Essential Portuguese Phrases

Essential Portuguese Phrases

If you're travelling to Brazil, or thinking about it, and don't know a word of Portuguese, don't stress. Here's some Portuguese words and phrases you'll actually use on your trip, kept simple, straightforward and easy to pick up.

First things first: say Oi before anything else

The moment you're near someone, say Oi  / Hi.

With mates or people you already know, a simple Oi does the job. But in shops, restaurants, hotels, and anywhere you're talking to staff, it's dead common to open with Bom dia / Good morning, Boa tarde / Good afternoon or Boa noite / Good evening or Good night before you ask for anything.

And yeah, Boa noite gets used both when you're arriving somewhere and when you're leaving. It's not just for when you're off to bed.

Simple as that: greet first, then ask.

The reply everyone's expecting

You'll hear Oi, tudo bem? / Hi, how are you? loads during your trip, and most of the time it's just a greeting, not a real question.

You can reply:

Oi, estou bem, obrigado! / Hi, I'm great, thanks! if you're male.

Oi, estou bem, obrigada! / Hi, I'm great, thanks! if you're female.

If you fancy keeping the chat going:
E você? / And you?

For example:
-Oi, tudo bem? / Hi, how are you?
-Estou bem, obrigada. E você? / I'm fine, thanks. And you?

Worth remembering: obrigado is for blokes, obrigada is for women.

Por favor / Please and com licença / Excuse me are two more basics you'll use loads.

Conversations just happen

Brazilians tend to be proper chatty, so don't be surprised if a conversation just starts out of nowhere. You could be queuing, sat at a bar, on the beach, or just sharing a space with someone, and before you know it, you're mid conversation.

The person's name can come up naturally as you go:

-Qual o seu nome? / What's your name?

-Samar. E o seu? / Samar. And yours?

-Meu nome é Josh. / My name is Josh.

-Prazer! / Nice to meet you!

You don't need to memorise some whole script. The main thing is knowing that in Brazil, most conversations start small and just build naturally from there.

Shopping, the beach, restaurants, or buying pretty much anything

Now some phrases you'll use just about everywhere.

Quanto custa? / How much is it?

Onde fica…? / Where is...?

Onde é o banheiro? / Where is the bathroom?

No need to learn a longer sentence. This one's short, correct, and it's what you'll hear Brazilians actually saying day to day.

If you're at a restaurant or bar and fancy another drink:

Mais uma, por favor. / One more, please.

And when you're done:

A conta, por favor. / The bill, please.

Want to sound like you already know Brazil?

A few words you'll hear constantly.

Valeu is a more casual way of saying obrigado, thanks.

Partiu means something like “let's go for it.”

Partiu praia! / Let's go to the beach!

Beleza can mean “alright,” “cool,” “sorted,” and it even works as a goodbye, depending on the context.

Legal, maneiro and massa are all ways of saying something's cool, decent, or really good.

And if someone calls you gringo (male) / gringa (female), don't take it personally. It's just a casual way of saying foreigner, it's not meant as an insult.

And if you actually need help?

Hopefully you won't, but a few phrases are worth having in your back pocket:

Preciso de ajuda. / I need help.

Pode me ajudar? / Can you help me?

Não entendi. / I didn't understand.

Eu não falo português. / I don't speak Portuguese.

Socorro! / Help!

Preciso de um médico. / I need a doctor.

Chama a polícia, por favor. / Call the police, please.

Don't be shy about using Translate

Don't feel embarrassed about opening Google Translate, or whatever app you use, at any point on your trip.

English isn't as widely spoken in Brazil as you might think. Only around 5% of Brazilians have any knowledge of English at all, and less than 1% are actually fluent.

So it's completely normal to run into people who don't speak a word of English.

But don't worry, Brazilians are more than happy to gesture, point, act things out, and find some way to get the message across.

So have a go at speaking first. If it doesn't work, open up Translate.

The main thing is getting your point across.

Funny enough, this is basically how me and Josh got together. When we first met, he didn't speak a word of Portuguese and I didn't speak a word of English. We met online, and for the first eight months of dating, Google Translate did all the heavy lifting. Most of our dates were just laughing and passing the phone back and forth. If it can carry an actual relationship, it can definitely get you a coconut water.

A few words worth learning by heart

Banheiro is bathroom. Cerveja is beer. Água is water. Comida is food. Estou com fome is I'm hungry. Estou com sede is I'm thirsty.

Sometimes just pointing and saying the word is enough.

And that's it. You already know loads more Portuguese than when you started.

Every phrase, all in one place

Everything from this article, so you can come back and hear the pronunciation again.

Tap a play button to hear each BR- Portuguese phrase spoken by a native speaker.