Common Portuguese Phrases with English Translation
These are the basic Portuguese phrases you will use most: greetings, simple questions, directions, ordering food, emergencies, numbers and days of the week. Each entry shows the Portuguese, the English meaning and an easy pronunciation guide.
The pronunciation column follows Brazilian Portuguese, which most learning material uses. Portugal spells the words the same way but pronounces them differently — unstressed vowels are swallowed and a final S sounds like “sh” — and sometimes uses a different word. The last column shows what changes in Portugal. Capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
Travelling? The Portuguese phrases for travel page has airport, transport, hotel, restaurant and emergency phrases for both Portugal and Brazil. For anything else, use the free translator.
Greetings and polite expressions
| Portuguese | English | Pronunciation (Brazil) | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olá / Oi | Hello / Hi | oh-LAH / OY | Olá; oi is informal |
| Bom dia | Good morning | bohn JEE-ah | “bohn DEE-uh” |
| Boa tarde | Good afternoon | BOH-ah TAR-jee | “TAR-d” |
| Boa noite | Good evening / Good night | BOH-ah NOY-chee | “NOY-t” |
| Tudo bem? | How are you? / All good? | TOO-doo bayn | Same |
| Como está? | How are you? (polite) | KOH-moo ees-TAH | “KOH-moo ish-TAH” |
| Muito bem, obrigado / obrigada | Very well, thank you | MWEEN-too bayn, oh-bree-GAH-doo / -dah | Same |
| Por favor | Please | poor fah-VOR | Also se faz favor |
| Obrigado / Obrigada | Thank you (said by a man / a woman) | oh-bree-GAH-doo / oh-bree-GAH-dah | Same |
| De nada | You're welcome | jee NAH-dah | “d NAH-duh” |
| Com licença | Excuse me | kohn lee-SEN-sah | Same |
| Desculpe | Sorry | jees-KOOL-pee | “dish-KOOL-p” |
| Tchau | Bye | CHOW | Also used; adeus is common |
| Até logo | See you later | ah-TEH LOH-goo | Same |
| Prazer | Nice to meet you | prah-ZEHR | Same |
Obrigado agrees with the speaker: men say obrigado, women say obrigada.
Essential questions
| Portuguese | English | Pronunciation (Brazil) | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qual é o seu nome? | What is your name? | kwow EH oo SAY-oo NOH-mee | Also Como se chama? |
| De onde você é? | Where are you from? | jee OHN-jee voh-SEH EH | De onde é? (polite) |
| Você fala inglês? | Do you speak English? | voh-SEH FAH-lah een-GLEHS | Fala inglês? |
| Quanto custa? | How much does it cost? | KWAN-too KOOS-tah | “KOOSH-tuh” |
| Onde fica ...? | Where is ...? | OHN-jee FEE-kah | Same words |
| Que horas são? | What time is it? | kee OH-rahs SOWN | “OH-rush” |
| Pode me ajudar? | Can you help me? | POH-jee mee ah-zhoo-DAR | Pode ajudar-me? |
| Não entendo | I don't understand | nowng en-TEN-doo | Usually Não percebo |
| Pode repetir? | Can you repeat that? | POH-jee heh-peh-CHEER | Same |
| O que é isso? | What is that? | oo KEE EH EE-soo | Same |
Travel and directions
| Portuguese | English | Pronunciation (Brazil) | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onde fica o banheiro? | Where is the bathroom? | OHN-jee FEE-kah oo bahn-YAY-roo | Onde é a casa de banho? |
| À direita | To the right | ah jee-RAY-tah | Same |
| À esquerda | To the left | ah ees-KEHR-dah | Same |
| Em frente / Reto | Straight ahead | ayn FREN-chee / HEH-too | Sempre em frente |
| Perto | Near | PEHR-too | Same |
| Longe | Far | LOHN-zhee | Same |
| O aeroporto | The airport | oo ah-eh-roh-POR-too | Same |
| A estação | The station | ah ees-tah-SOWN | Same |
| O ônibus | The bus | oo OH-nee-boos | O autocarro |
| O trem | The train | oo trayn | O comboio |
Restaurant and food
| Portuguese | English | Pronunciation (Brazil) | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|
| O cardápio, por favor | The menu, please | oo kar-DAH-pee-oo, poor fah-VOR | A ementa |
| Eu queria ... | I would like ... | AY-oo keh-REE-ah | Queria ... |
| Água | Water | AH-gwah | Same |
| Café | Coffee | kah-FEH | Same (Lisbon: uma bica) |
| Cerveja | Beer | sehr-VAY-zhah | Same |
| Vinho | Wine | VEEN-yoo | Same |
| A conta, por favor | The bill, please | ah KOHN-tah, poor fah-VOR | Same |
| Está delicioso | It's delicious | ees-TAH deh-lee-see-OH-zoo | Same |
| Sem açúcar | Without sugar | sayn ah-SOO-kar | Same |
| Sou vegetariano / vegetariana | I'm vegetarian | SOH veh-zheh-tah-ree-AH-noo / -nah | Same |
Eu queria (“I would like”) is more polite than eu quero (“I want”).
Emergency and health
| Portuguese | English | Pronunciation (Brazil) | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Socorro! | Help! | soh-KOH-hoo | Same |
| Preciso de um médico | I need a doctor | preh-SEE-zoo jee oong MEH-jee-koo | Same |
| O hospital | The hospital | oo ohs-pee-TOW | Same |
| A farmácia | The pharmacy | ah far-MAH-see-ah | Same |
| Estou doente | I'm sick | ees-TOH doo-EN-chee | Same |
| Está doendo aqui | It hurts here | ees-TAH doo-EN-doo ah-KEE | Dói-me aqui |
| É uma emergência | It's an emergency | EH OO-mah eh-mehr-ZHEN-see-ah | Same |
| Chame a polícia! | Call the police! | SHAH-mee ah poh-LEE-see-ah | Same |
Emergency numbers: 112 in Portugal; in Brazil 192 (ambulance), 190 (police) and 193 (fire).
Numbers
| Portuguese | English | Pronunciation (Brazil) | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|
| um / uma | one | oong / OO-mah | Same |
| dois / duas | two | doys / DOO-ahs | “doysh / DOO-ush” |
| três | three | trehs | “tresh” |
| quatro | four | KWAH-troo | Same |
| cinco | five | SEEN-koo | Same |
| seis | six | says | “saysh” |
| sete | seven | SEH-chee | “SEH-t” |
| oito | eight | OY-too | Same |
| nove | nine | NOH-vee | “NOH-v” |
| dez | ten | dehs | “desh” |
| vinte | twenty | VEEN-chee | “VEEN-t” |
| cem | one hundred | sayn | Same |
| mil | one thousand | meew | “meel” |
For 11–100, prices and telling the time, see Portuguese numbers, prices and time.
Days of the week and time words
| Portuguese | English | Pronunciation (Brazil) | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|
| segunda-feira | Monday | seh-GOON-dah FAY-rah | Same |
| terça-feira | Tuesday | TEHR-sah FAY-rah | Same |
| quarta-feira | Wednesday | KWAR-tah FAY-rah | Same |
| quinta-feira | Thursday | KEEN-tah FAY-rah | Same |
| sexta-feira | Friday | SEHS-tah FAY-rah | “SAYSH-tuh” |
| sábado | Saturday | SAH-bah-doo | Same |
| domingo | Sunday | doh-MEEN-goo | Same |
| hoje | today | OH-zhee | “OHZH” |
| amanhã | tomorrow | ah-mahn-YAHN | Same |
| ontem | yesterday | OHN-tayn | Same |
Tips for learning Portuguese phrases
- Pick a variant. Learn either Brazilian or European pronunciation first; both are correct. See Brazilian vs European Portuguese.
- Learn whole phrases. Pode repetir? is more useful than the verb repetir on its own.
- Watch gender. Nouns are masculine or feminine, which changes articles and adjectives: o café, a cerveja.
- Listen and repeat. Say each phrase aloud; the translator has a listen button that uses your device's Portuguese voice.
- Practise a little every day. Ten minutes of reading aloud beats an hour once a week.