How to say Thank You in Portuguese: Obrigado, Obrigada and More

The most common way to say thank you in Portuguese is obrigado if you are a man and obrigada if you are a woman. The ending follows the person saying thank you, not the person receiving it. To say “thank you very much”, use muito obrigado or muito obrigada.

But that’s only the beginning! In Portugal, we also use warmer, more informal expressions and stronger ways to show our appreciation. I’ll explain when to use each one, with European Portuguese audio and examples you can try yourself.

Thank you in Portuguese at a glance

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Portuguese	English	When to use it
Obrigado / Obrigada	Thank you	Everyday, polite and informal situations
Muito obrigado / Muito obrigada	Thank you very much	Everyday or stronger gratitude
Obrigadinho / Obrigadinha	Thanks	Familiar situations; tone matters
Obrigadão	Thanks a lot	Informal situations
Muitíssimo obrigado / obrigada	Thank you so much	Strong gratitude
De nada	You’re welcome	Replying to someone’s thanks

Don’t forget to check out all the essential ways to say thank you in Portuguese in my YouTube video here:

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Most Common Ways Of Saying Thank You In Portuguese

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Obrigado vs Obrigada 

As you might have heard before, Portuguese women and men must say thank you in different ways. Men say “obrigado” and women “obrigada“.

Traditionally, obrigado works like an adjective meaning “obliged” or “grateful”, so its ending agrees with the speaker: obrigado for a man and obrigada for a woman.

With this, they are kind of saying “I am obliged (to say thank you to you)”, much like the old times when people said “Much obliged!” in English. See what I mean?

So, to give you an example:

• Ana would say: João, obrigada pelo livro!/ Rita, obrigada pelo livro!
• Pedro would say: João, obrigado pelo livro!/ Rita, obrigado pelo livro!

As you see the masculinity or femininity of the word “thank you” in Portuguese, has nothing to do with the person that the “thank you” is directed to, but only with the person who is saying it =)

You may hear people using obrigado and obrigada differently in everyday speech. In European Portuguese, we often “eat” the unstressed vowels, so the final “o” or “a” can be difficult to hear!

You may also hear a woman say obrigado, using it as a fixed expression of thanks, much like an interjection, rather than making it agree with her gender.

For learners, my advice is to follow the traditional pattern: obrigado if you are a man and obrigada if you are a woman. Remember that the ending follows the person saying thank you, not the person receiving it. =)

If you prefer an expression that doesn’t mark your gender, you can say agradeço a ajuda (I appreciate your help).

Obrigadinho/ Obrigadinha 

Ever heard this? If you’ve been with Portuguese people, you probably already found out that we love diminutives. In fact, we put “-inho” and “-inha” in everything.

The word “thank you” is no exception. In more informal conversations with neighbours or friends or even family, we will sometimes add this particle at the end of the word. This imprints cuteness or familiarity into it, which might come in handy at the time of thanking someone.

For example: Obrigadinha pela ajuda! (Thanks for your help!) 

Depending on your tone, diminutives can also sound ironic, so listen to how people use them rather than adding -inho to every thank you.

How to say “Thank you very much” in Portuguese

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Muito obrigado/obrigada 

Muito obrigado or muito obrigada means “thank you very much”. You can use it in both formal and informal situations, whether you’re thanking a friend, a waiter or someone who has helped you.

Why is it muito obrigada, not muita obrigada?

Here, muito means “very” and works as an adverb, so it does not change its ending. Both muito obrigado and muito obrigada are correct. Muita obrigada is not the standard form.

Example: Muito obrigada pela ajuda! (Thank you very much for your help!)

Muitíssimo obrigado/obrigada or Obrigadíssimo/ Obrigadíssima

These expressions mean “thank you so much” or “thank you very, very much”. They express stronger gratitude and are generally used more in formal situations.

The particle “íssimo” is added to adjectives to add power, to enhance the meaning, to make its value bigger, and this is exactly why we use it here.

Obrigadão 

If you thought diminutives were all we could do with this word, there’s more! We can also do the opposite. By saying “Obrigadão”, we are kind of saying “Big thank you”. This particle “ão” makes the adjective sound “bigger”, which can also mean your gratefulness is bigger.

Therefore, at least in the region of Porto, we tend to use this also in informal conversations with friends or family. It is quite slangish, so do not use it in formal conversations. Ever. =)

How to pronounce Obrigado and Obrigada in European Portuguese

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The stressed syllable is GA: o-bri-GA-do and o-bri-GA-da. In European Portuguese, the final -o usually sounds like a short “oo”, while the final -a is a short, unstressed vowel.

Listen to the recordings of obrigado and obrigada above and try repeating them.

‘Brigad/ ‘Brigadinh/ ‘Brigadão 

As I mentioned before, we Portuguese are great at “eating vowels”! In fast, everyday speech, the initial “o” can disappear, and the final unstressed vowel can become barely audible. That’s why obrigado may sound more like “brigad”. You’ll hear similar reductions in obrigadinho and obrigadão, too. 🙂

Listen to the recording above to hear these shortened forms.

These spellings show how the words can sound, rather than how you should normally write them. In standard writing, keep the full forms: obrigado, obrigada, obrigadinho and obrigadão.

For more help with these sounds, see my European Portuguese pronunciation guide.

How to say Thank You in Portuguese | 2 more examples

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Agradecido/ Agradecida

“Agradecer” is the verb that means “to thank”. If you thought that it was something like “obrigadar”, I can understand why, but in fact it is “agradecer“.

When someone says agradecido, they are saying “grateful” or “thankful”. As with obrigado, a man uses agradecido and a woman uses agradecida.

You can use this version of “thank you” in more informal conversations. It would still be acceptable in a more formal setting, but it is not so commonly used.

Deus lhe pague

This is an expression that means “May God pay you”. Sometimes, we even add “…que eu não tenho dinheiro” to it. When we do so, we are saying “May God pay you, because I don’t have money”.

As you can see, we are just being funny and we will only say this to family or close friends, as a joke.

However, you can hear the first part – Deus lhe pague – as a serious expression of your thankfulness, as to say “I appreciate so much what you did that I wish God pays you – with health or wealth or any good things”.

Older people tend to use this expression a lot to say thank you and I find it kind of cute. Don’t you? =)

Obrigado as a Noun

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As I mentioned above, “obrigado” or “obrigada” are used as adjectives. However, we can also use it as a noun, when we say something like:

O meu obrigado 

This is used to say “thank you” as “I give my thanks to…”.

In this case, we use it to put the stress in the thank you, to give it more power. Since it is a noun, it takes the masculine article – o obrigado – and it will not change whether you are a woman or a man, because it is no longer an adjective.

Therefore, even if you are a woman, you will still say “O meu obrigado aos meus pais” (My thanks to my parents).

Get the picture? =)

I will repeat the different ways of saying thank you in Portuguese so you have an overview.

How to Say “Thank You for…” in Portuguese

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Just before you go, I need to draw your attention to the use of the prepositions. I know, they are not easy….

With “thank you”, you should normally use the preposition “por”, when you want to say “thank you for…”.

Take a look:

Ana: Obrigada pelo almoço! (Thank you for the lunch!)

António: De nada!

José: Obrigado pelas prendas! (Thank you for the presents!)

António: De nada!

With obrigado/obrigada, we use por to say “thank you for…”. When por comes before a definite article, they join together:

por + o = pelo
por + a = pela
por + os = pelos
por + as = pelas

For example:

Obrigada pela ajuda! (Thank you for your help!)

Obrigado pelas prendas! (Thank you for the presents!)

When there is no article, por stays unchanged.

Examples:

Obrigada por me ouvires! (Thank you for listening to me! Addressing someone as tu.)

Obrigado por me ajudar! (Thank you for helping me! Addressing someone in the third person, for example o senhor or a senhora.)

9 Ways To Say Thank You In Portuguese

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• Obrigado/ Obrigada
• Obrigadinho/ Obrigadinha
• Obrigadão
• Muito obrigado/obrigada
• Muitíssimo obrigado/obrigada or Obrigadíssimo/ Obrigadíssima
• ‘Brigad/ ‘Brigadinh/ ‘Brigadão
• Agradecido/ Agradecida
• Deus lhe pague
• O meu obrigado 

How to Reply to Thank You in Portuguese

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The simplest reply is de nada, meaning “you’re welcome”. You can also say não tem de quê (“there’s no need to thank me”, polite or formal) or não tens de quê (informal, to one person). Ora essa! is another friendly way to say that thanks are not necessary.

Example:

A: Muito obrigada pela ajuda! (Thank you very much for your help!)

B: De nada! (You’re welcome!)

You’ll find more examples in my guide to saying “you’re welcome” in Portuguese.

Common Questions About Thank You in Portuguese

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Should I say obrigada when thanking a woman?

The ending follows you, the speaker. A man says obrigado to a woman or a man. A woman traditionally says obrigada to either.

Is obrigado used in both Portugal and Brazil?

Yes. Obrigado and obrigada are used in both varieties of Portuguese. The pronunciation guidance and examples in this article focus on Portugal.

Can I say gracias in Portugal?

Gracias is Spanish. In Portuguese, use obrigado or obrigada.

How do I thank someone in a formal email?

You can write Agradeço a sua ajuda (I appreciate your help) or Muito obrigado/a pela sua atenção (Thank you very much for your attention).

How do I say thank you on behalf of a group?

Agradecemos a sua ajuda means “We thank you for your help”. O nosso obrigado means “Our thanks” and keeps obrigado in the masculine because it is a noun here.

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Aaaanddd…that’s it!

Muitíssimo obrigada pela tua atenção! (Thank you so much for your attention!)

Want to keep learning? My All-In-One Portuguese Course gives you a clear path to fluency, with lessons that help you build your vocabulary, understand the grammar and feel more confident speaking European Portuguese.

If you’d like to try learning with me before committing to a paid course, start with Kickstart Your Portuguese – The Basics, my free course. You’ll learn useful everyday phrases and get tips on how to continue studying beyond the basics.

Ok, peeps. I hope you enjoyed the article.

Your turn: write a sentence thanking someone in Portuguese in the comments. Will you use obrigado or obrigada? You can also tell me how you say thank you in your own language!

Mais uma vez, muito obrigada!

Beijinhos,

Mia.