Hello again! The purpose of today´s post is to help students of European Portuguese to get a quick overview of useful and common Portuguese Phrases.
This is not a full collection of all of those you will need. You should understand it more as a free resource that has always room to improve (you can help with this too, just keep reading ;))
In the tables below you will have on the left side the English phrase with the respective Portuguese phrase on the right side. If there are synonyms, I will add them as well.
Pay attention, sometimes the words are marked with a link. That will happen whenever I have already written an article about this specific word. You should check out those posts as well, as they will give you a better understanding of the phrases and in-debt knowledge of how to use them.
Finally, I would like to mention that I encourage you to share your thoughts about this list in the comment section below. Do not hesitate to drop a message if you have any questions. Also, this is a perfect chance for you to ask me about additional phrases that you are interested in and that also bring value to other students.
At the end, this list should be a resource of Useful Portuguese Phrases that can help you! So please, let´s make this interactive and start some discussions about the topic =)
So, let’s take a look at the tables below. Shall we?
| Basic Portuguese Phrases | |
| Hello! | Olá! |
| Welcome! | Bem-vindo! |
| How are you? | Como estás? / Tudo bem? |
| I am fine, thank you. And you? | Estou bem/ Tudo bem. E tu? |
| What´s your name? | Como te chamas?/ Qual é o teu nome? |
| My name is… | Chamo-me…/ O meu nome é… |
| I am … years old. | Tenho … anos. |
| Thank you! | Obrigado! |
| Your´re welcome! | De nada! |
| Goodbye | Adeus. |
| Excuse me! | Desculpa/ Desculpe (formal version)! |
| Bless you! (when someone sneezes) | Santinho!/ Viva! |
| Cheers! | Saúde! / Tchin-tchin! |
| Common Portuguese sentences you will need at the restaurant | |
| I would like… | Queria… |
| For me, a … | Para mim, era… |
| What´s in the menu for today? | Qual é o menu do dia? |
| May I see the menu? | Posso ver o menu/ a ementa/ a carta? |
| To eat, I would like… | Para comer, queria… |
| To drink, I would like… | Para beber, queria… |
| May I see the wine menu? | Posso ver a carta dos vinhos? |
| What do you have for dessert? | O que há para sobremesa? |
| Check, please! | Era a conta, por favor! |
>> You may also want to check out HOW TO ORDER FOOD IN PORTUGUESE here <<
| Making and appointment at the doctor in Portuguese | |
| Good afternoon, I would like to schedule an appointment. | Boa tarde, queria marcar uma consulta. |
| Yes, sir. Which day? | Sim, senhor. Para que dia? |
| I would like it on the 20th, please. | Queria para dia 20 (vinte), por favor. |
| Very well, and what time? | Muito bem. E a que horas? |
| 5.30, please. | Para as cinco e meia, por favor. |
| Ok, it is scheduled. | Ok, está marcado! |
| For what specialisation? | Para que especialidade? |
| Cardiology, ginecology, psychiatry…, please. | Para cardiologia/ ginecologia/ psiquiatria…, por favor. |
| Useful sentences in Portuguese you should know when going to the doctor | |
| Hello! What are your complaints? | Olá! De que se queixa? |
| Good afternoon, doc. My throat hurts and I have a cough | Boa tarde, Sr. Doutor. Dói-me a garganta e tenho tosse. |
| Anything else hurts? | E dói-lhe mais alguma coisa? |
| My back hurts. | Doem-me as costas. |
| I will examine you. We will make an X-Ray to check it. | Vou examiná-lo. Vamos fazer um raio-x para comprovar. |
| Do you think I have a fever? | Acha que tenho febre? |
| Let´s see. Yes, you have 39º fever. | Vamos já ver. Sim, tem 39 graus de febre. |
| We are going to give you antibiotics and you will stay home resting. | Vamos dar-lhe antibióticos e fica em casa a repousar. |
| Don’t worry. | Não se preocupe. |
| You have a pneumonia. | Tem uma pneumonia. |
| We are going to run some tests. | Vamos fazer exames. |
| We are going to run some blood tests. | Vamos fazer análises. |
| You’ll have to be admitted. | Vai ter que ficar internado. |
| How to ask the price in Portuguese | |
| How much is it? | Quanto custa? / Quanto é que é? |
| What´s the price? | Qual é o preço? |
| How to ask where the toilet is | |
| Where is the toilet? | Onde é a casa de banho? |
| May I use the toilet? | Posso usar a casa de banho? |
| In case of emergency | |
| Help! | Ajuda!/ Ajudem! |
| There is a fire. | Há fogo! |
| There is an injured person. | Há uma pessoa ferida. |
| I can´t breathe. | Não consigo respirar. |
| I need to call an ambulance. | Preciso de chamar uma ambulância. |
| I need to go to the hospital. | Preciso de ir ao hospital. |
| Is there any doctor here? | Há aqui algum médico? |
| Where is the pharmacy? | Onde há uma farmácia? |
| I need my pills. | Eu preciso dos meus medicamentos. |
| My blood type is… | O meu tipo de sangue é… |
| I am diabetic. | Sou diabético. |
| I have allergy to… | Tenho alergia a… |
| At a birthday | |
| Happy Birthday! | Parabéns! |
| Here is your present. | Aqui está a tua prenda. |
| How old do you turn? | Quantos anos fazes? |
| What is this cake made of? | De que é este bolo? |
| I wish happiness to you! | Muitas felicidades! |
| May you live long. | Desejo-te muitos anos de vida. |
| Let´s make a toast! | Vamos fazer um brinde! |
>>Don’t forget to check out how to sing Happy Birthday in Portuguese here<<
| First steps into Portuguese | |
| I am not Portuguese. | Não sou português/ portuguesa. |
| I don’t speak Portuguese very well. | Não falo muito bem Português. |
| I am learning Portuguese not for so long. | Estou a aprender Português há pouco tempo. |
| I understand, but I do not speak much. | Compreendo, mas não falo muito. |
| Could you repeat, please? | Pode repetir, por favor? |
| Could you speak slower, please? | Pode falar mais devagar, por favor? |
| I did not understand. | Não percebi. |
| I did not hear. | Não ouvi. |
>>Are you a beginner student of European Portuguese? Check out my Online Course here<<
And that’s it! Tell me, did you know all of these phrases? Do you wish me to add anything else? Please let me know in the comments section below and I will be sure to add it 😉
Please don’t be a stranger and let us help others together! Believe me, your questions can and probably will help other people too!
Thank you for being on the other side, as always!
Beijinhos,
Mia.
Do you want to learn more about the basics of European Portuguese? Common language courses are too expensive and you are looking for structured and high-quality lectures? I offer you 8,5h of online lectures in my European Portuguese Language Course.
Study at your own pace, pause, rewind and watch it again as many times as you want. No risk – try it out for 30 days and if you are not happy with the course you will get your money back, no questions asked.
Ola Mia,
I will copy this list to my studybook. Thanks for being you and a great theacher.
I’m hoping to come and live in your beautifull country one day (soon I hope)
So anything you can help me with in order to use the proper words and prenounciation is very much apreciated when it comes to:
– rooms in a house and stuff that comes with it like sheds, garage, pool, basement. Specifick if you have a word for the dutch word woonkeuken, a kitchen that is as big it doubles as a living.
-How to explain to a real estate agent what you are looking for in terms of acces (dirtroad, paved road), no eucaliptus and mimosa trees or as less as possible. The possibility of building a second house for family. If wells have drinking water or just for irregation.
-How to ask the firebrigade to help you fireproof your property or come take a look at your house and help identify fire problems.
-How you ask for recommandations for a lawyer that helps you with your buying proces.
-How to make an official appointment with the Camara to register, ask for your tax number and licence of habitacao for your property if it’s not there jet?
If you make it a course I would buy it and promote it. 🙂
Olá, Marica 🙂
Sorry for the late reply.
Thank you for your ideas. If I make it a course or include it in a course, I would be happy to let you know, but at the moment I am not sure if and when that will happen.
Inside my All-In-One Portuguese Course, for example, you have some of the things you want to learn about, like rooms in a house, for example.
Have you taken a look at it? If you want to check it out, here is the link:
https://school.learn-portuguese.org/p/all-in-one-portuguese-course
I hope you have a nice day.
Please let me know if I can further help you with anything.
Beijinhos,
Mia
Hi Mia,
Looking through these common phrases, you use pir favors to say please, but I thought it was fazed favors! At least it was when J visited Portugal 20 years ago.
Also, do you have a word that means indeed.
It is such a useful and short work in English.
Thank you.
Suzanne
Olá!
I use “por favor”, as it is widely used. But “faz favor” is also possible. So you are also right =)
“Indeed” is a tricky one. When you want to really translate it, you would probably use “de facto”. But, for example, if someone is telling you something and you want to show agreement, you would say “pois” or “claro”. 😀
I hope this answers your questions!
Beijinhos,
Mia.
Hi Mia
Would you mind explaining when one adds “é que” to a question in European Portuguese? For example: “Quando é que foi …” but “Onde passou …” and “Qual foi …”.
Thank you.
Regards
Chris
Hey Chris!
Did you see my new post about this? I think it can really help you understand it! If not, let me know and ask me any questions you still might have. 🙂
Beijinhos,
Mia.
Oi!! Achei muito interessante e didático, apesar de ter achado estranho as frases em português de Portugal kkkkk. Pretendo recomendar para alguns gringos. Enfim, parabéns pelo site, ficou muito bom
Haha! Sim, algumas expressões são diferentes em Portugal e no Brasil. Assim fica também sabendo Português de Portugal =)
Obrigada por ter tirado o tempo para fazer um comentário e por ter lido o meu post. Volte sempre que quiser.
Abraços.
Mia.
Hello! My first question is are you Portuguese? I loved your list, very detailed.
I’m Brazilian and there are some few things that, here in Brazil, we would say a little bit different.
For example: we don’t use “casa de banho”. The best translation is “banheiro” or even “toalete” (way more formal).
I know the purpose of the site is the European Portuguese, but I’m just saying for curiosity!
If Portuguese is not your native language, be free to mail me and I’ll be honored to help you in any doubt.
Beijos,
Matheus
Oi Matheus!
Yes, I am native Portuguese. Born and raised in Porto =)
It’s true, I know that some expressions are different in Brazil. Thanks for sharing them, they make the post richer!
Thank you for offering your help. I am glad!
Beijinhos,
Mia.
Hi Mia
I’m really enjoying your lessons. Could you help with making an appointment to see the doctor?
Obrigado!
Martin
Hi Matheus!
I will soon be updating this post with all the requests. Meanwhile, I would like to tell you that this topic of going to the doctor is covered in one of my online courses that you can find herehere
I teach about this and many other topics, maybe you would enjoy it! 😀
Anyways, as I said I will be adding it soon, so keep posted =)
Thanks for your feedback and input!
Beijinhos,
Mia
Hi Martin! I just added a table with the things you normally say or hear at the doctor. Was this what you had in mind?
Let me know if I can help any further!
Thank you,
Mia
Thank you!
All these phrases are useful for the one who is learning english.??congrats
Hi Antonio!
I am glad you found it useful! If you want you can check more of my other posts, as I often translate things into or from English!
Obrigada,
Mia
We are in debt to you for your in-depth discussion of Portuguese!
Hi Russ.
Thank you! I am glad I could help!
Feel free to check my other posts too and to come back to my website any time you want 😉 I am constantly updating it with more posts and courses.
Beijinhos,
Mia
very good so far. Can I suggest that you add this as I always have to ask when I am in conversation, especially on the telephone or mobile…..
Please can you speak more slowly as my portuguise is not so good?
Hi Andrew!
Thanks for commenting and for leaving such a nice suggestion.
Just to give you a heads-up, we say “Pode falar mais devagar, por favor? O meu Português ainda não é muito bom.”
That’s the way we say that in Portuguese! Hope this helps! I will be adding it later to the blog post! Thanks again!
Beijinhos,
Mia
Thank you for these phases, others that I find useful are:
não faz mal – don’t worry about it,
da nada- you’re welcome
desculpe – sorry
Com licença – excuse me
Comments about the weather would be useful.
Hi Sally!
you’re welcome 🙂
Those other phrases are also very helpful, but I already had them in another post that you can check here. Therefore, I didn’t include them here now,L but I agree that they are also important!
Muito obrigada =)
Mia
Could you possibly do a post on chunking (very short, easy to memorize parts of everyday phrases) . I read this and it make so much sense: The best chunks (for language-learning) are phrases that native speakers cannot do without. Yet too many language classes never teach the likes of “I’m about to ___” or “He’s just finished _____ing”. Regards, Liz
Hi Liz.
Thank you so much for your comment!
I am not absolutely sure if I understand what you mean by chunking? Could you explain? You mean the way we put words together?
About the ones you asked about:
I’m about to_(go, for example)____ –> Estou mesmo a (ir, for example).
He’s just finished _(eat)____ing” –> Ele acabou agora mesmo de (com)er.
Hope this helps!
Beijinhos,
Mia
I think she means to write more very short sentences such as the examples given to make it easier to learn.
thank you =)
Nice list! I would love to see more. Also being able to have the pronunciation would be very helpful
Hi Gabrielle!
Thank you for you comment!
I will be adding audio files soon 😉 thanks for the suggestion 🙂
Is there any particular thing you would like to see covered?
Suggestions are appreciated!
Have a nice day!
Mia
I agree. I’m looking forward to the audio. Great Website. In the meantime, there’s always google translate for listening to the text.
=)
You can also consult my post about English to Portuguese translation. I speak about a nice online dictionary there called Linguee.
Take a look 😉
Thank you for taking the time to read my posts!
Beijinhos,
Mia