Speak Brazilian Portuguese ~300 words
(Before I start please note that I’m not Brazilian, I am Portuguese! Which means, there are things that aren’t as accurate, but don’t worry, it’ll still be correct!)
Brazilians use the “gerúndio” = gerund. The Europeans not as often.
Be – Ser or Estar ** (sendo – Ele está sendo simpático) / estando
there is – Há/ Existir (havendo/existindo)
go – Ir (I believe the most common verb is vai – Você vai às compras (You are going shopping)
can – Conseguir (conseguindo)
need – Necessitar/Precisar (necessitando/precisando)
think – Pensar (pensando)
learn – Aprender (aprendendo)
understand – Perceber/Compreender (percebendo/compreendendo)
that (as in “I think that…” or “the woman that…”) - que
so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) – por isso (e.g. “Eu queria, por isso comprei)
Of – de/do/da – E.g. Correction of the homework – Correção do trabalho de casa. (the difference between the three is: neutral/masculine/feminine)
In – em/num/numa (See this ask where a Brazilian explained this)
at (a place) – em (Brasília)
at (a time) – às (15:00) (we use the military time for writing but you can say 3 da tarde – 3 of the afternoon)
like (meaning “similar to”) - como
for (warning, this one has several meanings that you need to take care of) – para/por
before (also as a conjunction) - antes
after (also as a conjunction) - depois
too (as in “too tall”) – demasiado (alto)
so (as in “so tall”) – tão (alto)
more (know how to say “more … than …”) – mais (mais… do que…)
less (know how to say “less … than …”) – menos (menos … do que…)
as … as … (e.g. “as tall as”) – tão … como (tão alto como)
often – comum/normalmente
the, a (technically articles) – o/a ; um/uma
some – algum/alguns(plural)
a few – algum/alguns; pouco/poucos
last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) – último/a
last (meaning “final”) – último/a
interesting - interessante
excited – entusiasmante
right (meaning “correct”) – correto/certo
Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.
I/me/to me/ my – Eu/ (word)- me/ para mim/ meu ou minha
You/ you/ to you/ yours – Brazilians use the você always unlike the Portuguese – see below
She/ her/ to her/ hers – Ela/ (word)-a/ para ela/ dela
He/him/ to him/ his – Ele/ (word) – o/ para ele/ dele
It – Portuguese language doesn’t have this. If you want to refer to animals you treat them like he/she
We/ us/ to us/ ours – Nós/ (word) – nos/ a nós/ nosso/a
you - Você/ (word) – o/a / para si/ seu à formal form
they/ them/ to them/ theirs – Eles(as) / (word)-os/as / para eles/as / deles/as
If your language has grammatical gender, then learn each noun as “the [noun]” with “the” in the correct gender. (e.g. in Spanish, instead of learning language = “idioma”, learn language = “el idioma”.) This will help you remember the gender.
time (as in “a long time”) – tempo (há muito tempo)
time (as in “I did it 3 times”) – vezes (Eu fi-lo 3 vezes) (instead of saying fi-lo you can say fiz isso/isto/aquilo and it’s as correct!)
work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”) – o trabalho ( Eu tenho muito trabalho para fazer)
mother, father, parent – Mãe, Pai, Pais – you can also refer to Mamãe and Papai
daughter, son, child – Filha, Filho, Criança
wife, husband – Mulher/Esposa , Marido
girlfriend, boyfriend – Namorada, Namorado
work (as in a person working) – trabalhar - trabalhando ( a pessoa está trabalhando)
work (meaning “to function”, e.g. “the TV works”) – funcionar - funcionando (a televisão está funcionando)
should – dever – I didn’t forget, I believe they don’t use the gerund but if anyone disagrees please say something on the notes.
believe – acreditar - acreditando
practice – praticar - praticando
seem – parece – same as should/dever
return – volta - voltando
bring – trazer - trazendo
look for – procurar - procurando
find – encontrar - encontrando
get (meaning “obtain”) – ter or obter - obtendo
receive – receber - recebendo
buy – comprar - comprando
start – começar - começando
stop (doing something) – para - parando
finish – acabar - acabando
continue – continuar - continuando
wake up – acorda - acordando
get up – levanter - levantando
eat breakfast (in several languages, this is a verb) – tomar o café da manhã
(bonus if you are having a snack than you say lanchando)
Happen – acontecer - acontecendo
create (aka “make”) – criar - criando
cause (aka “make”) – causa - causando
meet (meeting someone for the first time) – conhecer - conhecendo
meet (meaning “to bump into”) – encontrar - encontrando
meet (an arranged meeting) – encontrar - encontrando
ask (a question) – questionar - questionando
ask for (aka “request”) - pedindo
wonder – pensar em … I was wondering … – Eu estava pensando em…
reply – responder - respondendo
mean – I mean … - Eu quero dizer
write – escrever - escrevendo
listen – escutar - escutando
remember – lembrar - lembrando
forget – esquecer - esquecendo
choose – escolher - escolhendo
decide – decidir - decidindo
be born – nascer - nascendo
study – estudar - estudando
improve – melhorar - melhorando
hope – espero (also means waiting) E.g. I hope I get the place – Eu espero conseguir o lugar
care – cuidar (I took care of the sick puppy), I don’t care (Eu não quero saber)
Hello – Oi (only use this with friends/family) – informal à more common but they also use the Olá
thank you – Obrigado/a (most Portuguese people don’t know BUT if you’re a girl you say obrigadA but if you’re a boy you say obrigadO)
excuse me (to get someone’s attention) – Faz favor
it’s fine (response to an apology) – Não faz mal
please – Por favor or Faz favor
My name is - (O) meu nome é
What’s your name? –Qual é o seu nome ?
Nice to meet you. – Prazer em conhecê-lo/a à you can also just say Prazer.
I’m doing well, how about you? – Estou bem e você?
Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something)- Desculpe?/ O quê?/ Como?
How do you say ______? – Como é que você diz…
What does ______ mean? – O que é que … significa (instead of significa you can also say o que quer dizer)
I don’t understand. – Não percebo
Could you repeat that? – Pode repetir?
Could you speak more slowly, please? – Pode falar mais devagar, faz favor/ por favor?
Well (as in “well, I think…”) – Bem/ Bom
I guess that – Eu acho que…
It’s hot. (talking about the weather) – está quente/está calor
It’s cold. (talking about the weather) – está frio
————————————————————————————————————-
** Ser/estar – The difference it’s hard to explain but if you don’t get it right everyone will still understand you! But, ser it’s used for facts/ statements/ etc. – I am inteligent – Eu sou inteligente
Estar is used for emotions/ feelings/etc – I am happy – Eu estou feliz.
Note: if you see a word and a slash (/) it means you must substitute the given letters because of it’s gender. If you see, for example, divertido/a it means you must substitute the “o” with the “a” when referring to feminine.
Note 2: Accents are important! If you write Pais instead of País you are referring to your parents rather than your country!
If you get something wrong, you can say “Me desculpe, eu sou estrangeiro/a”
If you have any doubts ask me and I’ll be glad to explain! :)
