English Portuguese Pronunciation/Notes Hello Olá Olah – This is

English
Portuguese
Pronunciation/Notes
Hello
Olá
Olah – This is quite an informal greeting.
How are
you?
Komu eshta? – You often say things differently depending on whether you are speaking
Como está?
(formal)
than you, or as a general sign of respect.
How are
you?
formally or informally. Speak formally to people you meet for the first time, people older
Como estás?
(informal)
Komu eshtazh? – This is the informal variation, which is only used with people you know
well, family members, children, or people significantly younger than yourself.
Eshtoh baym[ng], Obrigahdu/a – lit. ‘I am well, thank you.’ This is perhaps the most
I’m OK,
Estou bem,
common response to the above question. For ‘thank you’, men say ‘obrigado’, women say
thank you.
obrigado/a
‘obrigada’ (regardless of whether the person they are talking to is male or female). More on
this later.
Eshtoh ohtimu/a – note that the ‘p’ in ‘optimo’ (fine) is virtually silent (the Brazilian
I am fine
Estou
spelling, without a ‘p’, was adopted in the Portuguese orthographic agreement, so
ó[p]timo/a
technically it should be omitted when writing). Again, whether to use ‘optimo’ or ‘optima’
depends on your own gender.
Is everything
OK?
Toodu baym[ng]? – lit. ‘everything well?’ Note: This is probably the most common
Tudo bem?
greeting in Portuguese - it is used much more frequently than ‘como está?’ (this is true in
Portugal, despite it being a Brazilian expression).
Yes
(everything
Tudo [bem]
Toodu – lit. ‘everything [well].’ The ‘bem’ is optional when replying to the above question.
Mais ou
Myze oh menush – lit. ‘more or less.’ Use this response if you want to indicate that you are
menos
a little ‘under the weather’.
Prazer
Prazair – lit. ‘pleasure.’
is ok)
Not too bad
Pleased to
meet you
Very pleased
to meet you
Good
Morning
M[ng]wee[ng]tu Prazair – lit. ‘much pleasure.’ The word ‘muito’ has a very nasal sound,
Muito prazer
which kind of breaks the rules of pronunciation! Sometimes it can sound more like ‘moitu’,
depending on the accent of the speaker.
Bom dia
Bom[ng] deeya – lit. ‘Good day’ – a slightly more formal greeting than Olá – generally used
up until about noon.
English
Good
Afternoon
Good
Evening
Good Night
Portuguese
Boa tarde
Boa noite
Boa noite
Pronunciation/Notes
Boa tarde (after about midday)
Boa noite – note that the same word, noite, is used for both evening and night. Switch from
saying ‘boa tarde’ to ‘boa noite’ around sunset.
Boa noite
Note: You can mix Olá with bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite to make another fairly informal greeting (e.g. Olá, bom dia)
Goodbye
See you later
(same day)
See you later
(another day)
Adeus
Até logo
Até amanhã
See you soon Até já
See you next
time
Adayush – lit. ‘To God’. Note that you can use bom dia, boa tarde, and boa noite to say
goodbye as well.
Atay logu – lit. ‘until straight away’.
Atay aman[ng]yah – lit. ‘until tomorrow’ – used even if you won’t actually see the person
for a few days.
Atay zhah – lit. ‘until already’ – you get the idea!
Até a próxima Atay a prossima
Yes
Sim
Sim[ng]
No
Não
Now[ng] – can also mean ‘not’ or ‘don't’.