Learning is a lifetime pursuit. So if you are embarking on an educational experience in Brazil, there are some Portuguese classroom phrases you should learn. This way, you will be able to follow your teacher’s instructions, greet your colleagues and make the most of the experience!

Whether you plan to spend a semester abroad or you are going to teach in Brazil, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with some of the specific vocabularies. Once you find the most common Portuguese phrases and words used in the classroom, you can focus on the most important thing: learning! 

In this article, we will cover vocabulary for the supplies you will need, classroom items, and subject names. You will also learn sentences and phrases to follow your teacher’s instructions and ask for clarifications. Finally, you’ll see how to explain tardiness and absences, and how to talk about your favorite courses. 

Ready to learn Portuguese phrases for the classroom? Let’s get started!

Grab a pen and some paper and get ready to take notes!

Table of Contents

1. Classroom Greetings
2. Teacher Instructions in Portuguese
3. Ask Questions in Portuguese
4. Explain Absence and Tardiness in Portuguese
5. Talking About Your Favorite Subjects in Portuguese
6. School Supplies and Classroom Vocabulary in Portuguese
7. Continue Learning More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

1. Classroom Greetings

When you arrive at your educational institution or classroom, ready to learn the Portuguese language, the first thing you will have to do is greet people. Whether you’re saying hi to your friends and colleagues or saying good morning to your teacher and professors, there are a few phrases you need to learn.

But first, here is some important context and vocabulary. In Portuguese, we use the same words for teacher and professor: professor (male) and professora (female). When addressing a teacher or professor, you can use the word professor(a) by itself or include the professor’s name afterward. In Brazil, we usually use the professor’s first name. 

You should know that, in general, the relationship between professors and students in Brazil tends to be more informal than in other countries. So don’t be surprised if you hear people calling professors directly by their name or using você (“you”). A more polite way to address teachers and professors is to use the form o senhor (“the sir”) or a senhora (“the madam”). 

Now, let’s see how to greet people in the classroom. 

• Bom dia, professor. (“Good morning, teacher.”)
• Oi professor, tudo bem? (“Hi teacher, how are you?”)
• Boa tarde, turma. (“Good afternoon, class.”)
• Estão dispensados. Tenham um bom fim de semana. (“You are dismissed. Have a good weekend.”)
• Até amanhã. (“See you tomorrow.”)
• Até semana que vem. (“See you next week.”)

➜ Learn how to say the five most common phrases used in a Classroom with this audio lesson on PortuguesePod101.

2. Teacher Instructions in Portuguese

Class just began. You are listening attentively to your teacher, but suddenly they ask you a question. You better know what they are saying to avoid any confused stares. Who knows, you might even be able to help your colleagues if they are having trouble understanding!

Or perhaps, you are planning to teach in Brazil for some time. In this case, here are some must-know classroom phrases for teachers in basic Portuguese:

• Silêncio, por favor. (“Silence, please.”)
• Sentem-se, por favor. (“Sit down, please.”)
• Os alunos lá atrás conseguem me ouvir? (“Can the students in the back hear me?”)
• Isto é importante, então prestem atenção.  (“This is important, so pay attention.”)

• Hoje vamos estudar tempos verbais. (“Today we are going to study verb tenses.”)
• Abram o livro na página 394. (“Open the book on page 394.”)
• Peguem seus cadernos. (“Get your notebooks.”)

• Alguém sabe me dizer porque esta resposta está errada? (“Can anyone tell me why this answer is wrong?”) 
• O que isso quer dizer? (“What does that mean?”)
• Quem sabe responder esta questão? (“Who can answer this question?”)
• Repitam comigo. (“Say it with me.”)
• Escrevam, por favor. (“Write it down, please.”)
• Alguma dúvida? Está claro? (“Any questions? Is it clear?”)

• Para este exercício, podem trabalhar em pares ou grupos de três estudantes. (“For this exercise, you can work in pairs or groups of three students.”)
• Formem grupos de cinco pessoas. (“Form groups of five people.”)

Quem sabe responder esta pergunta? (“Who knows how to answer this question?”)

3. Ask Questions in Portuguese

It’s absolutely normal that, when following a class, some things are not immediately clear. You may not understand something the professor said, or maybe you are confused about some of the course material. Either way, knowing how to ask questions and clarifications is an important step for a better Portuguese language learning experience.

• O que o professor disse? (“What did the teacher say?”)
• Desculpe, não entendi. Pode repetir? (“Sorry, I do not understand. Can you repeat it?”)
• Pode explicar mais uma vez? (“Can you explain it one more time?”)
• Pode falar um pouco mais devagar, por favor? (“Can you speak a little slower, please?”)

• O que significa isso? (“What does that mean?”)
• Como posso dizer isto em português? (“How can I say this in Portuguese?”)
• Eu tenho uma dúvida: como posso…? (“I have a question: how can I…?”)
• Eu não sei como dizer isto. (“I don’t know how to say this.”)

• Com licença, professor. Posso ir ao banheiro? (“Excuse me, teacher. Can I go to the bathroom?”)

4. Explain Absence and Tardiness in Portuguese

Let’s face it. Stuff happens – maybe you weren’t able to finish an assignment by the deadline. Or maybe you went out with friends and missed your alarm clock in the morning. It’s a good idea to know how to apologize… or make up excuses. 

The infamous phrase “My dog ate my homework” can be translated to Portuguese as Meu cachorro comeu meu dever de casa. Everyone will know what it means if you say it, even though it is originally an anglophone sentence. 

Need a more believable excuse for being late? Public transportation can be quite flaky in Brazil. Say your bus was late, and you might successfully explain your tardiness without problems. 

Here are possible ways to justify absence or delay. 

• Desculpa, professor, mas eu não consegui terminar o trabalho. (“Sorry, professor, but I couldn’t finish the assignment.”)
• Eu não fiz o dever de casa. (“I did not do my homework.”)
• Eu não consegui terminar a lição de casa. (“I did not do my homework.”)

• Desculpe o atraso, o ônibus atrasou. (“Sorry for the delay, the bus was late.”)

• Eu estou um pouco mal, não vou para a aula hoje. (“I’m a little sick, I’m not going to class today.”)
• Não me sinto muito bem. Posso ser dispensado hoje? (“I don’t feel well. Can I be excused for the day?”)
• Estou doente, então vou faltar à escola hoje. Mas eu tenho um atestado médico. (“I’m sick, so I’m going to miss school today. But I have a doctor’s sick note.”)

/! There are two ways of saying homework in Portuguese: lição de casa or dever de casa. It’s common to only say lição or dever, though.

➜ If you need a refresher lesson on Apologies in Portuguese, PortuguesePod101 is here to help!

Public transportation will never be this empty in Brazil. But you may still have a chance to read!

5. Talking About Your Favorite Subjects in Portuguese

We hope you enjoy some of the courses and subjects you study. That’s the key to enjoy studying! 

The first step to talking about the subjects you enjoy – and the ones you don’t enjoy as much – is to know their names in Portuguese. 

Portuguese	English
Inglês	English
Português	Portuguese
Espanhol	Spanish
Literatura	Literature
Matemática	Mathematics
Física	Physics
Química	Chemistry
Biologia	Biology
Geografia	Geography
História	History
Artes	Arts
Filosofia	Philosophy
Economia	Economy
Sociologia	Sociology
Psicologia	Psychology
Administração	Business Administration
Informática	Computing, IT
Música	Music
Educação Física	Physical Education (PE)

And here are some basic Portuguese phrases and conversations discussing subjects:

• O professor de Matemática está atrasado. (“The Mathematics teacher is late.”)
• Estou indo para a aula de Espanhol. (“I’m going to Spanish class.”)

• Qual é a sua matéria preferida? (“What is your favorite subject?”)
• Minha matéria favorita é Filosofia. (“My favorite subject is Philosophy.”)

• Eu tenho boas notas em Inglês. (“I have good grades in English.”)
• Eu sou péssimo(a) em Física. (“I’m very bad at Physics.”)

• Tenho que revisar a matéria da aula de História. (“I have to review the material for History class.”)
• Você precisa de ajuda para estudar? Eu sou boa em História. (“Do you need help studying? I’m good at History.”)
• Ah sim, por favor. E eu posso te ajudar com Inglês, se você quiser. (“Oh yes, please. And I can help you with English if you want.”)

• Amanhã é a prova de Química. (“The Chemistry test is tomorrow.”)

You better like biology if you want to be a doctor.

6. School Supplies and Classroom Vocabulary in Portuguese

You know that moment when you are sitting at your desk, watching the professor write on the black board, you pull up your notebook from your backpack… And then you see that you forgot your pencil case. Now you need to ask your colleagues for a pen. 

All of those Portuguese words in the sentence above are important classroom vocabulary to know. After that, you can borrow and lend things to your colleagues, point out items in the classroom and more.   

Let’s start with a list of supplies: 

Portuguese	English
Uma mochila	A backpack
Um estojo	A pencil case
Um lápis	A pencil
Uma lapiseira	A mechanical pencil
Uma caneta	A pen
Uma borracha	An eraser
Um apontador	A sharpener
Um marca-texto	A highlighter
Um marcador	A marker, a sharpie
Um caderno	A notebook
Um livro (didático)	A textbook
Uma calculadora	A calculator
Uma régua	A ruler
Um compasso	A compass

Now, for the classroom vocabulary:

Portuguese	English
Uma carteira, uma mesa	A desk
Uma cadeira	A chair
Um projetor	A projector
Uma tela	A screen
Um quadro	A board
Um quadro-negro	A blackboard
Um monitor	A (computer) monitor
Um relógio	A clock
Um mapa-múndi	A world map

Finally, here are a few more Portuguese classroom phrases for students:

• Eu esqueci meu livro. Posso sentar com você? (“I forgot my book. Can I sit with you?”)

• Eu perdi meu estojo. Você pode me emprestar um lápis? (“I lost my pencil case. Can you lend me a pencil?”) 
• Claro! Mas é bom apontar esse lápis antes de usar. Aqui, pode usar meu apontador. (“Of course! But it ‘s better to sharpen that pencil before using it. Here, you can use my sharpener.”)

• Você tem uma caneta para me emprestar? (“Do you have a pen I can borrow?”)

• Todos trouxeram réguas e calculadoras para a prova? (“Did everyone bring rulers and calculators to the test?”)
• Professor, minha calculadora não está funcionando. Alguém tem uma calculadora extra para emprestar? (“Professor, my calculator is not working. Does anyone have an extra calculator to lend me?”)

O mapa-múndi (“The world map”)

➜ Listen to how these Portuguese words are pronounced with the Classroom Vocabulary List, available for free on PortuguesePod101!

7. Continue Learning More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

With this guide, you are now ready to boost your Portuguese language learning, get into a classroom in Brazil and understand all of the Portuguese classroom words and phrases! Learning can be an exciting journey. And now you’re even more prepared for it. Next step: bonding with colleagues and interacting with professors – in Portuguese of course! Luckily, there are plenty of resources on PortuguesePod101 to help you with that.

What did you think of this guide? Do you feel prepared to follow your teacher’s instructions or ask questions to your colleagues? Let us know in the comments below.

Now, continue learning Portuguese with the hundreds of free Portuguese resources and the many vocabulary lists available on PortuguesePod101.com. Go ahead and choose your favorite tools to expand your learning opportunities.

If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. With Premium PLUS, you will have your own personalized learning program, with weekly assignments, based on your needs! Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence. And in the meantime, continue exploring PortuguesePod101!

Brazil is known for its natural resources and beauty. Animals and plants are something to behold if you’re visiting this country from any part of the world. Even though the Amazon rainforest is the most famous natural landscape in Brazil, the country is home to six more biomes—each with its own species! 

To meet and interact with a whole new world of animals is an amazing experience. One second, we don’t even know a species exists. The next second, there it is: a completely unique being!

Getting to know the names of animals in Portuguese could keep you busy for a long time…but it’s certainly a fun task, especially for animal lovers. 

Our comprehensive list of animal names in Portuguese covers both native fauna and animals common to other parts of the world. Combining animals you’re familiar with and more exotic species is a great way to broaden your knowledge about the numerous manifestations of nature’s wonders.

Table of Contents

1. Domestic Animals
2. Farm Animals
3. Wild Animals
4. Aquatic Animals
5. Bugs and Insects
6. Birds, Reptiles, and Amphibians
7. Animal Body Parts
8. Animal-Related Idioms and Slang Expressions
9. Conclusion

1. Domestic Animals

Yes: You will learn the Portuguese word for “puppy” so you can fully enjoy cute memes.

We’ll begin our list with some less exotic animal names in Portuguese—those of housepets! 

There is a growing love for pets in Brazil, with the 2019 National Health Survey indicating that dogs are present in 46.1% of Brazilian homes while cats are present in 19.3%. If we combine these totals, we find that these animals are present in 47.9 million homes. 

This number is astonishing if we keep in mind that the country’s population of children (aged 0 to 12) was only 35.5 million, according to recent statistics.

Before we move on to our list, here’s the Portuguese word for “puppy”: filhote.

Cão Cachorro (m.) Cachorra (f.)	“Dog”
Gato (m.) Gata (f.)	“Cat”
Pássaro	“Bird”
Peixe	“Fish”
Porquinho-da-índia	“Guinea pig”
Coelho (m.) Coelha (f.)	“Rabbit”
Rato (m.) Rata (f.)	“Mouse”
Pay attention: Although the name of this animal sounds in Portuguese like “rat,” rato and rata actually mean “mouse.” Use ratazana for “rat.” If referring to mice (plural form of “mouse”), the correct word is camundongos.

Common Pet Birds and Fish

In addition to more traditional pets, many Portuguese households keep birds or fish as pets. The bird species in Brazil really bring a special “sparkle” to the country’s fauna, and we also host a number of interesting fish varieties. Let’s take a look at which ones are most commonly kept as pets in Brazil. 

A- Birds

Canário	“Canary”
Papagaio	“Parrot”
Calopsita	“Cockatiel”
Maritaca	“Pionus”

B- Fish

Peixe betta	“Betta fish”
Paulistinha	“Zebrafish”
Carpa	“Carp”
Peixe-palhaço	“Clownfish”

2. Farm Animals 

Next stop: the farm!

The raising of livestock is a driving economic activity in Brazil, with cows, chickens, and pigs being the most common farm animals in the country. Portugal’s main livestock product is pig, according to 2018 national statistics, while Angola aims to raise cattle as an economic buffer against the fluctuating oil prices. 

While you’re likely to encounter a variety of wildlife species from one Portuguese-speaking country to another, our farm animals are largely the same. One interesting exception is the ema: This giant bird is similar to the ostrich, but with feathery, longer wings. It can be found in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina.

Here are the names of common farm animals in Portuguese:

Vaca (f.)	“Cow”
Boi	“Ox”
Touro	“Bull”
Porco (m.) Porca (f.)	“Pig”
Cavalo (m.) Égua (f.)	“Horse”
Burro	“Donkey”
Peru (m.) Perua (f.)	“Turkey”
Pato (m.) Pata (f.)	“Duck”
Bode (m.) Cabra (f.)	“Goat”
Pro tip: Cabra is not the same as cobra (“snake”). In the Brazilian Northeast, cabra is also a slang term for “bloke” or “guy.” So, pay attention to the context and use this word carefully.
Ovelha	“Sheep”
Cordeiro	“Lamb”
Ganso (m.) Gansa (f.)	“Goose”
Ema	“American rhea”
Galinha	“Hen”
Galo	“Rooster”
The national animal of Portugal is the Rooster of Barcelos. This iconic character is at the heart of a folktale, in which it saves a man from being mistakenly sentenced to death in the city of Barcelos. This rooster is depicted in many colorful versions: paintings, drawings, and especially as colorful souvenir statues that tell anyone “I’ve been to Portugal,” at just one glance.

3. Wild Animals 

Animals start getting even more interesting when we leave the farm and go farther out to the countryside—or even into the wild. That’s where the most diverse native Portuguese animals live. 

Due to the large continental size of Brazil, as well as its diversity of climate and land, this country is especially known for its rich selection of fauna. 

Here are the names of some wild animals in the Portuguese language:

Tatu	“Armadillo”
Bicho-preguiça	“Sloth” (Literally: “Laziness animal”)
Tamanduá	“Anteater”
Quati	“Coati”
Paca	“Paca”
Macaco (m.) Macaca (f.)	“Monkey”
Macaco-prego	“Capuchin monkey”
Onça	“Jaguar”
Veado  Cervo	“Deer”
Pro tip: The name of this animal sounds in Portuguese like another word. Do not mistake cervo [e] for servo [ɛ]. The first one is “deer,” but the second is “servant”!

4. Aquatic Animals

There are plenty of fish in the sea—and beyond!

Still searching in the wilderness, we find some very fascinating aquatic animals. All Portuguese-speaking countries are closely related to the sea and marine life: Angola, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Portugal are coastal countries. Cape Verde, Eastern Timor, and São Tomé and Príncipe are insular countries with access to oceans containing lots of sealife. And let’s not forget the Amazon River, which is home to many awesome—and many yet undiscovered—freshwater animals.

From aquatic life sanctuaries in Portugal to Brazilian turtle protection programs, and from sunny beaches to rivers and waterfalls, there are many opportunities for tourists to meet beautiful native Portuguese animals that live in or around the water.

Lontra	“Otter”
Capivara	“Capybara”
Caranguejo	“Crab”
Peixe-boi	“Manatee”
Lagosta	“Lobster”
Tubarão	“Shark”
Baleia	“Whale”
Polvo	“Octopus”
Lula	“Squid”
Estrela-do-mar	“Starfish”
Água-viva Medusa	“Jellyfish”
Marisco	“Shellfish”
Tartaruga	“Turtle”
Golfinho	“Dolphin”
Boto	“River dolphin”
The river dolphin is the main character of one of the most interesting Brazilian myths, called boto-cor-de-rosa (“the pink river dolphin”). The legend says this Amazonian animal walks the land transformed as a charming gentleman wearing all-white clothing on moonlit nights. The seducer dolphin-man is said to be the father of all children from unknown fathers, according to this legend of Northern Brazil.

5. Bugs and Insects

Our next set of animal names in Portuguese might make you a bit uncomfortable.

We might not like them, and we might even find them disgusting…but we all share the same planet. Language learners should know at least a few bug and insect names in Portuguese! Here are some common ones you’ll find in Brazil and abroad:

Joaninha	“Ladybug”
Besouro	“Beetle”
Aranha	“Spider”
Escorpião	“Scorpion”
Centopeia	“Centipede”
Minhoca	“Worm”
Barata	“Cockroach”
Abelha	“Bee”
Vespa	“Wasp”
Borboleta	“Butterfly”
Mariposa	“Moth”
Formiga	“Ant”
Grilo	“Cricket”
Lesma	“Snail”
Carrapato	“Tick”
Mosca	“Fly”
Mosquito	“Mosquito”

6. Birds, Reptiles, and Amphibians

You are now entering the rabbit hole of Portuguese bird names.

Are you ready to learn a few more specific animal names in Portuguese? Brazil is home to a particularly diverse population of birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and knowing their names will make your trip even more memorable.

Even though our list here is quite comprehensive, you could study even more species using Cornell University’s Ornithology database. Their well-designed Merlin app is a practical way to explore and identify many different types of birds worldwide.

Tucano	“Tucano”
Arara	“Macaw”
Jaburu	“Jabiru”
Garça	“Great egret”
Falcão	“Falcon”
Gavião	“Hawk”
Bem-te-vi	“Great kiskadee”
Alma de gato	“Squirrel-cuckoo”
Andorinha	“Swallow”
Pardal	“Sparrow”
Pomba	“Pigeon”
Coruja	“Owl”
Quero-quero (also known as abibe-do-sul in Portugal)	“Southern Lapwing”
Pica-pau	“Woodpecker”
Jabuti	“Tortoise”
Jacaré	“Cayman”
Cobra	“Snake”
Fun fact: The Brazilian Butantan Institute developed the very first anti-ophidic antidotes in the world. Its Biologic Museum has a collection of some of the most famous and intriguing Brazilian snakes, such as the jararaca, sucurí, surucucú, cascavel (“rattlesnake”), coral, and many more.
Lagarto	“Lizard”
There is also a general label for any small lizard in many parts of Brazil: calango.
Sapo  Rã	“Frog” / “Toad”

7. Animal Body Parts

Now that you’ve learned a few common animal names, the next step is to learn the names of their unique body parts. Adding these words to your Portuguese animal vocabulary will help you better describe the animals you encounter during your visit!

Rabo Cauda	“Tail”
Pelo	“Hair”
Dente	“Tooth”
Presa	“Fang”
Garra	“Claw”
Chifre	“Horn”
Galhada	“Antlers”
Casco	“Hoof”
Pena Pluma	“Feather”
Asa	“Wing”
Bico	“Beak”
Barbatana	“Fin”
Tentáculo	“Tentacle”
Juba	“Mane”
Tromba	“Trunk”
Antena	“Antenna”
Pata	“Leg”
Pro tip: The word pata does not refer to a human leg (which is called perna). Also, remember that pata is Portuguese for a female duck!
Escama	“Scale”

8. Animal-Related Idioms and Slang Expressions

Behold the most expected guests at teatime: kettle beak and teacup wing.

After this tour de force through the zoo, here’s a final souvenir from this extensive journey of studying animal names in Portuguese: idioms and slang expressions!

These expressions have the same meaning as their English translations:

•  “Butterflies in the stomach” – Borboletas no estômago
• “The black sheep of the family” – A ovelha negra da família

Now, these idioms and expressions might sound odd to a tourist in a Portuguese-speaking country:

•  “The teacup’s wing” – A asa da xícara [de chá]
• “Kettle’s beak” – Bico da chaleira
• “He does not resist a skirt’s tail.” – Ele não resiste a um rabo de saia.

The teacup’s handle is sometimes called its “wing,” and the kettle’s spout is called its “beak.”

On the other hand, a “skirt’s tail” is a slang term for “woman” in a flirtatious context. If someone is interested in a woman, they might pay attention to the movement of her skirt (the way a hunter might notice the tail movement of an animal).

• “Dog’s ears” – Ouvidos caninos

Someone with a sensitive sense of hearing is said to have a dog’s ears.

• “Jaguar’s friend” – Amigo da onça

A “jaguar’s friend” is someone who is an inconvenience to others, namely a friend who doesn’t act so friendly. This expression was made popular by a 1940s comic strip created by Péricles de Andrade Maranhão in the O Cruzeiro magazine.

• “I don’t like you because you’re (a) donkey.” – Não gosto de você porque você é burro.

A donkey is a stubborn animal and a synonym for “dumb” in Brazil. In this case, it’s used as an adjective. 

•  “Man, we’ve paid the duck…” – Cara, nós pagamos o pato…

As odd as this idiom might sound, “to pay the duck” means to be fooled. A variation of this expression is “to fall like a duck,” used when someone “falls” for a prank or a scam.

• “He turned into a macaw.” – Ele virou uma arara.
• “She turned into a beast.” – Ela virou um bicho. / Ela virou uma fera.

These phrases are used to express that someone became very angry over something.

9. Conclusion

You’ve now learned a good variety of animal names in Portuguese, as well as other relevant words and phrases. Unfortunately, it would be impossible to include every animal on this list. But we did our best to include both animals you’ll find in Brazil and those you’re more familiar with from abroad. 

But you don’t have to stop here!

If you can’t get enough of Mother Nature’s children and want to learn even more animal words in Portuguese, create your free lifetime account on PortuguesePod101.com today.

PortuguesePod101 is the most complete and interesting multimedia hub for Portuguese learners at every level, from Beginner to Advanced. We provide everything you’ll need to improve your language skills: short video lessons, themed vocabulary lists, free content, and even private Portuguese classes to expedite your learning progress. 

Never mind old, dusty grammar books or months of repetitive exercises in your language learning app. Get real and start a solid path to knowledge at PortuguesePod101.com!

Before you go, what’s your favorite animal? Do you know its name in Portuguese?

Asking interesting questions is one of the secrets to a good conversation. Regardless of the language, questions are an essential tool in your conversation toolbox. They can help you learn basic information about the person you’ve just met or dive deep into what makes them unique! Pretty cool, huh?

That’s why knowing how to ask and answer a question in Portuguese will take you a long way toward mastering the language. By practicing the sentences and patterns you’ll see in this article, you’ll begin to feel comfortable during interactions with native speakers. Simply ask interesting questions every now and again, and see how smoothly your conversation will flow.

To help you navigate the world of questions in Portuguese, we’ll introduce you to the top ten questions you can ask, alongside the translation of each word used in the sentences. You’ll also see how to answer them, broken down by the pattern so you can create your own answers. And of course, there will be plenty of examples along the way, to make sure you really grasp the concepts. Ready?

Table of Contents

1. The Building Blocks
2. The Top 10 Portuguese Questions and Answers to Learn
3. Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

Get ready to ask and answer questions like a pro!

1. The Building Blocks

Before we see how to ask questions in Portuguese, let’s take a quick look at the building blocks to do so: the question patterns and the Portuguese question words. By learning these elements, you’ll better understand the sentences in this article, and you’ll also be able to create your own questions in the future.

1 – Portuguese Question Words

These are the most common question words in Portuguese that you can use to form direct questions.

“What”	O que O quê (if it’s at the end of the sentence)	O que você quer comer? (“What do you want to eat?”) Você quer comer o quê? (“What do you want to eat?”)
“Why”	Por que Por quê (if it’s at the end of the sentence)	Por que vamos sair? (“Why are we leaving?”) Vamos sair por quê? (“Why are we leaving?”)
“Where”	Onde (used if the subject is not moving) Aonde (used if the subject is moving)	Onde está meu remédio? (“Where is my medicine?”) Aonde você vai? (“Where are you going?”)
“When”	Quando	Quando é a festa? (“When is the party?”)
“Who”	Quem	Quem era aquele homem? (“Who was that man?”)
“How”	Como	Como elas chegaram aqui? (“How did they get here?”)
“Which”	Qual Quais (plural)	Qual é o seu sabor de sorvete favorito? (“What is your favorite ice cream flavor?”) Quais são os seus livros? (“Which ones are your books?”)
“How much” / “How many”	Quanto (male singular form) Quanta (female singular form) Quantos (male plural form) Quantas (female plural form)	Quanto custa esse livro? (“How much does this book cost?”) Quanta água você tem? (“How much water do you have?”) Quantos bebês nasceram hoje? (“How many babies were born today?”) Quantas pessoas vieram? (“How many people came?”)
“Whose”	De quem	De quem é esse carro? (“Whose car is this?”)

2 – Portuguese Question Patterns

There are two main patterns for asking questions in Portuguese that you need to be familiar with.

Question word + subject + verb + complement

Using this pattern, you can ask a huge variety of questions. It follows the same word order as a declarative sentence does. The difference is that you add a question word to the beginning and a question mark at the end. Most of the sample Portuguese questions we saw in the previous table feature this sentence pattern.

Examples:

• Quando vocês chegam? (“When do you arrive?”) – plural
• Onde posso deixar minha mala? (“Where can I leave my luggage?”)

In some cases, you can also see the question word at the end of the sentence, instead of at the beginning. For example:

• A festa é quando? (“The party is when?”)

Subject + verb + complement

This sentence pattern is basically a statement followed by a question mark. Intonation is an essential aspect of asking questions with this pattern, since it’s the only thing differentiating it from a declarative statement. 

The intonation is fairly similar to the one used to ask questions in English. Simply raise your voice slightly at the end of the sentence.

Examples:

• Você vai sair hoje? (“Are you going out today?”)
• Podemos começar? (“May we begin?”)

Regardless of the question pattern, keep in mind that, sometimes, the subject is implicit. This happens fairly often in Portuguese, and you might see question examples in which the subject doesn’t appear. In cases like this, the subject can be inferred by looking at the verb. Take this sentence, for example:

• Vamos sair agora? (“Are we leaving now?”)

The subject in this sentence is nós (“we”), as the conjugation of the verb indicates. You can opt to include the word nós in the sentence or leave it out.

Vamos estudar? (“Let’s study?”)

2. The Top 10 Portuguese Questions and Answers to Learn

From the more basic Portuguese questions you can ask during a first meeting to questions that can take the conversation to the next level, you’ll see it all in this article. Pay attention to how the answers normally use elements from the questions—this can help you get your bearings when you’re asked a brand-new question!

1 – What’s your name?

This is probably the first question you’ll hear or ask a Portuguese-speaker. Take your time to learn this question by heart. 

Question

• Qual é o seu nome? 

Qual	é	o seu	nome?
What (in this case, qual translates to “what,” and not “which”)	is	your	name?

• Como você se chama?

Como	você	se chama?
How	do you	call yourself?

Answer

• Meu nome é [nome].

Meu	nome	é	[nome].
My	name	is	[name].

You can use this same structure to answer what your nickname or family name is.

• Meu apelido é [apelido]. (“My nickname is [nickname].”)
• Meu sobrenome é [sobrenome]. (“My family name is [family name].”)

• Eu me chamo [nome].

Eu	me chamo	[nome].
I	call myself	[name].

Putting it all together

• Q: Qual é o seu nome? (“What is your name?”) 
• A: Meu nome é Maria. (“My name is Maria.”)

• Q: Como você se chama? (“What are you called?”)
• A: Eu me chamo Gustavo. (“I’m called Gustavo.”)

2 – Where are you from?

Here’s another great icebreaker question for getting to know people!

Question

• De onde você é?

De	onde	você	é?
From	where	you	are?

• De onde você vem?

De	onde	você	vem?
From	where	you	come?

Answer

• Eu sou de [local].

Eu	sou	de	[local].
I	am	from	[place].

• Eu venho de [local].

Eu	venho	de	[local].
I	come	from	[place].

Note that, in both cases, the preposition de (“of” / “from”) should agree with the following word in gender and number. Check it out:

• Eu sou de Portugal. (“I am from Portugal.”)
• Eu venho da África do Sul. (“I come from South Africa.”)
• Eu sou dos Estados Unidos. (“I am from the United States.”)

You can also answer the question by stating your nationality:

• Eu sou brasileiro. (“I am Brazilian.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: De onde você é? (“Where are you from?”)
• A: Eu sou do Rio de Janeiro. (“I’m from Rio de Janeiro.”) 

• Q: De onde você vem? (“Where do you come from?”) 
• A: Eu venho da Índia. (“I come from India.”)

3 – Do you speak Portuguese?

People in Brazil will likely be very curious to know more about your Portuguese-learning experience. Expect to hear some questions about it!

Question

• Você fala [idioma]?

Você	fala	[idioma]?
You	speak	Portuguese?

You can also add more details to your question at the end of the sentence. For example:

• Você fala inglês fluentemente? (“Do you speak English fluently?”)
• Você fala francês há muito tempo? (“Have you spoken French long?”)

Answer

• Eu falo [idioma].

Eu	falo	[idioma].
I	speak	Portuguese.

You can begin the sentence with sim (“yes”) or não (“no”), and then complete your answer with the pattern above.

• Sim, eu falo Português. (“Yes, I speak Portuguese.”)
• Não, eu não falo Espanhol. (“No, I don’t speak Spanish.”)

And, just like before, you can add more details to your answer using adverbs and adjectives.

• Eu falo um pouco de Português. (“I speak a bit of Portuguese.”)
• Eu falo Espanhol muito bem. (“I speak Spanish very well.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: Você fala Italiano? (“Do you speak Italian?”)
• A: Sim, eu falo Italiano. (“Yes, I speak Italian.”)

• Q: Ela fala português? (“Does she speak Portuguese?”)
• A: Não, ela não fala português. (“No, she doesn’t speak Portuguese.”)

Você fala todas essas línguas? (“Do you speak all of those languages?”)

4 – How long have you been studying Portuguese?

After successfully explaining what languages you speak, it’s time to show off your skills. After all, it takes a while to master a new language, and you deserve to brag a little!

Question

• Você estuda [idioma] há quanto tempo?

Você	estuda	[idioma]	há	quanto tempo?
You	study	Portuguese	have been	how long?

The translation you see above might confuse you a bit, so let’s unpack it. When we use the verb haver (“to have”) with another verb in the present tense (like estuda), it describes an action that started in the past and continues in the present.

The verb haver can be substituted by the verb fazer (“to make”), which in this case, will have the same meaning as haver:

• Você estuda [idioma] faz quanto tempo?

It’s also common to see this question pattern inverted:

• Há quanto tempo que você estuda [idioma]?
• Faz quanto tempo que você estuda [idioma]?

Answer

You can answer this Portuguese question in a more complete way by repeating part of the question, or in a more direct way, just using the verb and the amount of time.

• Eu estudo [idioma] faz / há [tempo].

Eu	estudo	[idioma]	faz / há	[tempo].
I	study	Portuguese	for	[time].

• Faz / há [tempo].

Faz / há	[tempo].
For	[time].

Note that, regardless of the number of years or months you answer with, the verb is always in the singular form. That happens because, when referring to actions that started in the past and continue in the present, the verb doesn’t vary in number.

• Faz um ano. (“For one year.”)
• Eu estudo inglês faz dez anos. (“I have been studying English for ten years.”)
• Eu estudo japonês há um ano. (“I have been studying Japanese for one year.”)
• Há dez anos. (“For ten years.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: Você estuda coreano faz quanto tempo? (“How long have you been studying Korean?”)
• A: Faz três anos. (“For three years.”)

• Q: Você estuda português faz quanto tempo? (“How long have you been studying Portuguese?”)
• A: Eu estudo português há dois meses. (“I have been studying Portuguese for two months.”)

5 – Have you been to [place]?

Traveling is always an interesting topic for conversation, and some of the most common Portuguese questions for foreigners are related to this topic.

Question

• Você já foi para [lugar]?

Você	já	foi	para	[lugar]?
You	already	have been	to	[place]?

After the preposition para (“to”), it might be necessary to add articles that agree with the gender and number of the place.

• Você já foi para São Paulo? (“Have you been to São Paulo?”)
• Você já foi para o Rio de Janeiro? (“Have you been to Rio de Janeiro?”)
• Você já foi para a China? (“Have you been to China?”)
• Você já foi para os Países Baixos? (“Have you been to the Netherlands?”)

Answer

This question can be answered with a simple sim (“yes”) or não (“no”). However, to really make it count, you can add information about how many times you’ve been or when you went there. You can add this information at the end of the sentence.

Sim / Não,	eu	(não) fui	[complemento].
Yes / No,	I	have (not) been	[complement].

• Sim, eu fui uma vez. (“Yes, I’ve been once.”)
• Não, eu nunca fui. (“No, I’ve never been.”)
• Sim, eu fui lá ano passado. (“Yes, I went there last year.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: Você já foi para Roma? (“Have you already been to Rome?”) 
• A: Sim, eu fui para Roma várias vezes. (“Yes, I’ve been to Rome several times.”)

• Q: Ele já foi para o nordeste? (“Has he already been to the northeast [of Brazil]?”) 
• A: Não, ele não foi. (“No, he has not.”)

→ Explore more travel-related vocabulary and essential phrases with PortuguesePod101!

Você já foi para Paris? Sim, já fui! (“Have you been to Paris? Yes, I’ve been!”)

6 – Do you like [country’s] food?

You can’t talk about traveling without bringing up all of the delicious local cuisine! And you can bet that Brazilians will ask you about your thoughts on Brazilian food. 

Question

• Você gosta da comida de [país]?

Você	gosta da	comida	de	[país]?
Do you	like	food	of	Brazil?

Once again, the preposition de (“of”) has to agree with the country or place. 

• Você gosta da comida do Brasil? (“Do you like Brazil’s food?”)
• Você gosta da comida da França? (“Do you like France’s food?”)

Instead of using “de + country,” you can also use the adjective that refers to that country. For example:

• Você gosta da comida brasileira? (“Do you like Brazilian food?”)
• Você gosta da comida francesa? (“Do you like French food?”)

If you want to make the question more specific, you can add adjectives after the word comida (“food”):

• Ela gosta da comida tradicional japonesa? (“Do you like traditional Japanese food?”)
• Você gosta da comida vegetariana da Índia? (“Do you like vegetarian Indian food?”)

Answer

The answer pattern here is very similar to the one we saw for the previous question. You can start with sim (“yes”) or não (“no”), and then add more information to make your answer complete.

Sim / Não,	eu	(não) gosto	[complemento].
Yes / No,	I	(don’t) like	[complement].

• Sim, eu gosto. (“Yes, I like it.”)
• Sim, eu gosto da comida peruana. (“Yes, I like Peruvian food.”)
• Não, eu não gosto muito. (“No, I don’t like it very much.”)
• Não, eu não gosto da comida daqui. (“No, I don’t like the food from here.”) 

To emphasize how much you like (or don’t like) the local food, you can use stronger verbs than gostar (“to like”).

• Sim, eu adoro. (“Yes, I adore it.”)
• Sim, eu amo a comida da Colômbia. (“Yes, I love Colombian food.”)
• Não, eu odeio a comida alemã. (“No, I hate German food.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: Você gosta da comida da Tailândia? (“Do you like Thailand’s food?”) 
• A: Sim, eu gosto da comida tailandesa. (“Yes, I like Thai food.”)

• Q: Você gosta da comida do Chile? (“Do you like Chile’s food?”)
• A: Não, eu odeio. (“No, I hate it.”)

7 – How is ___?

This is a versatile question pattern for you to learn. Let’s say you just made a delicious batch of cookies and offered some to your brand-new acquaintances. Now, you want to know what they think about them. What do you say?

Another scenario: You’re going to visit a friend in another city, but before packing, you want to know what the weather is like there. How can you ask? 

In both cases, the question is about how something is at the moment. For this reason, you should use the temporary form of the verb “to be” in Portuguese: estar.

• Como está o / a [complemento]? 

Como	está	o / a	[complemento]?
How	is	the	[complement]?

Use this question pattern to ask how a singular thing or event is. The articles will change depending on the gender of the thing or event. Take a look at the examples:

• Como está o bolo? (“How is the cake?”)
• Como está a comida? (“How is the food?”)
• Como está o clima aí? (“How is the weather there?”)
• Como está a festa? (“How is the party?”)

• Como estão os / as [complemento]?

Como	estão	os / as	[complemento]?
How	are	the	[complement]?

Use this second pattern to talk about plural things or events. Once again, make sure the article agrees with the thing or event.

• Como estão os biscoitos? (“How are the cookies?”)
• Como estão as férias? (“How is the vacation?”)

But what about asking a question about the essence or a permanent characteristic of something? In this case, you should use the permanent “to be” verb, which is ser. 

• Como é o/a [complemento]?

Como	é	o / a	[complemento]?
How	is	the	[complement]?

• Como é a casa nova? (“How is the new house?”)
• Como é a sua vizinha/ o seu vizinho? (“How is your neighbor?”)
• Como é o gato? (“How is the cat?”)

• Como são os/as [complemento]?

Como	são	os / as	[complemento]?
How	are	the	[complement]?

• Como são as pessoas da cidade? (“How are the people of the city?”)
• Como são os móveis novos? (“How is the new furniture?”)

If you need to refresh your memory, check the conjugation for the verbs ser and estar.

Answer

It’s fairly simple to answer these types of questions. Use the same verb that was used in the question (paying attention to the conjugation), and add the adjectives and/or adverbs you want. To make it more complete, you could also add the subject before the verb.

Sujeito	verbo	complemento.
Subject	verb	complement.

• Está boa. (“It’s good.”)
• A comida está boa. (“The food is good.”)

• Estão gostosos. (“They’re tasty.”)
• Os biscoitos estão gostosos. (“The cookies are tasty.”)

• É fofo. (“It’s cute.”)
• O gato é fofo. (“The cat is cute.”)

• São simpáticas. (“They’re friendly.”) 
• As pessoas são simpáticas. (“The people are friendly.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: Como está o namoro? (“How is the relationship?”)
• A: Está muito bem, obrigado! (“It is very well, thank you!”)

• Q: Como são os novos colegas? (“How are the new colleagues?”)
• A: São muito simpáticos. (“They’re very friendly.”)

• Q: Como está a sopa? (“How is the soup?”)
• A: A sopa está muito salgada. (“The soup is very salty.”)

Como está o sorvete? (“How is the ice cream?”)

8 – What are you doing?

Here’s another versatile Portuguese question that, with just a few tweaks, can be used in a variety of situations.

Question

• O que você está fazendo?

O que	você	está	fazendo?
What	you	are	doing?

By adding more information at the end of the sentence, you can ask more-specific questions. 

• O que você está fazendo agora? (“What are you doing now?”)
• O que você está fazendo hoje? (“What are you doing today?”)
• O que você está fazendo sozinho aqui? (“What are you doing alone here?”)
• O que você está fazendo na sala? (“What are you doing in the living room?”)

In Portuguese, you can use this exact pattern to ask what someone is making in the kitchen:

• O que você está fazendo para o almoço? (“What are you making for lunch?”)
• O que você está fazendo no forno? (“What are you making in the oven?”)

You don’t need to be stuck with the verb fazer (“to do” / “to make”). By using other verbs in the gerund form, you open up many more possibilities:

• O que você está assistindo? (“What are you watching?”)
• O que você está cortando? (“What are you cutting?”)
• O que você está ouvindo? (“What are you listening to?”)
• O que você está assando? (“What are you baking?”)

Answer

To answer, you’ll need to describe the action you’re doing in the gerund form.

Eu	estou	[verbo no gerúndio]	[complemento].
I	am	[verb in gerund form]	[complement].

• Eu estou lendo um livro. (“I am reading a book.”)
• Eu estou limpando o quarto. (“I am cleaning the room.”)
• Eu estou assando um bolo. (“I am baking a cake.”)
• Eu estou tomando banho. (“I am taking a shower.”)
• Eu estou correndo. (“I am running.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: O que você está fazendo? (“What are you doing?”) 
• A: Estou arrumando a garagem. (“I am organizing the garage.”)

• Q: O que você está fazendo no quarto? (“What are you doing in the bedroom?”) 
• A: Estou estudando. (“I am studying.”)

• Q: O que vocês estão fazendo? (“What are you doing?”) – plural
• A: Estamos assistindo um filme. (“We are watching a movie.”)

Estamos assistindo futebol. (“We are watching soccer.”)

9 – Are you all right?

This is certainly an essential question in our daily interactions with friends, colleagues, loved ones, and relatives!

• Você está bem?

Você	está	bem?
You	are	alright?

If you want to ask this question about somebody else, it’s easy: simply use the name or the pronoun instead of você (“you”).

• Ela está bem? (“Is she alright?”)
• Luís está bem? (“Is Luís alright?”)

You may also hear a simple: Tudo bem? (“Alright?”). It means the same thing!

Alternatively, there’s another question you can ask to discover how a person is. The pattern might look familiar to you.

• Como você está?

Como	você	está?
How	you	are?

Once again, you can ask the same question using other subjects:

• Como ele está? (“How is he?”)

Answer

Eu	estou	[complemento].
I	am	[complement].

It’s common to see these sentences without the subject, as well.

• Estou bem. (“I’m alright.”)
• Eu estou muito bem. (“I am very well.”)
• Ela está bem. (“She is alright.”)
• Eu estou triste. (“I am sad.”)
• Eu estou meio doente. (“I’m a bit sick.”)

If the question was Você está bem? (“Are you alright?”), you can also add sim (“yes”) or não (“no”) before the rest of the sentence.

• Sim, estou bem. (“Yes, I am well.”)
• Não, eu estou mal. (“No, I’m not well.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: Você está bem? (“Are you alright?”) 
• A: Sim, eu estou muito bem! (“Yes, I am very well!”)

• Q: Tudo bem? (“Alright?”)
• A: Não, não estou muito bem. (“No, I’m not very well.”)

• Q: Como você está? (“How are you?”)
• A: Estou preocupada. (“I’m worried.”)

10 – How much is it?

When shopping, eating out, or hiring a service, this is a must-ask question.

Question

• Quanto custa?

Quanto	custa?
How much	does it cost?

• Quanto é?

Quanto	é?
How much	is it?

These are very simple Portuguese questions for asking how much something costs. If you’re holding an item and showing it as you ask, it’s clear enough what you’re referring to. But if you need to make it more specific, add the name of the product or service at the end of the sentence.

• Quanto custa esse livro? (“How much does this book cost?”)
• Quanto é a massagem? (“How much is the massage?”)
• Quanto custa a fatia de bolo? (“How much does the slice of cake cost?”)
• Quanto é esse anel? (“How much is this ring?”)

Answer

To answer, you can simply state the value, or start the sentence with one of the verbs used in the question:

Custa / é	[valor].
It costs / it is	[value].

Remember that, in Brazil, the currency is the Real (R$). So when you’re talking about monetary values, you have to use the word reais and centavos (“cents”).

• Custa cinco reais e cinquenta centavos. (“It costs R$5,50.”)
• É vinte reais. (“It’s R$20,00.”)
• Custa um real. (“It costs R$1,00.”)

Putting it all together

• Q: Quanto custa o quadro? (“How much does the painting cost?”) 
• A: Custa 150 reais. (“It costs R$150,00.”)

• Q: Quanto é a mensalidade da academia? (“How much is the gym monthly fee?”) 
• A: É 80 reais. (“It’s R$80,00.”)

Quanto custa esse iogurte? (“How much is this yogurt?”)

→ Want to practice your pronunciation? Listen to the Top 25 Portuguese Questions on PortuguesePod101!

3. Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

This was a long lesson, but hopefully it gave you everything you need to know about asking Portuguese questions. Before you know it, you’ll be spouting them left and right! So take your chances and satisfy your curiosity by putting these questions into practice. Remember, they can be of great help when you’re feeling stuck in a conversation.

Did you like the way the questions and answers were presented? Did we leave out any questions you were hoping to see? Tell us what you think in the comments below! And feel free to come back to this article whenever you feel like it.

Now is the time to continue on your language-learning journey! There are more free Portuguese resources and a variety of vocabulary lists available on PortuguesePod101.com. Go ahead and choose your favorite tools to expand your learning opportunities.

If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence.

Have you ever heard about Celpe-Bras? The name isn’t very clear, I know. But if you’re serious about your Portuguese learning, it’s good to be familiar with it! After all, Celpe-Bras is the official Brazilian Portuguese proficiency test, and the one exam you need to take if you have plans to study or work in Brazil.

Don’t be scared by words like “test” and “exam,” though! We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about this Portuguese test for foreigners, answering the most important questions. In this article, we’ll take a look at how the test is organized, how it measures one’s proficiency in Portuguese, how to register, and how to best prepare for it.

Even if you’ve never heard about Celpe-Bras before today, you’ll know everything about it by the end of this article. If you’ve already decided you’re going to take the exam, this article will be helpful for your preparation so you can achieve the results you want. Sound good? Let’s dive right in!

Table of Contents

1. What You Need to Know About Celpe-Bras
2. What’s in the Celpe-Bras Exam?
3. After the Test
4. Tips on Preparing for Celpe-Bras
5. Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

1. What You Need to Know About Celpe-Bras

Celpe-Bras stands for Certificado de Proficiência em Língua Portuguesa para Estrangeiros (“Certificate of Portuguese Language Proficiency for Foreigners”). It’s the official certificate of proficiency in Brazilian Portuguese as a second language, and the only one recognized and issued by the Brazilian Ministry of Education. It’s also recognized internationally!

Officially, the Celpe-Bras certification is valid for life, although different institutions might specify how long ago the test should have been taken. 

The four levels of proficiency indicated by the test are:

• Intermediate
• Upper-intermediate
• Advanced
• Highly advanced

There isn’t a different test for each level, which means that every candidate takes the same test and their Celpe-Bras results indicate their proficiency level. 

Celpe-Bras is divided into two parts: a written section and an oral section. In total, the test takes 3 hours and 20 minutes to complete. During the exam, your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills will be evaluated. We’ll take an in-depth look at how exactly each section is organized later on.

A- Why Take the Test?

You might be wondering why taking the Portuguese proficiency test is important. Well, if you’re considering any of the following scenarios, the test might be for you:

• Planning to enroll in a Brazilian university
• Looking for a job in Brazil
• Need to register in professional bodies, like the Medical Board
• Need to otherwise prove your ability to communicate in Portuguese 

Taking the test is an investment of time and money, so make sure it’s the right option for you, depending on your situation. If you’re only looking to find out your proficiency level, but don’t need to prove it to any institution, consider taking the Assessment Test by signing up for PortuguesePod101.com’s Premium PLUS program.

Want to study in Brazil? Then you need to take the Celpe-Bras test!

B- Celpe-Bras Registration

Celpe-Bras takes place two times every year: once in the first semester and another time in the second semester. There are currently more than 120 places in Brazil and abroad with permission to administer the test. When you’re ready to register, you can search for Celpe-Bras test centers on this page (in Portuguese). 

Registration is done online, through the official website. Candidates need to create an account by giving their telephone number and email address. After that, they need to fill in all of the necessary information, as well as details about when and where the test will be taken. 

They also ask some personal questions, which will be used in the oral section of the test. Finally, candidates have to upload a document to register successfully. After receiving a confirmation, all that’s left is to pay the registration fee.

Each place can charge its own fee, but there is a maximum value defined by the Brazilian Ministry of Education. The maximum fee for exams taken in Brazil is R$200 and for exams taken abroad it’s US$100. 

After they get the payment confirmation, candidates receive a proof of registration, which should be kept in a safe place. Candidates need to present this document on the day of the exam and, later on, will need it to retrieve the test results. On the day of the test, candidates should also take a valid ID document with a picture.

C- Assessment and Score

Basically, what Celpe-Bras wants to evaluate is your capacity for understanding and adapting context, your vocabulary, and your logic in constructing sentences. 

To get the certification, a candidate has to score at the intermediate level (or higher). The oral section and the written section are graded separately. If each section has a different mark, your final grade will be equal to the lowest score.

Your score will determine your proficiency level as follows:

Level	Grade	Description
No certification	0,00 to 1,99
Intermediate	2,00 to 2,75	Capable of comprehending, as well as producing, spoken and written text about limited themes, in known contexts and everyday situations. Mistakes are not severe enough to compromise communication.
Upper-intermediate	2,76 to 3,50	Same as the previous level, but mistakes in pronunciation and written text are less frequent.
Advanced	3,51 to 4,25	Capable of comprehending, as well as producing, spoken and written text in a fluent manner, about various themes in both known and unknown contexts.  Some mistakes might be made when talking about unknown contexts, but not enough to compromise communication.
Highly advanced	4,26 to 5,00	Same as the previous level, but mistakes in pronunciation and written text are less frequent.

You can find more information about Celpe-Bras on the official website, in Portuguese. 

2. What’s in the Celpe-Bras Exam?

Now that you know all the details about registering and grading, it’s time to learn what you’ll face when taking the Portuguese proficiency exam!

A- Written Section

This section has 4 tasks, and you might take up to 3 hours to complete it. 

Task	Content	Abilities tested	Time
1	Video	Oral comprehension and writing abilities	30 minutes
2	Audio	Oral comprehension and writing abilities
3	Written text	Reading and writing abilities	2 hours and 30 minutes
4	Written text	Reading and writing abilities

Celpe-Bras is not a multiple-choice test, which means that you’ll have to answer the questions in essay form. The questions might ask you to give your personal opinion about the topics discussed, or to back up your answer with information taken directly from the content presented to you. 

Remember that their objective in this section is to test two things: how well you can make sense of the information given to you, and how well you can explain your point of view in writing. 

A few tips to keep in mind:

• Before this section begins, you’ll be given some time to ask questions. Be sure to ask about anything that’s unclear to you at that point. 
• The audio and video components will be repeated, so don’t panic if it’s not crystal-clear at first. Take a deep breath and pay attention the second time it comes around! 
• Read the written text first. Then, after reading the prompt questions, go back to the text and underline whatever information you think is relevant. Taking notes at this point is also a good idea.
• Take a few minutes to structure your answer. Think about what your main points will be before starting to write.
• After you’re done, don’t be in a hurry to hand it in! Re-read all of your answers and make any necessary corrections.

Start practicing now: write your next journal entry in Portuguese.

B- Oral Section

The oral section takes 20 minutes, and during this time, the candidate will have a conversation with the evaluator. Another evaluator is also present, taking notes, and will not participate in the conversation. The objective of this section is to test your oral comprehension and speaking abilities.

The first 5 minutes of this section will focus on the candidate’s personal information. Remember when we said you would have to complete some personal information when registering? They’ll use that to begin the conversation. That’s why it’s a good idea to give as much detail as possible when filling out the registration form.

After that, the following 15 minutes will focus on three topics to be discussed between you and the evaluator. He or she will use different visual props, like magazine covers, photos, and other images or messages. The evaluator will ask questions about how they make you feel, your opinion, or what the images are trying to communicate. They might also ask about a specific word used in it and its meaning. 

Some tips to help you ace the oral section of Celpe-Bras:

• Take a screenshot of the information you fill in when registering and print it out. This way, you can read it while preparing for the exam. This will give you an idea of the first questions they’ll ask you.
• Remember that the evaluators are not there to make you fail! Most of the time, they’ll try to make you feel at ease, so the evaluation can flow more like a conversation.
• Take your time to really listen to what’s being asked. Avoid being in your head all the time, thinking on how to answer even before they’re done asking. 
• Avoid using excess slang or colloquial language.

The oral section is like a conversation.

3. After the Test

Congratulations! After all the preparation and taking the test itself, all that’s left is the waiting part. It takes around two months for the results to become available. Results will be published online, and after that, you can ask for the certificate. Remember that you’ll need the proof of registration to do that, so keep it in a safe place! 

It’s not possible to ask for a revision of the score. But you should know that the grading process takes the input of two separate evaluators, in both the written and oral sections. In case the grades are very different, a third evaluator is called in to assess it. 

4. Tips on Preparing for Celpe-Bras

Now that you know how to successfully register for and take this Brazilian Portuguese proficiency test, it’s time to get down to business—in this case, to your studies. After all, preparation is the word of order when it comes to proficiency tests. 

Here are our top tips for your Celpe-Bras preparation and to help you achieve the results you want!

A- Reading

• Keep up with Brazilian Portuguese news. There are several channels and websites available. From a sports-only website to the most popular national newspaper, you can read about anything that interests you. 
• Read opinion articles and movie reviews from quality sources.
• Reading blogs, magazines, and books will introduce you to different writing styles and expand your vocabulary.
• Beware of using social media to prepare: normally, the language used in everyday comments and posts is not 100% correct. 

B- Listening

• Try to listen to Portuguese every day. Even if you don’t have much time, don’t go one day without Portuguese listening practice. PortuguesePod101 has a huge lesson library with many listening exercises you can use!
• Watch TV shows or news to get used to normal conversation speed.

C- Speaking

• Try to express your feelings and opinions out loud. Talk to Portuguese-speakers, asking and answering questions about different topics. 
• Record yourself and listen to your recording afterwards to catch where you can improve. This will also help you feel more comfortable with speaking Portuguese overall.

D- Writing

• Start writing in Portuguese every day. You can write a journal entry, your to-do list, a message to a Portuguese-speaking friend…whatever it takes to get comfortable with it!
• Ask native speakers to read your writing and give you feedback. If you don’t know anyone you could ask in person, reach out online.

In addition, you should definitely reserve some time to take the past editions of Celpe-Bras at home. Take them as if they were the real deal, in a quiet place and timing yourself. 

You can also benefit from one-on-one tutoring through MyTeacher, an exclusive service by PortuguesePod101. You can get detailed reviews on your written answers, and improve your pronunciation and listening skills.

5. Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

Whether you were familiar with Celpe-Bras or had never heard about it before, we hope this guide gave you the information you need! When it comes time for you to get your Portuguese proficiency certification, you’ll be prepared to do amazingly well.

Do you think we forgot to cover something about Celpe-Bras? Or maybe you took the exam before and want to share your experience? Let us know in the comments!

Don’t forget to look for the past Celpe-Bras tests and practice with the real thing. Now is the perfect time to take your Portuguese studies up a notch. To help you along the way, there are lots of free Portuguese resources and a variety of vocabulary lists available on PortuguesePod101.com. Go ahead and choose your favorite tools to expand your learning opportunities.

If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence. Having a membership with us is especially useful if you’re planning to take a Portuguese proficiency test, as you can get quality feedback and training.

Good luck, and happy Portuguese learning!

Learning a language is a never-ending journey. Even our own mother tongue can be surprising at times! But let’s be honest: the language we use in the majority of our daily interactions tends to repeat itself. That’s why one of the smartest things to do when learning a new language is to cut to the chase and pick up the most common sentences.

No need to waste lots of time with grammar rules or perfecting each little sound. Instead, practice these common Portuguese sentence patterns and boost your communication skills! Once you have them down, each of your interactions with a native speaker or a fellow language-learner will fill you with more confidence and expand your vocabulary. All it takes to begin is getting comfortable with these straight-to-the-point sentence patterns in Portuguese.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover some easy Portuguese sentence patterns, as well as more complex and detailed ones; these will give you the flexibility to build your own Portuguese phrases. The examples we provide will help you understand the context in which each one is used. Practice these sentence patterns until they become second-nature to you. We guarantee that it will give you a big advantage in your language-learning journey as you continue improving!

Table of Contents

1. A is B
2. The Current Moment
3. I Want
4. I Need
5. I Like and I Love
6. Asking Someone for Something: Please
7. Asking for Permission
8. Asking for Information
9. Asking About the Time
10. Asking About Location
11. Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

1. A is B

This Portuguese sentence pattern is extremely versatile! Whether you want to link two nouns or a noun and an adjective, this is the structure you’ll use. This makes it handy for talking about, or describing, people and objects. 

The foundation for this type of sentence in Portuguese is the verb ser (“to be”). If you need a quick refresher, check the conjugation of the verb.

• Eu sou alta. (“I am tall.”) [female]
• João é simpático. (“João is nice.”)
• Marta é minha esposa. (“Marta is my wife.”)
• O médico é muito experiente. (“The doctor is very experienced.”)
• Minha mãe era professora. (“My mother was a teacher.”)
• O churrasco é amanhã. (“The barbecue is tomorrow.”)
• Esta universidade era a melhor do país. (“This university was the best in the country.”)

As you can see, by using the different conjugations of the verb ser, you can add information about the subject. Following the verb, you can use a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

→ Enrich your sentences using the best adjectives! Check out our list of the Top 25 Portuguese Adjectives on PortuguesePod101.com.

2. The Current Moment

While in English, we use the verb “to be” to talk about both permanent and temporary characteristics, in Portuguese, there’s a difference. In the previous Portuguese sentence pattern, we already saw the verb ser being used. Now, let’s see the sentence structure used to talk about things in the current moment.

For this, let’s invite the verb estar (“to be,” impermanent). Estar is another one of those useful little verbs that appear all the time. It might be used to talk about something we are temporarily:

• Eu estou confusa. (“I am confused.”)
• Meu filho está com fome. (“My son is hungry.”)
• O dia está nublado. (“The day is cloudy.”)
• Nós estamos muito atrasados. (“We are very late.”)
• O jantar estava uma delícia! (“The dinner was delicious!”)
• Nós estamos no shopping. (“We are at the mall.”)

But it doesn’t stop there. The verb estar is also used to talk about things we are doing or the weather.

• Nós estamos limpando a casa. (“We are cleaning the house.”)
• Estou chegando. (“I’m arriving.”)
• Está chovendo. (“It’s raining.”)
• Você estará em casa amanhã? (“Will you be home tomorrow?”)
• Ele estava correndo quando você ligou. (“He was running when you called.”)

When talking about actions that are happening in this moment, or that were happening in the moment you’re referring to, the gerund form is commonly used.

Está nublado. (“It’s cloudy.”)

3. I Want

Let’s say you’re walking around a famous city in Brazil, under the hot sun, and you see a juice stand with mouthwatering fruit juices. You want to get one ASAP! How can you let them know you want an ice-cold glass of juice?

The verb querer (“to want”) is used to express something you want. If you need to, you can check the conjugation of the verb querer.

• Eu quero um suco de laranja gelado, por favor. (“I want a cold orange juice, please.”)
• Eu quero comprar um (par de) sapato(s). (“I want to buy a pair of shoes.”)
• Você quer ir no show? (“Do you want to go to the concert?”)
• Meu pai quer ir no jogo de futebol. (“My dad wants to go to the soccer match.”)

There are also a couple of ways to express something similar: “I would like.” For that, use the verb gostar (“to like”) in the subjunctive mode.

• Eu gostaria de um copo de água. (“I would like a glass of water.”)
• Ela gostaria de te ver. (“I would like to see you.”)
• Você gostaria de vir? (“Would you like to come?”)

That’s great, but what if you have to make sure the people at the juice stand don’t put sugar in your juice? For situations like this, you need to learn how to say you don’t want something. It’s very easy: simply put the word não (“no”) before your verb.

• Eu não quero açúcar. (“I don’t want sugar.”)
• Meu pai não quer ir ao jogo de futebol. (“My dad doesn’t want to go to the soccer match.”)

4. I Need

When things go up a notch, you might prefer making it clear that you need something! For this, you’ll use the verb precisar (“to need”). Regardless of what your needs are—food, drinks, shade on a hot day, a friend to go to the beach with—this verb has got you covered!

Notice that, when the verb precisar is followed by another verb, you don’t need any preposition in between them. Also, the verb that follows precisar is used in the infinitive form. For example:

• Eu preciso dormir. (“I need to sleep.”)
• Precisamos conversar. (“We need to talk.”) – the pronoun “we” is implicit in the sentence
• Eu preciso voltar para a academia. (“I need to go back to the gym.”)

Now, you can also use the verb precisar with a nominal phrase, or in other words, a phrase without a verb. In these cases, you’ll need the preposition de (“of”). Here are a few examples of this Portuguese sentence construction:

• Você precisa de algo? (“Do you need something?”)
• Ela precisou de remédio. (“She needed medicine.”)
• Vocês vão precisar de um carro. (“You will need a car.”)

Preciso de um abraço! (“I need a hug!”)

5. I Like and I Love

There are a couple of different ways to express the things you like, adore, and love in Portuguese. Some people would argue that there should be more words to cover the entire spectrum of love we feel, but for now, there are only three Portuguese sentence patterns you need to learn! 

The first is the sentence using gostar (“to like”):

• Eu gosto de você. (“I like you.”) 
• Ela gostava de fazer compras. (“She liked shopping.”)
• Nós gostamos de gatos. (“We like cats.”)
• Gosto muito de dançar. (“I like to dance very much.”)
• Vocês gostam muito dessa cidade! (“You like this city a lot!”)

Two things to notice: 

1) The verb gostar is followed by a preposition. In most cases, the preposition is de (“of”).

2) As you can see in the last two examples, you can add the adverb muito (“very” or “a lot”) after the verb to amplify the intensity! This way, you can say that you like something a lot.

Now, if you really like something, you might use the verb adorar (“to adore”). It’s commonly perceived as being a bit more intense than gostar. Although the literal translation is “to adore,” unless you’re talking about a religious setting, it’s more correct to translate it to “like very much” or even “love.”

• Ela adora comida italiana! (“She loves Italian food!”)
• Nós adoramos a sua casa. (“We like your house very much.”)
• Eu adoraria ir à festa. (“I would love to go to the party.”)
• Eles adoram cozinhar. (“They love to cook.”)

Lastly, to express love or fondness for just about anything, use the verb amar (“to love”). But know that Brazilians are intense, and the verb amar is used very often. Saw a movie you liked? You can say you loved it. Your friend sent you a relatable meme? You can reply with amei (“loved it”)! Want to tell your best friend you love them? Yep, you would use the same verb.

• Amo muito meus pais. (“I love my parents a lot.”)
• Minha mãe ama meus amigos. (“My mother loves my friends.”)
• Eles amavam comida mexicana. (“They loved Mexican food.”)
• Eu te amo. (“I love you.”)

The last example is an interesting case: although in Brazil, the pronoun você (“you”) is most commonly used in speech, eu te amo is actually conjugated in the second person of the speech (tu). Don’t worry about it, though! Do as most Brazilians do, and say Eu te amo to that special person.

Note that in Portuguese, there’s another verb to express being in love: apaixonar.

• Estou apaixonado por você. (“I’m in love with you.”)
• Maria está apaixonada por João. (“Maria is in love with João.”)

→ Discover more Portuguese verbs to use in your sentences with PortuguesePod101!

Eu amo chocolate. (“I love chocolate.”)

6. Asking Someone for Something: Please

Por favor (“please”) is your go-to expression for asking for something politely. There are two places where you can place it: at the beginning or at the end of the sentence. 

When asking, place por favor at the end. When politely reminding someone of a favor or something you asked, it can go at the beginning or the end. Let’s take a look at some examples of possible Portuguese sentence structures:

• Você pode pegar a caixa, por favor? (“Can you get the box, please?”)
• Por favor, não esquece do bolo! (“Please, don’t forget the cake!”)
• Mãe, por favor, bata na porta antes de entrar. (“Mom, please, knock on the door before coming in.”)
• Me ajuda, por favor? (“Help me, please?”)
• Fecha a porta, por favor. (“Close the door, please.”)

7. Asking for Permission

Use the verb poder (“can” or “may”) to talk about permission, both to ask for it and to grant it.

• Eu posso entrar? (“May I come in?”)
• Pode me dar um copo de água? (“Can you give me a glass of water?”)
• Com licença, pode me ajudar? (“Excuse me, can you help me?”)
• Posso pedir uma sobremesa? (“Can I order a dessert?”)
• Podem entrar! (“You may come in!”)

An important expression is com licença, which translates to “excuse me.” If you need to stop somebody in the street to ask for directions, use the expression at the beginning. For example:

• Com licença, pode me dar uma informação? (“Excuse me, can you give me some information?”)

8. Asking for Information

Let’s go back to our imaginary juice stand on a hot day in Brazil. Very likely, you’ll find some different fruits, maybe even one you’ve never seen before. How can you ask for information about the fruit, or for its name? Let’s take a look at the various ways to ask “What is…?”

• O que é isso? (“What is this?”)
• O que temos para jantar? (“What do we have for dinner?”)
• O que está acontecendo? (“What is happening?”)
• Que fruta é essa? (“What fruit is this?”)
• Qual é o seu nome? (“What is your name?”)
• Quais são as regras do jogo? (“What are the rules of the game?”)

As you can see, there are some different words you can use to express “what.” Here are some tips to make it easier for you.

O que	Use it before verbs or pronouns.	O que é aquilo? (“What is that?”)O que você faz? (“What do you do?”)
Que	Use it before nouns.	Que cheiro é esse? (“What smell is this?”)
Qual	Use it when the answer is something other than an explanation or definition.It’s also used as “which.”	Qual é seu número de telefone? (“What is your phone number?”)Qual é o seu carro? (“Which one is your car?”)
Quais	It’s the plural form of qual.	Quais eram as opções? (“What were the options?”)Quais são as suas caixas? (“Which ones are your boxes?”)

Once again, you can add com licença to the beginning of the sentence to be polite when approaching others!

• Com licença, que horas são? (“Excuse me, what time is it?”)

9. Asking About the Time

To make sure you get to your appointments on time, you need to get comfortable with the question “When is…?” The Portuguese sentence pattern for asking about time is pretty straightforward. You only need the word quando, which can be used at the beginning or end of the sentence. Here are some practical Portuguese sentence examples:

• Quando é seu aniversário? (“When is your birthday?”)
• Quando começou a festa? (“When did the party begin?”)
• Quando são as suas férias? (“When are your vacations?”)
• Quando o avião chega? (“When does the airplane arrive?”)
• Seus pais chegam quando? (“Your parents arrive when?”)

You can also use another sentence pattern: Que + unit of time + verb.

• Que horas são? (“What time is it?”)
• Que dia você viaja? (“What day will you travel?”)

10. Asking About Location

Another important set of Portuguese sentences to learn, especially when you’re in a foreign country, are questions for asking where something is. When talking about location, the words onde and aonde will be your best friends. 

• Onde estamos? (“Where are we?”)
• Onde fica o supermercado? (“Where is the supermarket?”)
• Aonde vamos? (“Where are we going?”)
• Onde você nasceu? (“Where were you born?”)
• De onde você é? (“Where are you from?”)
• Onde está minha chave? (“Where is my key?”)

Sometimes, even Brazilians have trouble differentiating between onde and aonde. Think of it like this: If you’re talking about “where to,” as in being in movement and going to a place, you can use aonde. 

• Aonde você vai? (“Where are you going?”)
• Onde você está? (“Where are you?”)

→ Practice the names of important Brazilian cities for the next time you ask where someone was born!

Com licença, que horas são? (“Excuse me, what time is it?”)

11. Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

With this guide to the most useful Portuguese sentence patterns, you’ll be ready to start conversations in Portuguese in a bunch of different contexts. Enrich your vocabulary and add details to your sentences and, in no time, you’ll be telling stories and making jokes in a foreign language!

Feeling more confident about speaking in Portuguese? Did we miss any useful patterns you want to learn? Let us know if the sentence patterns explained in this article are helpful to you! Don’t forget to come back to this article whenever you need to refresh your memory. 

Now is the time to continue your language-learning journey! There are more free Portuguese resources and a variety of vocabulary lists available on PortuguesePod101.com. Go ahead and choose your favorite tools to expand your learning opportunities.

If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence. And in the meantime, continue exploring PortuguesePod101!

You asked, so we provided—easy-to-follow instructions on how to set up your electronic devices to write in Portuguese! We’ll also give you a few excellent tips on how to use this keyboard, as well as some online and app alternatives if you prefer not to set up a Portuguese keyboard.

Table of Contents

1. Why it’s Important to Learn to Type in Portuguese
2. Setting up Your Computer and Mobile Devices for Portuguese
3. How to Activate an Onscreen Keyboard on Your Computer
4. How to Change the Language Settings to Portuguese on Your Computer
5. Activating the Portuguese Keyboard on Your Mobile Phone and Tablet
6. Portuguese Keyboard Typing Tips
7. How to Practice Typing Portuguese

1. Why it’s Important to Learn to Type in Portuguese

Learning a new language is made so much easier when you’re able to read and write/type it. This way, you will:

• Get the most out of any dictionary and Portuguese language apps on your devices
• Expand your ability to find Portuguese websites and use the various search engines
• Be able to communicate much better online with your Portuguese teachers and friends, and look super cool in the process! 

2. Setting up Your Computer and Mobile Devices for Portuguese

It takes only a few steps to set up any of your devices to read and type in Portuguese. It’s super-easy on your mobile phone and tablet, and a simple process on your computer.

On your computer, you’ll first activate the onscreen keyboard to work with. You’ll only be using your mouse or touchpad/pointer for this keyboard. Then, you’ll need to change the language setting to Portuguese, so all text will appear in Portuguese. You could also opt to use online keyboards instead. Read on for the links!

On your mobile devices, it’s even easier—you only have to change the keyboard. We also provide a few alternatives in the form of online keyboards and downloadable apps.

3. How to Activate an Onscreen Keyboard on Your Computer

1- Mac

1. Go to System Preferences > Keyboard.

2. Check the option “Show Keyboard & Character Viewers in Menu Bar.”

3. You’ll see a new icon on the right side of the main bar; click on it and select “Show Keyboard Viewer.”

2- Windows

1. Go to Start > Settings > Easy Access > Keyboard.

2. Turn on the option for “Onscreen Keyboard.”

3- Online Keyboards

If you don’t want to activate your computer’s onscreen keyboard, you also have the option to use online keyboards. Here are some good options:

• Typeit
• Branah

4- Add-ons of Extensions for Browsers

Instead of an online keyboard, you could also choose to download a Google extension to your browser for a language input tool. The Google Input Tools extension allows users to use input tools in Chrome web pages, for example.

4. How to Change the Language Settings to Portuguese on Your Computer

Now that you’re all set to work with an onscreen keyboard on your computer, it’s time to download the Portuguese language pack for your operating system of choice:

• Windows 8 (and higher)
• Windows 7
• Mac (OS X and higher)

1- Windows 8 (and higher)

1. Go to “Settings” > “Change PC Settings” > “Time & Language” > “Region & Language.”
2. Click on “Add a Language” and select “Português (Brasil).” This will add it to your list of languages. It will appear as Portuguese (Brazil) with the note “language pack available”.
3. Click on “Português (Brasil)” > “Opções” > “Baixar.” It’ll take a few minutes to download and install the language pack.
4. As a keyboard layout, you’ll only need the one marked as “Português (Brasil).” You can ignore other keyboard layouts.

2- Windows 7

1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Clock, Language, and Region.

2. On the “Region and Language” option, click on “Change Keyboards or Other Input Methods.”

3. On the “Keyboards and Languages” tab, click on “Change Keyboards” > “Add” > “Portuguese (Brazil).”

4. Expand the option of “Portuguese (Brazil)” and then expand the option “Keyboard.” Select the keyboard layout marked as “Portuguese (Brazil).” You can ignore other keyboard layouts. Click “OK” and then “Apply.”

3- Mac (OS X and higher)

If you can’t see the language listed, please make sure to select the right option from System Preferences > Language and Region

1. From the Apple Menu (top left corner of the screen) go to System Preferences > Keyboard.

2. Click the Input Sources tab and a list of available keyboards and input methods will appear.

3. Click on the plus button, select “Portuguese,” and add the “Brazilian” keyboard.

5. Activating the Portuguese Keyboard on Your Mobile Phone and Tablet

Texting and searching in Portuguese will greatly help you master the language! Adding a Portuguese keyboard on your mobile phone and/or tablet is super-easy.

You could also opt to download an app instead of adding a keyboard. Read on for our suggestions.

Below are the instructions for both iOS and Android mobile phones and tablets.

1- iOS

1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard.

2. Tap “Keyboards” and then “Add New Keyboard.”

3. Select “Portuguese (Brazil)” from the list.

4. When typing, you can switch between languages by tapping and holding on the icon to reveal the keyboard language menu.

2- Android

1. Go to Settings > General Management > Language and Input > On-screen Keyboard (or “Virtual Keyboard” on some devices) > Samsung Keyboard.

2. Tap “Language and Types” or “ + Select Input Languages” depending on the device and then “MANAGE INPUT LANGUAGES” if available.

3. Select “Português (Brasil)” from the list.

4. When typing, you can switch between languages by swiping the space bar.

3- Applications for Mobile Phones

If you don’t want to add a keyboard on your mobile phone or tablet, these are a few good apps to consider:

• Closeupapps – Portuguese keyboard
• Language World – Portuguese Keyboard

6. Portuguese Keyboard Typing Tips

Typing in Portuguese can be very challenging at first! Therefore, we added here a few useful tips to make it easier to use your Portuguese keyboard on mobile.

1. When Gboard keyboard is activated on your mobile phone, also activate the language “Português (Brasil)” (QWERTY). Then, to use the accented letters, press the selected vowel for more than one second and the accented options will be shown (for example, á, à, ã, ó, ô, etc). Select the desired accented letter. 

2. The same applies for the cedilla, diacritical mark (,) placed under the letter c; press “c” for more than one second and the accented option will be shown, “ç,” so you can select it.

7. How to Practice Typing Portuguese

As you probably know by now, learning Portuguese is all about practice, practice, and more practice! Strengthen your Portuguese typing skills by writing comments on any of our lesson pages, and our teacher will answer. If you’re a PortuguesePod101 Premium PLUS member, you can directly text our teacher via the My Teacher app—use your Portuguese keyboard to do this!

Learning about verbs is a crucial step when studying another language. They open up so many possibilities!

With verbs, you can tell stories, understand what’s on the news today, give and follow orders, and imagine the future. Pretty much every interaction needs verbs. But just knowing the verbs by themselves doesn’t do the job. We need to modify them a bit so they can express things like time, the number of people performing an action, and mood. 

That means it’s time to explore the ins and outs of Portuguese conjugation. 

The all-important topic of conjugation is like the spice that brings out the flavors of the Portuguese language. By learning it, you’ll be able to talk about things that have happened, things that could happen, things that will definitely happen, things that are happening…you get the idea. 

Conjugation allows you to tell amazing stories!

Portuguese verb conjugation is a vast world of rules and exceptions. Take it slow and, most importantly, practice a lot. Read, listen to native speakers in conversations, and talk whenever possible. That’s how you’ll really come to understand Portuguese conjugation. 

In this article, we’ll examine how verbs are modified depending on person, number, mood, tense, and voice. It’s a long list, but there are some conjugations that are much more widely used than others, so don’t worry!

Have you noticed that we just mentioned verbs so far? Don’t let this fool you: adjectives and adverbs also have to be modified depending on the word they relate to. This is called agreement. This happens when adjectives and adverbs are changed in order to agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (feminine or masculine). We won’t dive too deep into the nitty-gritty of that, but this article will cover a few examples.

Ready to get familiar with some new rules? Let’s make this ride as enjoyable as possible, with some handy Portuguese conjugation tables for you to study. By the end of this article, you’ll better understand how our rebel irregular verbs and friendly regular verbs behave. In addition, you’ll get plenty of practice and exposure with examples and a Portuguese conjugation quiz to test yourself.

Table of Contents

1. The Three Verb Ending Groups
2. What Affects Conjugation
3. Conjugation Charts
4. Putting Conjugation to the Test
5. Continue Learning More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

1. The Three Verb Ending Groups

If you read our article on the 100 most common Portuguese verbs, you’re already familiar with the verb endings. As a refresher, there are three main Portuguese verb groups:

• Verbs ending in -AR
• Verbs ending in -ER
• Verbs ending in -IR

Knowing these verb endings and how they conjugate is useful, because pretty much all regular verbs within each group behave in the same way. The stem of the verb remains the same, and the endings all do their thing—following the same pattern! 

This means you can learn by heart one verb from each group, and that will serve as a guide on how to conjugate every other regular verb in Portuguese.

2. What Affects Conjugation

As we said before, verbs can change depending on several factors, like person, number, mood, tense, and voice. In order to keep everything under control, let’s break it down. Shall we?

1 – Person and Number

In Portuguese conjugation, verbs change for each person in the sentence. We can divide the persons into two groups based on the number, which is either singular or plural. 

The table below shows all of the existing persons in Portuguese.

1st person singular	Eu	“I”
2nd person singular	Tu	“You”
3rd person singular	Você / Ele / Ela	“You” / “He” / “She”
1st person plural	Nós	“We”
2nd person plural	Vós	“You”
3rd person plural	Vocês / Eles / Elas	“You” (plural) / “They” (m.) / “They” (f.)

Although there are six persons to learn, in Brazilian Portuguese you only need to focus on four: 

• Eu (“I”)
• Você / Ele / Ela (“You” and “He/She,” which conjugate in the same way)
• Nós (“We”)
• Vocês / Eles / Elas (“You” in the plural, “they” masculine, “they” feminine)

You might have noticed that você and vocês are both second person pronouns, as they translate to “you” (singular and plural, respectively). However, they use the third person conjugation. For this reason, in this article, você is grouped with ele/ela. Similarly, vocês is grouped with eles/elas.

Regional Differences Tu is also used in some parts of Brazil. In some places, it’s used with the “correct” conjugation, while in others, tu is conjugated as a third person singular pronoun (as você). For this reason, we suggest that you learn how to recognize it, but don’t worry too much about using it. Você will be understood regardless of the region of Brazil you’re in. In Portugal, however, tu is widely used in informal situations, while você is formal but very rarely used.

2 – Mood

Another thing you need to know: Portuguese verbs are moody. What we mean is that verbs are divided into moods (also called modes). According to Portuguese verb conjugation rules, the verbs can be conjugated in each of the different modes, and hence, convey a different mood. The existing modes are:

• The Indicative mode, which indicates a fact. 

Example: Eu comi. (“I ate.”) 

• The Subjunctive mode, which expresses a possible action, a wish, or something that we’re not sure about. It always needs an adverb, another verb, or other particles that help make sense of it. 

Example: Talvez eu coma. (“Maybe I will eat.”)

• The Imperative mode, which conveys an order or advice. 

Example: Fale com ele. (“[You] talk to him.”) 

• The Conditional mode, which indicates what one could, would, or should do. Some grammar books classify the conditional as part of the indicative mode. 

Example: Eu falaria com ele. (“I would talk to him.”)

3 – Tenses

Tenses refer to the moment in time when the action conveyed by the verbs occur. Each of the modes we saw above has different tenses. 

In Portuguese, some tenses are simple and some are compound. Compound tenses use another verb, called an auxiliary, alongside the main verb. 

There are a lot of tenses to learn—and they often are nightmare topics for Brazilian children in school. But there is some good news! In day-to-day life, you’ll probably stick to just a handful of them. Another piece of good news is that there’s often more than one way to say what you want. That means you can use the tenses that you’re more comfortable with. 

For example, to talk about the future in the indicative mode, you can use the simple future or the compound future. The compound is much more common and, in our opinion, easier to learn. 

• Simple future: Comeremos cedo hoje. (“We will eat early today.”)
• Compound future: Nós vamos comer cedo hoje. (“We are going to eat early today.”)

The verb ir is the auxiliary verb in the compound future tense. It’s a verb that you will inevitably learn to conjugate, since it’s so commonly used. Then, by using the compound future form, you don’t have to learn the individual future conjugation for each action verb. Instead, pair the conjugated auxiliary verb with the infinitive form of the main verb. 

The same applies to the pluperfect tense. The compound pluperfect is formed with the auxiliary verb ter (“to have”), and you can use it instead of the simple pluperfect. The compound pluperfect is much more common than the simple form, which is extremely rare in Brazilian Portuguese.

• Simple pluperfect: Ela vendera o carro. (“She had sold the car.”)
• Compound pluperfect: Ela tinha vendido o carro. (“She had sold the car.”)

Here are all the basic tenses and moods:

Indicative	Presente (“Simple Present”)
	Pretérito Perfeito (“Simple Past”)
	Pretérito Imperfeito (“Past Imperfect”)
	Pretérito Mais-que-perfeito (“Past Pluperfect”)
	Futuro do Presente (“Simple Future”)
Conditional
Subjunctive	Presente (“Present Subjunctive”)
	Pretérito Imperfeito (“Imperfect Subjunctive”)
	Futuro (“Future Subjunctive”)
Imperative

In addition to the tenses above, we have some other verb forms that you should be familiar with:

• The infinitive is the most basic form of a verb, without any conjugation. You might see it coupled with auxiliary verbs. 

Example: Eu vou dançar muito! (“I will dance a lot!”)

• The past participle is a verb form that can be used with auxiliary verbs to form compound past tenses.

Example: ver → visto (“to see” → “seen”)

Você tem visto seu irmão? (“Have you seen your brother?”)

• The gerund form, which is very common in Brazil, is the equivalent of the “-ing” ending in English.

Example: estudar → estudando (“to study” → “studying”)

Elas estão estudando inglês. (“They are studying English.”) [f.]

4 – Voices

Finally, conjugation in Portuguese also depends on the two voices that exist in Portuguese: active and passive. 

Use the active voice conjugation when the subject performs the action.

• Ana serviu o jantar. (“Ana served dinner.”)

Use the passive voice conjugation when the action happens to the subject. In this case, we use the past participle.

• O jantar foi servido pela Ana. (“Dinner was served by Ana.”)

A noiva fez um brinde. (“The bride made a toast.”)

3. Conjugation Charts

Take a deep breath, the theoretical part is behind us. Now, let’s make everything a bit more clear by looking at the actual conjugation and real-life examples. 

In this section, we’ll see the Portuguese verb conjugation for all of the simple tenses of the indicative and subjunctive, as well as for the imperative and conditional forms. By becoming familiar with the simple conjugations now, you’ll be able to conjugate the compound forms later on.

Also, remember what we said earlier: not all tenses and persons are as common in Brazilian Portuguese. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind:

• Don’t worry too much about the conjugations for tu and vós.
• Same applies to the pluperfect tense. 
• The future tense can also be overlooked for now, if you prefer using the compound future tense.

Be aware that they exist, but you probably won’t need them in daily interactions!

To ease our way into the examples, we’ll begin with the regular verbs. Remember the main idea behind conjugating regular verbs: the stem remains the same, and the ending will be modified. Then, use the following examples to spot the repeating patterns.

1- AR verbs

The first verbal group includes verbs such as:

• Cantar (“To sing”)
• Falar (“To talk,” “To say”)
• Andar (“To walk”)
• Deitar (“To lay”)
• Amar (“To love”)
• Gostar (“To like”)

Falar (“To talk”)

Examples:

• Nós cantamos em uma banda de MPB. 

“We sing in a Popular Brazilian Music band.”

• Os professores falaram que não podemos mudar o dia da aula. 

“The teachers said we couldn’t change the class day.”

• Espero que minha namorada ame este presente. 

“I hope my girlfriend loves this gift.”

• Seus primos acordariam muito tarde sem o despertador. 

“Your cousins would wake up very late without the alarm clock.”

• Se eu andasse até o trabalho todos os dias, estaria em forma. 

“If I walked to work every day, I’d be in shape.”

• As novas vizinhas estão gostando muito do bairro. 

“The new neighbors are liking the neighborhood a lot.”

Notice the way the adjective novo (“new”) has been modified in the last example. In order to agree with the noun vizinhas, which is plural and feminine, the adjective has to be plural and feminine as well.  This vocabulary list is a great resource if you want to refresh your memory and practice how to pronounce the most common Portuguese adjectives.

2- ER verbs

The second Portuguese verbal group includes verbs like:

• Beber (“To drink”)
• Comer (“To eat”)
• Viver (“To live”)
• Correr (“To run”)
• Escrever (“To write”)
• Aprender (“To learn”)

Comer (“To eat”)

Examples:

• Eu comeria todo este bolo delicioso, mas tenho que dividir. 

“I would eat all of this delicious cake, but I have to share it.”

• Se eles bebessem mais água, não teríam este problema. 

“If they drank more water, they wouldn’t have this problem.” 

[In this case, “they” is in the masculine form.]

• Corra para não perder o ônibus! 

“Run so you don’t miss the bus!”

• Nós vamos escrever um livro juntos. / Nós escreveremos um livro juntos. 

“We are going to write a book together.”

• Você aprendia inglês na escola? 

“Did you use to learn English in school?”

• Quando ela viver sozinha, vai ver como é difícil! 

“When she lives by herself, she will see how hard it is!”

3- IR verbs

A few verbs in the third and final Portuguese verbal group are:

• Partir (“To leave,” “To break”)
• Abrir (“To open”)
• Dormir (“To sleep”)
• Assistir (“To watch”)
• Decidir (“To decide”)
• Confundir (“To confuse”)

Abrir (“To open”)

The past participle for this verb is irregular. If we take a couple of other examples from the third group, we can see how it differs: Dormir → dormido (“Sleep” → “slept”)Partir → partido (“Break” → “broken”)Decidir → decidido (“Decide” → “decided”)

Here are some examples of sentences using the third group verbs:

• Abram os presente pequenos primeiro! 

“Open the small gifts first!”

• O bebê dormia muito pouco. 

“The baby slept too little.”

• Vamos assistir esta série hoje. / Assistiremos esta série hoje. 

“We are going to watch this TV show today.”

• Quando eles decidirem, vão nos ligar. 

“When they decide, they will call us.”

[masculine]

• Se eu confundisse os nomes, perdia pontos no jogo. 

“If I confused the names, I lost points in the game.”

Minhas avós comemoraram juntas. (“My grandmothers celebrated together.”)

4 – The Most Important Irregular Verbs

As much as we love the regular verbs, we have to devote some time to learning the irregular ones. They are everywhere in Portuguese—and they’re also very useful! 

Here are Portuguese conjugation charts for the four most important irregular verbs, which also act as auxiliary verbs: ser, estar, ir, and ter.

Ser (“To be,” permanent)

Ser is an auxiliary verb when a sentence is in the passive voice, as you can see in the last example.

Examples:

• Eu serei a pessoa mais velha na festa. / Eu vou ser a pessoa mais velha na festa. 

“I will be the oldest person at the party.”

• Vocês são engraçados! 

“You are funny!”

• Sua mãe sempre foi a melhor professora. 

“Your mom was always the best teacher.”

• Já sabe, se for no Brasil, me avisa. 

“You know already, if you go to Brazil, tell me.”

• Mesmo que eles fossem mais rápidos, não chegariam a tempo. 

“Even if they were faster, they wouldn’t arrive in time.”

[“they” is masculine]

• O ator foi reconhecido no supermercado. 

“The actor was recognized in the supermarket.”

Estar (“To be,” impermanent)

Estar is an auxiliary verb in all of the continuous tenses. In other words, when you want to say you “were doing” or “are doing” something, use estar as the auxiliary verb alongside the main verb.

Examples:

• O policial estava dirigindo muito devagar. 

“The police officer was driving too slow.”

• Meus pais estiveram aqui ontem. 

“My parents were here yesterday.”

• Eu estaria na praia, se pudesse. 

“I would be at the beach, if I could.”

• Espero que elas estejam em casa. 

“I hope they are home.”

[feminine]

• Quando o médico estiver pronto, vai chamar vocês. 

“When the doctor is ready, he will call you all.”

Ir (“To go”)

As we mentioned before, ir is an auxiliary verb in the future tense, in the widely used compound future tense.

Examples:

• Os convidados vão chegar mais cedo. 

“The guests will arrive earlier.”

• Eu já vou! 

“I’m going!”

• Talvez ele vá na viagem. 

“Maybe he will go on the trip.”

• Elas foram para o Rio de Janeiro de férias? 

“They went to Rio de Janeiro for their vacation?”

[“they” is feminine]

• Vamos logo, antes que chova! 

“Let’s go, before it rains!”

• É verdade que ele ia pedir demissão? 

“Is it true that he was going to resign?”

Ter (“To have”)

Ter is used to form the perfect tenses. Take a look at the following sentences, as the last ones show some examples of ter as an auxiliary verb.

Examples:

• Nós tivemos uma boa chance de ganhar. 

“We had a good chance of winning.”

• Quando ela tiver uma bicicleta, vai se exercitar. 

“When she has a bike, she will exercise.”

• Tenha paciência, criança! 

“Have patience, child!”

• Se tivesse sobremesa, eles teriam comido mais. 

“If there was dessert, they would have eaten more.”

[“they” is masculine]

• Eu tenho tido sorte nas minhas viagens. 

“I have had luck in my travels.”

• Você tem dormido cedo? 

“Have you been sleeping early?”

Nós temos um gatinho fofo. (“We have a cute kitten.”)

Good job! Now you’re familiar with the conjugation for regular verbs, as well as the most important irregular Portuguese verbs. You can put yourself to the test and try to conjugate the verbs in this vocabulary list. As a bonus, you’ll be able to practice their pronunciation!

4. Putting Conjugation to the Test

To keep you on your toes, it’s time to practice with this quick Portuguese verb conjugation quiz. 

Complete the sentence by filling in the gap with the correct conjugation of the verb (shown between parentheses). Afterwards, scroll down for the correct answers and an explanation. Try to fill it in before checking the answers!

1. Minha filha (adorar) _____________ conhecer vocês.

(“My daughter would love to meet you.”) 

2. Todos os dias, nós (beber) ______________ um copo de suco de laranja.

(“Everyday, we drink a glass of orange juice.”)

3. Eles (sair) ______________ de casa quando o telefone tocou.

(“They were leaving the house when the telephone rang.”

[where “they” is masculine]

4. A casa deve estar limpa quando sua avó (chegar) _____________.

(“The house must be clean when your grandmother arrives.”)

5. Ele (ser) _____________ a estrela do show.

(“He was the star of the show.”)

Did you write your answers down? Let’s see what the correct conjugations are and why.

1. Minha filha adoraria conhecer vocês. (“My daughter would love to meet you.”) 

Since we’re talking about something that the daughter would love, it’s a possibility. Therefore, we use the conditional. 
Adorar is a regular verb of the -AR group, so we have to conjugate it in the same way as the verb falar (“to talk”). Another thing to note is that “my daughter” is a third person singular subject. You can see the entire conjugation for the verb adorar, but since it’s a regular verb, you can just substitute the stem of the verb:

Falaria → adoraria

2. Todos os dias, nós bebemos um copo de suco de laranja. (“Everyday, we drink a glass of orange juice.”)

In this case, the action happens everyday. Hence, the verb should be in the present tense of the indicative. 

Beber is a regular verb of the second conjugation, and the person in the sentence is nós, the first person of the plural. Once again, you can use the same pattern from the conjugation of the verb comer (“to eat”), and just change the stem.

Comemos → bebemos

3. Eles saíam de casa quando o telefone tocou. / Eles estavam saindo de casa quando o telefone tocou. (“They were leaving the house when the telephone rang.”) [masculine]

This is an interesting sentence because there are two ways you could say it. The fact is, the action of leaving the house was happening in the past when it was interrupted. 

In the first answer, we used the past imperfect tense, and the verb is conjugated in the third person plural. Sair is an irregular verb, but its conjugation is fairly similar to that of the -IR group. For effects of comparison, see how the regular verb abrir (“to open”) is conjugated for the same tense and person: 

Abriam → saíam 

The second answer uses the past continuous tense, with the auxiliary verb estar (“to be”) and the gerund form of the main verb (sair). It conveys the idea that something was happening when another action occurred. Again, you can compare the gerund form below.

Abrindo → saindo

You can listen to this lesson on PortuguesePod101.com for more examples on how to use the past imperfect tense.

4. A casa deve estar limpa quando sua avó chegar. (“The house must be clean when your grandmother arrives.”)

The verb chegar has to be conjugated in the future of the subjunctive, since it implies an action that will happen, but we’re not quite sure when. The presence of the adverb quando (“when”) serves as an indication that the subjunctive mood is used. 

Then, conjugate the verb in the third person singular, exactly as we did with the verb falar.

Falar → chegar

5. Ele foi a estrela do show. / Ele era a estrela do show. (“He was the star of the show.”)

This is a tricky one! Depending on the context, the answer changes a bit.

If the show was a one-time event that is already over, we use the simple past tense. In this case, the verb refers to an action that already happened and is done with. 

• Ele foi a estrela do show.  

“He was the star of the show.”

Now, if the action happened over an indefinite period of time (e.g. during this person’s whole adulthood), we use the imperfect past tense. Let’s say, for example, that the show was running for years, and the subject of the sentence was continuously the star of the show. In this case: 

• Ele era a estrela do show. 

“He was the star of the show.”

If you want to dive a little bit deeper into the differences between foi and era, there’s a very interesting discussion here.

Vamos continuar a praticar! (“Let’s continue to practice!”)

5. Continue Learning More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

Hopefully this guide provided the information you need to understand Portuguese conjugation and progress even further in your language-learning journey. Don’t forget to come back to this article, or the article about the 100 most common Portuguese verbs, whenever you need to practice. 

Ready to go out into the world and put all you learned into practice? Did the examples help you grasp the different ways to use the verbs? If we missed any aspect of Portuguese verb conjugation, tell us in the comments. 

Now, don’t stop learning! There are more free Portuguese resources and a variety of vocabulary lists available on PortuguesePod101.com. Go ahead and choose your favorite tools to expand your learning opportunities.
If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence. And in the meantime, continue exploring PortuguesePod101!

Oh, verbs. Crucially important for communication in any language, they can sometimes be a bit of a pain. There are so many of them, regular and irregular, that it’s easy to get lost. But worry not: we’re here to help you every step of the way! In no time, you’ll be best friends with Portuguese verbs. 

It’s definitely important to learn the most-used verbs early on in your journey to mastering a second language. The reason for this is simple: verbs provide key information in a sentence, indicating an action. Of course, you’ll also need to know the most popular adjectives and adverbs in Portuguese! This way, you’ll have all the tools you need to understand sentences and make your own.

The cool thing about learning the most common verbs in Portuguese is that you’ll start recognizing them when listening or reading. This is one of the best ways to understand the context of what’s being said, even if you don’t understand all the words in a sentence. And with just a few Portuguese verbs, you’ll be able to communicate much more.

Better yet, since in Portuguese it’s common to reply with a single verb instead of a whole sentence, you’ll really get the most bang for your buck!
If you’re ready to get familiarized with Portuguese irregular and regular verbs, great! We’ll make this as easy as possible for you! First, let’s have a quick look at the main characteristics of Portuguese verb conjugation. Then, we’ll explore 100 must-know Portuguese verbs that will really help you step up your language game.

Table of Contents

1. The Basics You Need to Know
2. The Finest Exemplars of Portuguese Verbs
3. Continue Learning More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

1. The Basics You Need to Know

1 – Verb Endings: Why They Matter

As in some other languages, Portuguese has three main verb groups, characterized by their different endings. In this case, the verb endings are  -AR, -ER, and -IR. Take the three verbs below as examples:

-AR	-ER	-IR
Andar (“To walk”)	Comer (“To eat”)	Abrir (“To open”)

There are also verbs that end in -OR, but since those are always irregular verbs, we don’t group them. 

It can be helpful to keep those endings in mind, because regular verbs in each group are conjugated in the same way. The stem of the verbs remain the same throughout the different conjugations, and the endings are predictable. 

In other words, by learning the Portuguese verb conjugation for just a few verbs in each group, you’ll already have a blueprint of how to deal with any other regular verb you come across! 
To see how regular verbs in the present tense behave, look at this Portuguese conjugation chart:

	-AR verbs		-ER verbs		-IR verbs
Eu	Stem + o	Ando	Stem + o	Como	Stem + o	Abro
	“I walk”		“I eat”		“I open”
Tu	Stem + as	Andas	Stem + es	Comes	Stem + es	Abres
	“You walk”		“You eat”		“You open”
Você/Ele/Ela	Stem + a	Anda	Stem + e	Come	Stem + e	Abre
	“You walk,” using você. “He/She walks”		“You eat,” using você. “He/She eats”		“You open,” using você. “He/She opens”
Nós	Stem + amos	Andamos	Stem + emos	Comemos	Stem + imos	Abrimos
	“We walk”		“We eat”		“We open”
Vós	Stem + ais	Andais	Stem + eis	Comeis	Stem + is	Abris
	“You walk”		“You eat”		“You open”
Vocês/Eles/Elas	Stem + am	Andam	Stem + em	Comem	Stem + em	Abrem
	“They walk”		“They eat”		“They open”

It is indeed a happy moment when we encounter regular verbs. 

2 – Making the Most of the Verbs 

An interesting thing about verbs is that they go beyond expressing an action. The verb conjugation in Portuguese tells you much more than what happened; it also tells you who is performing the action and/or the moment in time when that action happens. In some cases, it’s not even necessary to use the subject in the sentence, since the verb itself already implies the subject. 

Let’s look at an example to see if it makes sense.

• Acordei agora. 

“I woke up now.”

In the example, we only have the verb acordei and the adverb agora (“now”). There’s no need to use the subject eu (“I”), because the verb in itself contains the information about who did the action (who woke up). In this example, the verb alone doesn’t tell us when the action took place, which is why we see the adverb agora. 

Let’s look at another example, this time an interaction between two people:

• Acordou agora? 

“Did you wake up now?”

Acordei. 

“I did.”

This is a perfect example of how you can use a single verb to answer a question. So rejoice! Once you learn the rules for Portuguese verb conjugation and how verbs change depending on the person and time, your communication potential will increase exponentially!

3 – When Verbs Go Together

Now another word about Portuguese verb tenses.

In some cases, you’ll see more than one verb being used in a sentence. This happens in compound tenses. In Portuguese, we have simple tenses and compound tenses, similar to what happens in English. When only one verb expresses the action, we’re dealing with a simple tense, while compound tenses use two verbs to express the action.

For example, you can say:

• Eu fiz a prova de matemática. 

“I took the math test.”

In the simple tense, only one verb expresses the action. Now, if you say:

• Eu estava fazendo a prova de matemática quando… 

“I was taking the math test when…”

We have a compound tense, where the main verb needs an auxiliary verb to indicate the action. Like in the example above, it’s very common to use compound tenses when talking about getting to places. 

In this article, we won’t go into the details of Portuguese verb conjugation, but you will be able to recognize some of those auxiliary verbs after checking out our Portuguese verbs list.

4 – Where Does the Verb Go?

Lastly, something that’s very helpful is becoming familiarized with the basic sentence structure in Portuguese. This is very straightforward, since it’s similar to the English sentence structure.

Sentence	Eu andei com ele.	“I walked with him.”
Subject	Eu	“I”
Verb	andei	“walked”
Object	com ele	“with him”

However, keep in mind that Portuguese is a language full of exceptions, so don’t rule out other possibilities.

I know, I know, that was a lot. Verbs can be intimidating because they’re in pretty much every sentence we read, write, or speak. But this is also a blessing in disguise since you’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice. 

Remember that learning a foreign language is not a sprint, so let’s first work on becoming familiar with the most common Portuguese verbs. To know how to pronounce the verbs we’ll see, check out this handy video with the Top 25 Portuguese Verbs.

And a final tip: As you set out to learn Portuguese verbs, use your time wisely. When commuting or with free time on your hands, take a look at this article again. Review and reinforce what you learn with some more information about Portuguese verbs. Then, by combining them with adverbs and adjectives you’ve already learned, you can begin creating more sentences. You’ll be ready to go beyond the basic greetings and really start conversing in Portuguese!

2. The Finest Exemplars of Portuguese Verbs

1 – The Verb “To Be” in Portuguese

The illustrious verb “to be” has to come first in this list of essential Portuguese verbs. After all, it’s one of the first verbs you’ll use when getting to know people. There’s a catch, however. Unlike in English, in Portuguese we have two verbs that translate to “to be.” These are the Portuguese verbs ser and estar.

Think of it in terms of permanence and impermanence:

• You can be something permanently (or at least for a long time):
  •  You can be a certain nationality or profession.

• You can be something for a small period of time (temporarily)
  • You can be cold, you can be sunblind, or you can be in school.

1.

Ser “To be” – permanent

Ele é um homem muito alto. “He is a very tall man.”

2.

Estar “To be” – impermanent

Eles estão ansiosos. “They are anxious.”

Both verbs also act as auxiliary verbs in specific compound tenses. 

Estar is an auxiliary verb in all of the continuous tenses. That means that when you want to say you “were doing” or “are doing” something, estar is the auxiliary verb you will use.

• Present continuous: Eu estou correndo agora. (“I am running now.”)
• Past continuous: Você estava lendo uma revista. (“You were reading a magazine.”)

Ser is an auxiliary verb only when a sentence is in the passive voice. In other words, when the action happens to someone, we use the verb ser alongside the main verb.

• Passive voice: Nós fomos reconhecidos. (“We were recognized.”)

2 – Some Other Auxiliary Verbs

Besides the “to be” verbs, there are some other important Portuguese auxiliary verbs to learn. When they’re acting as helping verbs, they’re used before the action verb. As a result, they add information about possibility or time. 

In the examples below, the first sentence shows the verb acting as the main verb, in the simple tense. The second example shows how it’s used in the compound tense.

3.

Ir  “To go” “Will”

Eles estão indo para a praia. “They are going to the beach.”

Eu vou dormir agora. “I will sleep now.”

The verb ir is an auxiliary verb in the future tense, indicating the action that will happen. 

In Brazilian Portuguese, it’s very common to see the verb ir being used in the compound future tense instead of the simple future tense. For example, it’s more likely that you’ll hear:

• Eu vou fazer um bolo. 

than

• Eu farei um bolo.

Both sentences mean the same thing, but the compound form is more common in colloquial Portuguese. 

You’ll also encounter the verb ir paired with an action verb in the gerund form. This combination expresses a continuous action in the near future.

• Eu vou dirigindo na frente. 

“I will be driving ahead.”

You can probably tell by the examples above that ir is a highly irregular verb.

4.

Ter  “To have”

Nós temos dinheiro. “We have money.”

Eu tenho comido bem. “I have been eating well.”

Ter is used to form the perfect tenses:

• Você tem acordado cedo. 

“You have been waking up early.”

• Você teria acordado cedo se o despertador tivesse funcionado direito. 

“You would have woken up early if the alarm clock had worked properly.”

5.

Haver  “Can”  “May”

Há mais de 40 sapatos. “There are more than 40 shoes.”

Eu haveria perdido. “I would have lost.”

Haver is a special little verb. It’s used in a variety of ways. But the truth is that, at least in Brazilian Portuguese, it’s becoming less common to use it. 

Haver can mean “there is” or “there are”:

• Há muita gente aqui. 

“There are a lot of people here.”

Note that the same sentence could have been written with the verb ter:

• Tem muita gente aqui. 

“There are a lot of people here.”

These two words can be used interchangeably in the context of “there is” and “there are.” They’re also interchangeable in the compound perfect tenses. 

• Ele havia conseguido. 

“He had succeeded.”

• Ele tinha conseguido. 

“He had succeeded.”

Although grammatically correct, it’s rarer to see the verb haver used in those cases.

/! But attention! When ter conveys possession, then the verbs can’t be used interchangeably.

6.

Poder  “Can”  “May” “To be able”  “Might”

Podemos lutar. “We can fight.” Eu posso precisar de ajuda hoje a noite. “I might need help tonight.”

7.

Dever “Must” “To have to” “To owe”	Tu deves continuar. “You must continue.” Você me deve uma cerveja. “You owe me a beer.”
Dever is also a noun in Portuguese. It can mean “duty” or “homework” in the expression dever de casa. Já terminei meu dever de casa. (“I’m done with my homework.”)

There are many other verbs that, in some occasions, act as auxiliary verbs. As long as you know the ones we’ve just looked at, you’ll do very well!

3 – The Most-Used Action Verbs in Portuguese

Now that you already know the main auxiliary verbs, let’s continue seeing how to express actions with this Portuguese verbs chart. Remember to also get familiar with how they sound with this vocabulary list of the 50 Most Common Verbs. There are more listening exercises available on PortuguesePod101.

8.

Fazer “To do” “To make” “To have” (when talking about events)	Você já fez seus exercícios hoje? “Did you already do your exercises today?” Eu faço o melhor bolo de chocolate. “I make the best chocolate cake.” Vamos fazer uma festa esse fim de semana? “Let’s have a party this weekend?”
In Portuguese, we often use the verb fazer to talk about weather: Fez muito sol. (“It was very sunny.”) We can also use the verb estar in the same way: Estava muito sol. (“It was very sunny.”) Lastly, you’re also likely to see both verbs being used, in a compound tense: Estava fazendo muito frio. (“It was very cold.”)

9.

Dizer “To say” “To tell”

Nós sempre dizemos isso. “We always say that.”

10.

Falar “To speak” “To talk” “To tell”

Minha mãe fala inglês. “My mother speaks English.”

11.

Dar “To give”

Eles nos deram muito apoio. “They gave us a lot of support.”

12.

Gostar “To like”

Ela gostava do mar. “She liked the sea.”

13.

Amar “To love”

Eu amo bolo de chocolate! “I love chocolate cake!”

14.

Ver “To see”

Vocês veem aquele pássaro? “Do you see that bird?”

15.

Olhar “To look”

Quando ele olhou pra mim, eu chorei. “When he looked at me, I cried.”

16.

Ouvir “To hear”

Você ouviu o trovão? “Did you hear the thunder?”

17.

Escutar “To listen to”

Ele escutou o discurso até o final. “He listened to the speech until the end.”

Ouvir and escutar are used interchangeably very often, even though there’s a slight difference in meaning. Ouvir doesn’t necessarily imply paying attention. Escutar refers to making sense of what was heard or, in other words, hearing and paying attention to it.  However, in most cases, you can use both. For example: Eu ouvi um barulho estranho.  Eu escutei um barulho estranho.  Both sentences translate to “I heard a weird noise.”

18.

Tocar “To touch” “To make a sound”	Não toca na panela. “Don’t touch the pan.” O celular está tocando. “The phone is ringing.” A música parou de tocar. “The music stopped playing.”
Tocar is a very versatile word that’s used in a couple of slang expressions.  The first one is equivalent to saying “High five!” Toca aqui!  Another common use is the expression se toca! It’s used as a wakeup call: Se toca! Tá achando que é quem? (“Wake up! Who do you think you are?”) Cara, se toca, esse namoro já acabou. (“Dude, wake up, this relationship is over.”)

19.

Cheirar “To smell”

Está cheirando mal aqui. “It smells bad here.”

In Portuguese, there are several ways that you can talk about how something smells, besides using the verb cheirar.  You can also use the verb sentir (“to feel,” see below) + the noun cheiro (“smell”):  Eu sinto cheiro de café! (“I smell coffee!”) Or you can use the verb estar (impermanent “to be”):  Está um cheiro bom aqui. (“It smells nice here.”) Finally, you can opt for the verb ter (“to have”):  Esta casa tem um cheiro ruim. (“This house has a bad smell.”) In fact, if you do see the verb cheirar being used, it will probably be in a compound tense, with the verb estar. Ele estava cheirando bem. (“He was smelling good.”)

20.

Sentir “To feel”

Vocês estão se sentindo bem? “Do you feel well?”

21.

Pensar “To think”

Penso, logo existo. “I think, therefore I am.”

22.

Achar “To find” “To think”

Achei a chave! “I found the key!” Eu não achei que importava. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

23.

Saber “To know”

Você saberá no momento certo. “You will know at the right moment.”

24.

Querer “To want”

Eles queriam tanto isto. “They wanted it so bad.”

25.

Ficar “To stay” “To get” “To be” (impermanent), when talking about location	Você vai ficar em casa hoje? “Will you stay home today?” Aqui fica frio rápido. “It gets cold quickly here.” O banheiro fica à esquerda. “The bathroom is to the left.”
Ficar translates to “to get” when it’s followed by an adjective. For example: Está ficando velhinha! (“You are getting a bit old!”)

26.

Precisar “To need”	Eu preciso tanto de um banho. “I need a shower so bad.”
Precisar acts as an auxiliary verb as well: Ele precisa entender que não é fácil assim. (“He needs to understand it’s not that easy.”)

27.

Praticar “To practice”

Eu estou praticando meu português com meu vizinho. “I am practicing my Portuguese with my neighbor.”

28.

Pôr “To put” “To place”

Você sempre põe os outros em primeiro lugar. “You always put others first.”

29.

Colocar “To put” “To place”	O paisagista colocou as flores exóticas no meio do jardim. “The landscaper placed the exotic flowers in the middle of the garden.”
In Portuguese, some verbs can be transformed into another one by adding the prefix re- in front. By doing so, the new verb gains the meaning of doing the action again.  For example, we have the verb colocar and the verb recolocar. Recolocar means “to replace.” Você pode recolocar os livros na estante, por favor? (“Can you replace the books on the shelf, please?”)

30.

Passar “To pass” “To iron (clothes)”

Pode me passar o sal? “Can you pass me the salt?” Tenho que passar esta blusa primeiro. “I have to iron this shirt first.”

31.

Chegar “To arrive”

Meu pai chega tarde em casa. “My dad arrives home late.”

32.

Entrar “To enter”

Só podemos entrar até à meia-noite. “We can only enter at midnight.”

33.

Chamar “To call” “To summon”	Ele me chamou super cedo hoje. “He called me super-early today.” Os alunos foram chamados ao escritório. “The students were summoned to the office.”
Chamar can also mean “to draw” in the expression “to draw attention”: O objetivo do protesto é chamar a atenção dos governantes. (“The protest’s goal is drawing the government’s attention.”)

34.

Mudar “To change” “To move”

Minha avó vai mudar as cortinas. “My grandmother will change the curtains.”

35.

Vir “To come (over)”

Vocês vieram jantar aqui no meu aniversário, lembram? “You came over for dinner on my birthday, remember?”

36.

Voltar “To come back” “To return”

Mocinho, volte aqui! “Young man, come back here!”

37.

Sair “To leave” “To go out”

Adoro sair com minhas amigas. “I love to go out with my friends.”

38.

Partir “To leave” “To depart” “To break” “To cut (into pieces)”

Desde que você partiu, estou tão só. “Since you left, I feel so alone.” Quem vai partir o bolo? “Who will cut the cake?”

39.

Deixar “To leave (something)” “To let”

Ela deixou a carteira aqui. “She left the wallet here.” Não vou deixar isso me magoar. “I won’t let that hurt me.”

40.

Encontrar “To meet” “To find”	E vocês dois vão se encontrar? “And you two are going to meet?” Não encontro as minhas chaves. “I can’t find my keys.”
Once again, by adding the prefix re- in front of the verb encontrar, we have another verb: reencontrar, meaning “to meet again.” Meus tios finalmente se reencontraram. (“My uncles finally met again.”)

41.

Levar “To take”

Vocês sempre esquecem de levar os presentes. “You always forget to take the gifts with you.”

42.

Começar “To start” “To begin”

Meus pais começaram as aulas de dança. “My parents started their dance lessons.”

43.

Terminar “To finish” “To end”

O jogo terminou empatado. “The match ended in a tie.”

44.

Apresentar “To present” “To introduce” “To perform”

O clube de teatro apresenta a nova peça. “The theater club presents the new play.” Gostaria de te apresentar ao meu namorado. “I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend.” Minha filha se apresentou sozinha. “My daughter performed by herself.”

45.

Conhecer “To know” “To meet” “To discover”	O motorista não conhecia aquela estrada. “The driver didn’t know that highway.” Eu quero conhecer seu irmão. “I want to meet your brother.” Ela ama conhecer novas culturas. “She loves to discover new cultures.”
Note that conhecer only means “to know” when referring to something familiar.  For example, you can use conhecer if you know a certain street or a certain person:  Você conhece a prima Luisa? (“Do you know cousin Luisa?”) But you can’t use conhecer if referring to something you know how to do. In this case, use saber. Eu sei cozinhar. (“I know how to cook.”)

46.

Conseguir “To get”  “To achieve (something)”

Eu não sei se ele vai conseguir o trabalho. “I don’t know if he will get the job.”

47.

Existir “To exist”	O futuro ainda não existe. “The future still does not exist.”
Existir can be translated as “there is” or “there are”: Nunca existiu alguém como você na minha vida. (“There was never someone like you in my life.”)

48.

Considerar “To consider”

É uma boa ideia considerar a oferta. “It’s a good idea to consider the offer.”

49.

Continuar “To continue”

Os peregrinos continuaram andando por mais dois dias. “The pilgrims continued walking for two more days.”

50.

Viver “To live”	Queria ter vivido na Renascença. “I wish I had lived during the Renaissance.”
In Portuguese, we use the verb viver to convey the idea of always doing something. For example: Eu vivo dizendo isso pra ele. (“I’m always telling him that.”) Ele vivia cantando esta música. (“He was always singing this song.”)

51.

Morrer “To die”

Todos vamos morrer um dia. “We will all die one day.”

52.

Tomar “To take” “To have (a drink)”	Você tomou seu remédio? “Did you take your medicine?” Vamos tomar uma cerveja! “Let’s go have a beer!”
Tomar can be used interchangeably with beber (“to drink”). Levar and tomar both mean “to take.” The difference is that levar implies taking something/someone somewhere: Leva este vestido na viagem. (“Take this dress on your trip.”) Tomar does not imply this concept of location: Vou tomar um banho. (“I’ll take a shower.”)

53.

Acabar “To end” “To finish”	Acabei meu projeto ontem. “I finished my project yesterday.”
Acabar is also used in some different situations. It can mean “is over” or “run out of”:  A comida já acabou. (“We’ve run out of food.”) It’s also very commonly used to express that something just happened:  Ele acabou de começar a pintura. (“He just started the painting.”)

54.

Pegar “To catch” “To grasp”

Tenta pegar a bola antes que ela caia no chão. “Try to catch the ball before it hits the floor.”

55.

Receber “To receive” “To get”

Meu irmão recebeu uma promoção no trabalho. “My brother received a promotion at work.”

56.

Andar “To walk”	Para de andar tão rápido. “Stop walking so fast.”
It’s common to see this verb being used to express something that one has been doing or feeling:  Eu ando lendo muito. (“I have been reading a lot.”)

57.

Trabalhar “To work”

Nosso vizinho trabalha até tarde. “Our neighbor works until late.”

58.

Criar “To create” “To make” “To raise”

O designer criou um pôster lindo. “The designer made a beautiful poster.” Minha mãe me criou sozinha. “My mom raised me by herself.”

59.

Pedir “To ask”

Minha amiga pediu um favor. “My friend asked for a favor.”

60.

Seguir “To follow” “To go”	O cachorro me seguiu o caminho todo. “The dog followed me all the way.” Pra chegar no mercado, é só seguir em frente. “To get to the market, just go straight ahead.”
Used in the expression seguir em frente (“to move on”): Quando eles terminaram, ela seguiu em frente. (“When they broke up, she moved on.”)

61.

Contar “To count” “To tell”

A professora contou os alunos. “The teacher counted the students.” A jornalista me contou que ninguém estava lá. “The journalist told me that nobody was there.”

62.

Acontecer “To happen”

Aconteceu exatamente assim. “It happened exactly like that.”

63.

Afirmar “To claim” “To affirm” “To state”

O diretor afirmou que tudo está funcionando bem. “The director stated that everything is working well.”

64.

Tratar “To treat”

O médico tratou o paciente. “The doctor treated the patient.”

65.

Esperar “To wait”

Eu esperei por muito tempo. “I waited for a long time.”

66.

Usar “To use”

Nós não usamos couro. “We don’t use leather.”

67.

Manter “To keep” “To maintain”

Vou manter a esperança acesa. “I’ll keep hope alive.”

68.

Realizar “To accomplish”

Finalmente ele realizou seu sonho. “He finally accomplished his dream.”

69.

Abrir “To open”

Só pode abrir a encomenda quando eu chegar! “Only open the package once I arrive!”

70.

Fechar “To close”	Quase que fecham a porta na nossa cara! “They almost closed the door right in our face!”
As in English, we also have the expression “to close a deal” using this verb: Fico feliz de fechar este negócio com você. (“I am happy to close this deal with you.”)

71.

Escrever “To write”

Eu irei escrever uma página todos os dias. “I will write a page everyday.”

72.

Permitir “To allow”

Seu pai jamais permitiria isso. “Your father would never allow that.”

73.

Acreditar “To believe”

Eu só acredito vendo. “I only believe it when I see it.”

74.

Mostrar “To show”

Será que pode me mostrar o carro? “Any chance you can show me the car?”

75.

Lembrar “To remember” “To remind”	Ele me lembrou de comprar. “He reminded me to buy it.” Eu lembrarei da nossa música. “I will remember our song.”
As in the other examples we already saw, we also have the verb relembrar, which means “to remember again.” It’s also used when talking about nostalgia and thinking about old times, as in the example: Este filme me faz relembrar minha infância. (“This movie makes me remember my childhood.”)

76.

Trazer “To bring”

Você trouxe o meu pote? “Did you bring my tupperware?”

77.

Procurar “To look for”

Era isso que eu procurava! “That’s what I was looking for!”

78.

Tentar “To try”

Não importa o quanto a gente falhe, vamos tentar de novo. “Doesn’t matter how much we fail, we will try again.”

79.

Formar “To form”

Formem uma fila, por favor. “Form a line, please.”

80.

Aparecer “To appear” “To show up”

Ele sempre aparece descalço. “He always shows up barefooted.”

81.

Comprar “To buy”

Comprou o liquidificador? “Did you buy the blender?”

82.

Cair “To fall”

Vocês quase caíram, eu vi. “You almost fell, I saw it.”

83.

Correr “To run”

Eu corri pra nada. “I ran for nothing.”

84.

Ganhar “To win” “To receive” “To get”

Nós sempre ganhamos a competição da escola. “We always win the school competition.” Vocês ganharam um presente! “You got a present!”

85.

Perder “To lose” “To miss”

Elas não vão perder. “They won’t lose.” Eu perdi meu vôo. “I missed my flight.”

86.

Vencer “To win”

Eles venceram aquele jogo. “They won that game.”

87.

Chover “To rain”

Ontem choveu o dia todo. “It rained all day yesterday.”

88.

Pagar “To pay”

Eles saíram sem pagar. “They left without paying.”

89.

Entender “To understand”

Eu não entendi nada. “I didn’t understand any of it.”

90.

Parecer “Seem” “Look (like)”

Ele não parecia muito feliz. “He didn’t seem very happy.”

91.

Ler “To read”

Você leu todos esses livros? “Did you read all these books?”

92.

Tirar “To take away” “To remove” “To get” (only with grades)

Vamos tirar isto daqui. “We will remove this from here.” Ele tirou 10 no teste. “He got an A on the test.”

93.

Responder “To answer” “To reply”

Eles nunca mais me responderam. “They never answered me again.”

94.

Explicar “To explain”

Vamos lá, me explica o que aconteceu. “C’mon, explain to me what happened.”

95.

Ensinar “To teach”

Nós ensinávamos muito bem.  “We used to teach very well.”

96.

Descobrir “To discover” “To find out”

Você não sabe o que eu descobri! “You don’t know what I found out!”

97.

Levantar “To lift” “To raise” “To get up”

Levantem as mãos. “Raise your hands.”

98.

Deitar “To lay down”

Só vou deitar um pouco. “I’ll just lay down a little.”

99.

Comer “To eat”

Ela comeu uma pizza de chocolate. “She ate a chocolate pizza.”

100.

Beber “To drink”

Eles bebem muito café. “They drink a lot of coffee.”

3. Continue Learning More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

This article had a lot of information about Portuguese language verbs, and we hope that the examples and explanations were helpful to you. This list will be here for you to review and refresh your memory whenever necessary. 

Did you like learning about common Portuguese verbs and conjugations? Are there any important ones we missed? Let us know in the comments. 

And now, it’s time to put it into practice. To start, you can compare the most common verbs in any language with their Portuguese translation. Or go ahead and choose your own vocabulary list or another free resource on PortuguesePod101.

If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence.

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Do you know your left from your right in Portuguese? Asking for directions can mean the difference between a heavenly day on the beach and a horrible day on your feet, hot and bothered and wondering how to even get back to the hotel. Believe me – I know! On my earlier travels, I didn’t even know simple terms like ‘go straight ahead’ or ‘go west,’ and I was always too shy to ask locals for directions. It wasn’t my ego, but rather the language barrier that held me back. I’ve ended up in some pretty dodgy situations for my lack of directional word skills.

This never needs to happen! When traveling in Brazil, you should step out in confidence, ready to work your Portuguese magic and have a full day of exploring. It’s about knowing a few basic phrases and then tailoring them with the right directional words for each situation. Do you need to be pointed south in Portuguese? Just ask! Believe me, people are more willing to help than you might think. It’s when you ask in English that locals might feel too uncertain to answer you. After all, they don’t want to get you lost. For this reason, it also makes sense that you learn how to understand people’s responses. 

Asking directions in Brazil is inevitable. So, learn to love it! Our job here at PortuguesePod101 is to give you the confidence you need to fully immerse and be the intrepid adventurer you are.

Table of Contents

1. Talking about position and direction in Portuguese
2. Getting directions in Portuguese
3. Conclusion

1. Talking about position and direction in Portuguese

Have you ever tried saying the compass directions of north, south, east and west in Portuguese? These words are good to know, being the most natural and ancient method of finding direction. In the days before GPS – before the invention of the compass, even – knowing the cardinal directions was critical to finding the way. Certainly, if you were lost somewhere in the mountain regions now and using a map to navigate, you’d find them useful. Even more so if you and a Brazilian friend were adrift at sea, following the stars!

In most situations, though, we rely on body relative directions – your basic up, down, left and right, forward and backwards. Most cultures use relative directions for reference and Portuguese is no exception. Interestingly, in a few old languages there are no words for left and right and people still rely on cardinal directions every day. Can you imagine having such a compass brain?

Well, scientists say that all mammals have an innate sense of direction, so getting good at finding your way is just a matter of practice. It’s pretty cool to think that we were born already pre-wired to grasp directions; the descriptive words we invented are mere labels to communicate these directions to others! Thus, the need to learn some Portuguese positional vocabulary. So, without further ado… let’s dive in.

1- Top – topo

If planting a flag at the top of the highest mountain in Brazil is a goal you’d rather leave for  adrenaline junkies, how about making it to the top of the highest building? Your view of the city will be one you’ll never forget, and you can take a selfie  for Twitter with your head in the clouds. 

2- Bottom – fundo

The ‘bottom’ can refer to the lower end of a road, the foot of a mountain, or the ground floor of a building. It’s the place you head for after you’ve been to the top!

What are your favorite ‘bottoms’? I love the first rung of a ladder, the base of a huge tree or the bottom of a jungle-covered hill. What can I say? I’m a climber. Divers like the bottom of the ocean and foxes like the bottom of a hole. Since you’re learning Portuguese, hopefully you’ll travel from the top to the bottom of Brazil.

3- Up – cima

This is a very common and useful word to know when seeking directions. You can go up the street, up an elevator, up a cableway, up a mountain… even up into the sky in a hot air balloon. It all depends on how far up you like to be!

4- Down – baixo

What goes up, must surely come down. This is true of airplanes, flaming arrows and grasshoppers – either aeronautics or gravity will take care of that. In the case of traveling humans who don’t wish to go down at terminal velocity, it’s useful to know phrases such as, “Excuse me, where is the path leading back down this mountain?”

5- Middle – meio

In Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s characters live in Middle-earth, which is just an ancient word for the inhabited world of men; it referred to the physical world, as opposed to the unseen worlds above and below it. The ancients also thought of the human world as vaguely in the middle of the encircling seas.

When we talk about the ‘middle’, we’re referring to a point that’s roughly between two horizontal lines – like the middle of the road or the middle of a river. While you’re unlikely to ask for directions to the ‘middle’ of anything, you might hear it as a response. For example, “You’re looking for the castle ruins? But they’re in the middle of the forest!”

6- Center – centro

Although similar in meaning to ‘middle’, this word is more specific. Technically, it means the exact central point of a circular area, equally distant from every point on the circumference.  When asking for directions to the center of town, though, we don’t mean to find a mathematically-accurate pinpoint!

7- Front – frente

The front is the place or position that is seen first; it’s the most forward part of something.  In the case of a hotel, the front is going to be easy to recognize, so if you call a taxi and are told to wait “in front of the hotel”, you won’t have a problem. It’s pretty cool how just knowing the main Portuguese directional words can help you locate something if there’s a good landmark nearby.

8- Back – atrás

I once rented a house in a charming little street that was tucked away at the back of a popular mall. It was so easy to find, but my boss took three hours to locate it from 300 meters away. Why? Well, because she spoke no English and I had no clue what the word for ‘back’ was. All she heard, no matter which way I said it, was “mall, mall, mall”.  As a result, she hunted in front of and next to the mall until she was frazzled. 

Knowing how to describe the location of your own residence is probably the first Portuguese ‘directions’ you should practice. This skill will certainly come in handy if you’re lost and looking for your way home. 

9- Side – lado

If the place you’re looking for is at the ‘side’ of something, it will be located to the left or the right of that landmark. That could mean you’re looking for an alleyway beside a building, or a second entrance (as opposed to the main entrance). 

As an example, you might be told that your tour bus will be waiting at the right side of the building, not in front. Of course, then you’ll also need to understand “It’s on the right” in Portuguese.

10- East – leste

If you’re facing north, then east is the direction of your right hand. It’s the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the sun appears to rise. If you want to go east using a compass for navigation, you should set a bearing of 90°. 

We think of Asia as the ‘East’. Geographically, this part of the world lies in the eastern hemisphere, but there’s so much more that we’ve come to associate with this word. The East signifies ancient knowledge and is symbolic of enlightenment in many cultures.

11- West – oeste

West is the opposite to east and it’s the direction in which the sun sets. To go west using a compass, you’ll set a bearing of 270 degrees. 

If you were on the planet Venus, which rotates in the opposite direction from the Earth (retrograde rotation), the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east… not that you’d be able to see the sun through Venus’s opaque clouds. 

Culturally, the West refers mainly to the Americas and Europe, but also to Australia and New Zealand, which are geographically in the East. The Western way of thinking is very different to that of the East. One of the most striking differences is individualism versus collectivism. In the West, we grew up with philosophies of freedom and independence, whereas in the East concepts of unity are more important. 

Food for thought: as a traveler who’s invested in learning the languages and cultures of places you visit, you have an opportunity to become a wonderfully balanced thinker – something the world needs more of.

12- North – norte

North is the top point of a map and when navigating, you’d set a compass bearing of 360 degrees if you want to go that way. Globes of the earth have the north pole at the top, and we use north as the direction by which we define all other directions.

If you look into the night sky, the North Star (Polaris) marks the way due north. It’s an amazing star, in that it holds nearly still in our sky while the entire northern sky moves around it. That’s because it’s located nearly at the north celestial pole – the point around which the entire northern sky turns. Definitely a boon for lost travelers!

13- South – sul

South is the opposite of north, and it’s perpendicular to the east and west. You can find it with a compass if you set your bearings to 180 degrees. 

The south celestial pole is the point around which the entire southern sky appears to turn. In the night sky of the southern hemisphere, the Southern Cross is a very easy to find constellation with four points in the shape of a diamond. If you come from the southern hemisphere, chances are your dad or mum pointed it out to you when you were a kid. You can use the Southern Cross to find south if traveling by night, so it’s well worth figuring it out!

14- Outside – fora

This word refers to any place that is not under a roof. Perhaps you’ve heard talk about some amazing local bands that will be playing in a nearby town on the weekend. If it’s all happening outside, you’ll be looking for a venue in a park, a stadium or some other big open space. Come rain or shine, outside definitely works for me!

15- Inside – dentro

I can tolerate being inside if all the windows are open, or if I’m watching the latest Homeland episode. How about you? I suppose going shopping for Brazilian-style accessories would be pretty fun, too, and that will (mostly) be an inside affair. 

16- Opposite – oposto

This is a great word to use as a reference point for locating a place. It’s right opposite that other place! In other words, if you stand with your back to the given landmark, your destination will be right in front of you. 

17- Adjacent – próximo

So, the adorable old man from next door, who looks about ninety-nine, explains in Portuguese that the food market where he works is adjacent to the community hall on the main road. ‘Adjacent’ just means next to or adjoining something else, so… head for the hall! 

While you’re marveling at the wondrous and colorful displays of Brazilian food, think about how all of these delicious stalls lie adjacent to one another. Having a happy visual association with a new word is a proven way to remember it!

18- Toward – em direção a

To go toward something is to go in its direction and get closer to it. This word can often appear in a sentence with ‘straight ahead’, as in:

“Go straight ahead, toward the park.”

If you’ve come to Brazil to teach English, you might have to ask someone how to find your new school. Depending on what town you’re in, you could simply head toward the residential area at lunch time. You’ll see (and probably hear) the primary school soon enough – it will be the big fenced building with all the kids running around the yard!

19- Facing – de frente para

If you look at yourself in a mirror, you’ll be facing your reflection. In other words: you and your reflection look directly at each other.  Many plush hotels are ocean-facing or river-facing, meaning the main entrance is pointed directly at the water, and the beach out front faces the hotel. 

20- Beside – ao lado

I know of a special little place where there’s a gym right beside a river. You can watch the sun go down over the water while working out – it’s amazing. What’s more, you can park your scooter beside the building and it will still be there when you come out.

21- Corner – esquina

I love a corner when it comes to directions. A street corner is where two roads meet at an angle – often 90 degrees – making it easier to find than a location on a straight plane. 

“Which building is the piano teacher in, sir?”

“Oh, that’s easy – it’s the one on the corner.”

The key to a corner is that it leads in two directions. It could form a crossroads, a huge intersection, or it could be the start of a tiny one-way cobblestone street with hidden treasures waiting in the shadow of the buildings.

22- Distant – distante

When a location is distant, it’s in an outlying area. This Portuguese word refers to the remoteness of the site, not to how long it takes to get there. For that reason, it’s a very good idea to write the directions down, rather than try to memorize them in Portuguese. Even better, get a Brazilian person to write them down for you. This may seem obvious, but always include the location of your starting point! Any directions you’re given will be relative to the exact place you’re starting from.

23- Far – longe

This word has a similar meaning to the previous one, but it speaks more about the fact that it will take some time to get there. If you’re told that your destination is “far”,  you’ll no doubt want to go by public transport if you don’t have your own vehicle. Get your hands on a road map and have the directions explained to you using this map. Don’t hesitate to bring out the highlighters. 

24- Close – perto

This word is always a good one to hear when you have your heart set on a very relaxing day in the sun. It means there’s only a short distance to travel, so you can get there in a heartbeat and let the tanning commence. Remember to grab your Nook Book – learning is enhanced when you’re feeling happy and unencumbered. Being close to ‘home’ also means you can safely steal maximum lazy hours and leave the short return trip for sunset! 

25- By – por

This word identifies the position of a physical object beside another object or a place. A Bed and Breakfast can be ‘by the sea’ if it’s in close proximity to the sea. 

‘By’ can also be used to describe the best mode of transport for your route, as in:

“You can get there by bus.”

26- Surrounding – rodeado

If something is surrounding you, it is on every side and you are enclosed by it – kind of like being in a boat. Of course, we’re not talking about deep water here, unless you’re planning on going fishing. Directions that include this word are more likely to refer to the surrounding countryside, or any other features that are all around the place you’re looking for.

27- All sides – todos os lados

Another useful descriptive Portuguese term to know is ‘all sides’. It simply means that from a particular point, you will be able to see the same features to the front, back and sides of you. It doesn’t necessarily imply you’ll be completely surrounded, just more-or-less so. Say, for example, you’re visiting the winelands for the day. When you get there, you’ll see vineyards on all sides of you. How stunning! Don’t neglect to sample the local wines – obviously. 

28- Next to – perto de

The person giving you directions is probably standing next to you. The place being described as ‘next to’ something is in a position immediately to one side of it. It could refer to adjoining buildings, neighbouring stores, or the one-legged beggar who sits next to the beautiful flower vendor on weekdays. ‘Next to’ is a great positional term, as everything is next to something! 

“Excuse me, Ma’am.  Where is the train station?”

“It’s that way – next to the tourist market.”

29- Above – acima

This is the direction you’ll be looking at if you turn your head upwards. Relative to where your body is, it’s a point higher than your head. If you’re looking for the location of a place that’s ‘above’ something, it’s likely to be on at least the first floor of a building; in other words, above another floor.

‘Above’ could also refer to something that will be visible overhead when you get to the right place. For example, the road you’re looking for might have holiday decorations strung up from pole to pole above it. In the cities, this is very likely if there’s any kind of festival going on.

30- Under – embaixo

Under is the opposite of above, and refers to a place that lies beneath something else. In the case of directions in Portuguese, it could refer to going under a bridge – always a great landmark – or perhaps through a subway. In some parts of the world, you can even travel through a tunnel that’s under the sea!

Of course, you might just be missing your home brew and looking for an awesome coffee shop that happens to be under the very cool local gym you were also looking for. Nice find!

2. Getting directions in Portuguese

The quickest and easiest way to find out how to get where you’re going is simply to ask someone. Most people on the streets of Brazil won’t mind being asked at all and will actually appreciate your attempt to ask directions in Portuguese. After all, most tourists are more inclined to ask in their own language and hope for the best. How pedestrian is that, though?

I know, I know – you normally prefer to find your own way without asking. Well, think of it like this: you obviously need to practice asking questions in Portuguese as much as you need to practice small talk, counting, or ordering a beer. Since you can’t very well ask a complete stranger if they would please help you count to five hundred, you’ll have to stick with asking directions!

We spoke earlier about body relative directions and these tend to be the ones we use most. For example:

“Turn left.”

“Go straight.”

“Turn right.” 

Remember, too, that your approach is important. Many people are wary of strangers and you don’t want to scare them off. It’s best to be friendly, direct and get to the point quickly.  A simple ‘Hi, can you help me?” or “Excuse me, I’m a bit lost,” will suffice. If you have a map in your hand, even better, as your intentions will be clear. 

The bottom line is that if you want to find your way around Brazil with ease, it’s a good idea to master these basic phrases. With a little practice, you can also learn how to say directions in Portuguese. Before you know it, you’ll be the one explaining the way!

3. Conclusion

Now that you have over thirty new directional phrases you can learn in Portuguese, there’s no need to fear losing your way when you hit the streets of Brazil. All you need is a polite approach and your own amazing smile, and the locals will be excited to help you. It’s a chance for them to get better at explaining things to a foreigner, too. Most will enjoy that!

I advise keeping a few things handy in your day pack: a street map, a highlighter, a small notebook and pen, and your Portuguese phrasebook. It would be useful to also have the Portuguese WordPower app installed on your phone – available for both iPhone and Android. 

Here’s a quick challenge to get you using the new terms right away. Can you translate these directions into Portuguese?

“It’s close. Go straight ahead to the top of the hill and turn left at the corner. The building is on the right, opposite a small bus stop.”

You’re doing amazingly well to have come this far! Well done on tackling the essential topic of ‘directions’ – it’s a brave challenge that will be immensely rewarding. Trust me, when you’re standing at a beautiful location that you found just by knowing what to ask in Portuguese, you’re going to feel pretty darn good.

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