100 Common Expressions in European Portuguese

In this “Basics of European Portuguese” video, we tackle 100 common expressions a European Portuguese speaker might use in day-to-day conversation.

Extra content & tailored exercises related to this basic lesson are available to members of our The Journey program.

Obrigada, Carla

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258 Comments

  1. Nós também dizemos ” tenho que ir” ou tenho de ir.
    3:47 ah ok ” eu sou engenheiro” I am an engineer”
    I work as – eu trabalho de empregado de mesa- I work as a waiter.
    Acredita em mim ou confia em mim- believe me or trust me- also rely on me.
    Boa is also a slang word. passastes o test?
    Passei o test- boa, tu es um genio.
    Fixe is a slang word- os brasileiros dizem legal.
    Com licença- sorry. Eu uso esta palavra quando quero passar. Deixas-me passar se faz favor?
    Delculpe ou desculpa- esta palavra significa excuse-me.
    Eu nao diria com liçenca, poderia dizer-me a onde está a estacao de comboios? eu usaria a outra palavra desculpe poderia dizer-me se faz favor a onde fica a farmacia?

  2. Outras expressoes que nós usamos
    ” Hoje nao estou muito catolico” – Today, I am feeding under the weather.
    O tempo nao está muito famoso- The weather is not nice.
    Carla tu es muito simpatica. O teu canal é muito fixe mesmo.

    1. Sério? Sou professor de Língua Portuguesa e Literatura Brasileira e nunca tinha ouvido falar dessas expressões. Obrigado

    1. Olá! If you’re on you’re phone or tablet, you should see 3 little dots on the top right of the video – click on it and then click on playback speed – there you can slow it down.
      On desktop or laptop a different icon is on the bottom right to adjust quality and speed as well 👍🏽 نور الحب

    1. Melissa Brock olá! If you’re on you’re phone or tablet, you should see 3 little dots on the top right of the video – click on it and then click on playback speed – there you can slow it down.
      On desktop or laptop a different icon is on the bottom right to adjust quality and speed as well 👍🏽

  3. Bem vinda – to a woman or from a woman?? sorry i’m a bit confused, but really good to hear nice useful phrases – and love the fish 🙂

    1. +Portuguese With Carla but then with thank you its the other way around..you say obrigada if you are a woman regardless of who you are saying it to? yes?

    2. Flower Power yes, that’s right. And that’s because when you say thank you in Portuguese – obrigado/obrigada – you’re telling the person YOU now are or feel OBLIGED to them because of the favor they have done to you, as if now you owe them one. Therefore they reply “de nada” = of nothing, meaning they don’t feel that way – you’re not at all indebted to them.
      So, as an adjective it should match the person saying it.

      However… when used on its own, it could also be classed as an interjection, which then means you only have one form of the word, that being OBRIGADO. So when expressing how grateful one may be, with only just the word ‘thanks’, a woman could say it either way, really. And a man should only say “obrigado”.

      Anyway, languages evolve and the way people speak is the reason why they change. Many of those whose portuguese is their first language, do not go by grammar rules and say it however way it comes out.

      Sorry for the lengthy answer, but this is a fairly hot topic for many natives 😄

    3. Nelson Fabiano olá 👋🏽

      Sim, bem-vindos to 2 or more men or gender mixed group. Bem-vindas to 2 or more women 🙂

    1. Sacatolas Moreira “bem” translates into ‘well’ primarily, but it can also be translated as ‘good’ as well as ‘nice’ and other words. Bem and Bom when translated into English, in the context mentioned in the video, can interchange 👍🏽

      – “How are you?”
      – “I’m fine, thanks. And you?”
      – “Good, (thanks)”

      – “Como estás?”
      – “Estou bem, obrigada. E tu?
      – “Bem, (obrigado)”

  4. Why are lot of the letters silence in speech? I’m reading and what I hear is different from what I see.😞 gonna be hard….

    1. Hawnan Nahian olá! If you’re ok you’re phone or tablet, you should see 3 little dots on the top right of the video – click on it and then click on playback speed – there you can slow it down.
      On desktop or laptop a different icon is on the bottom right to adjust quality and speed as well 👍🏽

    2. @Portuguese With Carla That is incredible.. I never noticed that! Thanks. By the way..I don’t think that Portuguese speakers are genetically disposed to speak slowly😅😅

    1. Hi, i’m just gonna correct you to help you improve your Portuguese a little bit
      😉

      Se você acha que este vídeo é rapido, pode controlar a velocidade no botão de configuração.

  5. Why do you write Como é que estás if you read como estas like in spanish? I’m new in portuguese and a bit confused, thanks in advance! ❤

    1. Natalia Olá 🙂 we can say it both ways: como estás or como é que estás. But when we write “Como é que estás” we do pronounce all of the words, maybe we do it so fast that it is subtle to the hearing.

      Phonetically:

      – “como é que estás” = COH-moo’EH k’sh-TASH
      – “Como estás” = COH-m’ sh-TASH – In this way the last “o” from “Como” is barely heard.

      Hope this helps 👍🏽

    2. Natalia I don’t know why do we use Both forms for many sentences. For instance what are you doing? O que é que estás a fazer? O que estás a fazer? Como é que estás? Como estás? I think 💭 when we say é que we want to emphasise more. Como é que estás? Como estás? Both are correct. Estás bom/boa? That is slang. Como correm as coisas, como anda a tua vida? Como vão as coisas? Many ways to say how are you, just like in English and also other languages. It is an honour reading comments like yours. I am Portuguese and I adore 🥰 when people try to make a big effort to learn my mother tongue.

    1. Maa Mar olá! If you’re ok you’re phone or tablet, you should see 3 little dots on the top right of the video – click on it and then click on playback speed – there you can slow it down.
      On desktop or laptop a different icon is on the bottom right to adjust quality and speed as well 👍🏽

    2. Portuguese With Carla This aula é Português not how to use your own computer! Come on people!!! If it’s too fast for u, you can adjust your settings. Don’t leave stupid comments.

    1. estou assistindo muitos videos no YouTube de aprender 🙂 vida com tres nativo Portugues amigos realmente ajundo, looooooooooooooool boa sorte pelo o futuro meu manos!

  6. Alguém poderia me explicar porque as novas gerações no Brasil (crianças e jovens) pronunciam a r como uma r inglesa em algumas palavras? Por exemplo: veRdade, peRto, impoRtante, ceRto. Obrigado pela ajuda.

    1. É um simples regionalismo da região paulista! Não importa a idade…eles falam mesmo assim. É bem divertido, não é… 😀

    2. Isso é um sotaque/acento tipico do interior da região de São Paulo e Minas Gerais (Countryside of São Paulo and Minas Gerais) os cariocas e paraenses por exemplo, tem um sotaque Chiado (shh sounds of letter S) ou seja, puro regionalismo

    1. Amasiah parado, “bem” translates into ‘well’ primarily, but it can also be translated as ‘good’ as well as ‘nice’ and other words. Bem and Bom when translated into English, in the context mentioned in the video, can interchange 👍🏽

      – “How are you?”
      – “I’m fine, thanks. And you?”
      – “Good, (thanks)”

      – “Como estás?”
      – “Estou bem, obrigada. E tu?
      – “Bem, (obrigado)”

    2. Portuguese With Carla I am fine is formal. Many brits and Americans say “ I am good”. Like us. A minha avó sempre me diz por telefone 📞 “ Estás bom Zé? Estou ótimo ou simplesmente estou bom. A tradução é um trabalho árduo 😓. Os registos são muito importantes. Estou bem é semi-formal ou formal. Eu não diria ao presidente de Portugal 🇵🇹. Então, Manel,estás bom ou está tudo bem contigo rapaz? E esperar uma resposta desta maneira “Está tudo a correr as mil maravilhas,José, e tu? Fazes um excelente trabalho Carla!!!

    1. Portuguese With Carla Tu és mais inglesa que portuguesa. Estou a brincar. O teu sotaque soa muito inglês quando falas inglês. Podes dizer que és inglesa, e as pessoas acreditam.

  7. Uma dúvida, Carla. (3:17) diz: Com prazer = My pleasure. Vem imediatamente depois de “Prazer em conhecê-lo”. Não entendi muito bem…em que contexto acha adequado falar “com prazer” e significando “my pleasure”…?
    Cumprimentos e obrigada pelo seu lindo trabalho.

    1. I think instead of “com prazer” (with pleasure) to answer “prazer em conhecer-te/prazer em conhecê-lo/a”, you should considerate using “o prazer é todo meu” (it’s all my pleasure).

    2. “Com prazer” is used when a person wants to say that they’ve gladly DONE (or do) something. For instance, if someone says to you: obrigado por fazeres isso por mim. You can say: fiz/faço com prazer OR foi/é com prazer (que o fiz/faço. Basically “com prazer” is usually accompanied by a doing word (verb) 👍🏽

  8. Thank you, please can you make the pauses longer next time? I barely get time to practice pronouncing before the next one comes up

    1. @Galina Alekseeva I tend to have this playing on my headphones during the day, so pausing everytime is not ideal

    1. Teda Melero Yes, on Tvi or Sic. Go to Google and type Sic or Tvi,also Rtp-televisão portuguesa.

    1. When addressing someone formally. It can be an older person, a cop, a judge, a client, a server at a restaurant, a distant relative, your in-laws unless they tell you otherwise, etc.

    2. Teda Melero it is quite easy. Você it is like sir, miss, mrs or mr. It is just the formal you.

    1. Галина Алексеева olá!

      La and lo = “a” and “o”. In English it means “her” and “him” or formal “you” (and not just “the”).

      Ex.: prazer em conhecer o senhor (Nice to me [you] sir) = prazer em conhecê-lo (Nice to meet you)

      Rather than saying “o/a senhor/a” we just say “you”. So we drop the “r” from main verb and add “l” to “o” or “a” if it’s referring to a woman or feminine object.

    1. Veronica Accouche clear is one of those words that translate into different ones depending on context. To say I am clear if cancer or cancer-free, in Portuguese one says “estou livre do cancro”.
      It sounds like good news 🤗

  9. I follow your each lesson very carefully and I get more benefits from you that’s why I am very grateful to you . I am looking forward your next lessons.

  10. I am from Goa and I need to brush my portuguese. Your channel is really good and simple to understand. God bless you

  11. I’m Portuguese from Portugal and I love our accent, I prefer than the Brazilian one I think it sounds better. I like the “s” and “r” sounds from the European Portuguese, it makes Portuguese look like a Slavic Language and that’s interesting.

    1. @RD JOLI there are some Brazilian accents that don’t have these “tchi” and “dgi”. The northeastern dialects have the same “d” and “t” from the continental Portuguese. I recommend you to search the dialects of Portuguese that are spoken by the others luso countries, it’s pretty interesting tho.

    2. @Boêmiobe4t Thank you for the clarification and recommendation 🙂 I really enjoy studying the accents of different languages so will definitely do some research on this!

  12. Hello Carla. I heard that we use some 1000 words about 80% of the time so I was wondering if you’d want to follow this video up with one on the 1000 most common words (and phrases) in European Portuguese … or, at least, the 500 most common words and phrases since that’s what someone would need to be considered an A1. Thanks in advance.

  13. Speed is perfect. Enough time to repeat once, then onto the next sentence… Trying hard to remember things doesn’t really help you when learning a language, it’s repetition that counts, for example: watch this video every morning for a week. This video is obviously not for practising pronunciation. The music will force your brains to distinct music from speech wich will only be beneficial in the longer run, like having a conversation at a bar or on a noisy street… Obrigado Carla!

    1. Hahaha, I was going to say the opposite! For an uncooperative American tongue I need more time to hear and then pronounce. But the content is good.

  14. At 1:19, she explains the formal and informal forms of a phrase. She said the first expression was formal and the expression after the slash is informal. But, I’m wondering if this is backwards – because the second phrase is longer and the first shorter – so I would guess the first is informal – the second is formal. Anyone know for sure?

    1. i_love_rescue_animals olá. What I say in the video is the correct answer to your question 👍🏽

    2. @Portuguese With Carla Muito obrigada! It does seem backwards to me (I mean, I know you know what you are talking about though! 😄).

    3. @i_love_rescue_animals
      I can see your confusion, and it can be quite misleading without further information.
      The thing is we portuguese use A LOT of contractions and leave out A LOT of words out from sentences.
      So in this case, the whole sentence would be like this:

      English (Translated Literally) – “How is it that you are”
      Formal – “Como é que você está”
      Informal – “Como é que tu estás”

      BUT, and this is a BIG RULE to remember: Even though “você” is the formal pronoun for the third person, it is considered rude to say the word out loud. So we just say
      “Como é que está”
      Or, even further,
      “Como está”
      “Como está” feels a bit more natural as a quick polite greeting and “Como é que está” would be used if someone fell or something like that. But the difference is minimal, both can be used in both contexts.

      For informal, it’s pretty much same logic. Although saying other pronouns like “tu” “ele” “eu” “nós”, etc is not seen as rude, since in portuguese you can guess the pronoun by the conjugation of the verb, we just omit the pronouns anyways.
      “Como é que estás”
      “Como estás”
      In the case of informal I see no difference at all between the expressions.

      Hope it’s not too confusing and that I’m not annoying you too late ^^’

    4. @Zewzit So sorry (I didn’t see your comment until now)!! I don’t know if you’ll ever see my comment, but I am now living in Portugal and subscribe to Portuguese with Carla (the EXCELLENT online program). I am going over this video again and I really appreciate all your comments! It’s been tough, but the Portuguese people seem to appreciate my (terrible) attempts at the language!

    5. @i_love_rescue_animals woaaah! crazy hearing from you after so long ahah. Welcome to Portugal! 😀
      Don’t worry too much, I may have been a bit extreme in my last comment. It is true that we avoid saying “você” directly (we prefer to just imply it with the verbs), but it’s not like we get super mad about it ahah.
      It’s the attempt that counts and from what I know we native portuguese like any attempt to speak our language, so have fun!

      Naturally since I’m portuguese I haven’t followed Carla’s language tutorial, but this video has really good quality and pronounciation, so I would bet that subscription will be worth it 🙂

  15. Please, leave out the background music! !!! I can’t concentrate on learning the language ! So annoying ! Potentially a good video, but, you lost me…I’m out !

  16. Carla, hi, one question: why aren‘t there two dictionaries that give the same phonetic transcription of Portguese words? Isn‘t there a unifying norm for Portuguese pronunciation? One dictionary gives you i, the other one e, one gives you o, the other one u and so on, there aren‘t two dictionaries that are congruent.

  17. SO happy I found your channel! I can never find a video like this without it being Brazilian. Not only that your videos are perfect and makes learning Portuguese easy. Can you do a video with phrases of love?

  18. I can’t understand properly because your teaching speed is too fast but I appreciate your efforts for us. Thanks

  19. These are brilliant. Maybe just a wee bit quick moving from one to the next… Thanks for doing them, though, as they are super helpful.

    1. Smart Books olá! O futuro mais comum em português = verbo “ir” no Presente + infinitivo do verbo principal.

      Exemplos: VOU fazer; VAIS gostar; VAI cantar; VAMOS decidir; VÃO receber.

  20. I love this video too, its a lot of information but my students always find it useful. Everyone is always grateful to have more European Portuguese content to learn from <3

  21. As usual this video is beautifully done your husband just does a phenomenal job with the video quality however if I might offer one slight criticism or perhaps better phrased suggestion not everyone who uses YouTube to learn actually can see in fact I am legally blind it would be wonderfully helpful to include the English translations spoken as well as written

  22. Can anyone tell me how to ask for the loo in Portugal? Every site I see asks (in the US style) for the bathroom but I am convinced that’s not the right way to describe it? Happy to be proved wrong, but like the Spanish ‘servicios’, I’m convinced there’s a more European way to say it. Thanks.

    1. The most common word in European Portuguese is “casa de banho”, which is the direct translation of bathroom, but you can also ask for the WC and people will know what you’re looking for. In some restaurants and cafés there’s a sign saying “Lavabos” but almost no one here uses that word. : )

    1. @Sam McManus I have my YouTube channel, Facebook, WhatsApp. I don’t have Instagram. I am so sorry.

  23. Muito obrigada! But I would like to have little more pauses and the music is disturbing me very much.

    1. @Ronaldo Magazzina mas se aprenderes o portugues do brasil so vais poder usar no brasil 🙂 e duvido que alguem queria ir morar ai

    1. Olá Martin! Well done for slowing down the video, if you were struggling with the normal speed. I hope you’ve watched it again later at the speed I recorded it as it is important you train your ear to actual speed portuguese speak. 👍🏽

  24. Carla this is so helpful I listen to this video 2 or 3 time and I could remember all the words and the speed was very perfect. Thx Carla oh wait my teacher name is Carla too

  25. I think the person who invented the Portuguese pronunciation system had an obsession with the Sh sound

  26. Perfect pace, as clear as translations can be, perfect sound, and fantastic phrases which I know I will use!!! Muito obrigada Carla 🙂

    1. Olá! Para seres informado de quando publicamos novos vídeos, subscreve-te ao canal e clica no sino 🔔.
      Talvez este vídeo seja um bom desafio para ti: https://youtu.be/ftjw0mnvWFI

      De qualquer maneira, aconselhava-te a ver todos os nossos vídeos no YouTube, até os mais básicos, porque podes aprender algo novo com eles e é sempre bom fazer uma revisão daquilo que já aprendeste 👍🏽

  27. Hello I have a question about ‘my name is’ phrase and so what do. Do I use “O meu nome é” or do I use “chamo-me”?

    1. @Zewzit hi thank you for helping me last time. I have another question might sound stupid but it is a popular expression. It is desculpe and com licença. They are both excuse me but I know which to use and there are others like desculpe-me and I dont know how to use them correctly. Can you help me with this?

    2. @shiro.240sx Hello again! Once again, a very interesting question. I’ll try to explain it the best I can so get ready (sorry in advanced for the wall of text lol). So:

      “Desculpe” is the formal form of “desculpa”. The verb “desculpar” means “to forgive/to excuse”.
      So, if you accidentally hit someone, or did something wrong, you say “desculpe”/”desculpa” (depending if it’s a stranger/boss or a friend).
      If you ask your parents to be excused from the table, or when a soldier wants to dismiss his subordinates, they can say “Desculpado” (“[You are] Excused”).
      Finally, to get someone’s attention, it’s polite to use “desculpe”, since you are sorry for taking their time/giving them trouble.

      “Com licença” means, literally, “with license”. You can use it like that, for example: “I drive with license” —> “Eu conduzo com licença”
      Since “licença” means “license”/”permission”, the expression “com licença” is frequently used to say “With your permission”.
      So, if you are trying to get someone’s attention, you can say “com licença”.
      If you want to get somewhere, but someone is blocking the way, the expression “com licença” immediatly means that you are asking to be let through.

      Now, depending on the person hearing, “com licença” may sound a little bit rude when said out of nowhere. Same as “excuse me”, if you suddently ask someone to move so you can go through, or ask for someone’s attention, it may seem to be implied that they weren’t paying attention, and/or that they should do what you want.

      So what we usually do is combine both! When getting someone’s attention, we say “Desculpe, com licença” or “Com licença, desculpe”, and if they don’t hear you, you can keep alternating between “desculpe” and “com licença” (just don’t be annoying of course)
      The same alternating technique is also used if you are moving through a crowded street, or when you want to reach your seat in a cinema/airplane etc.

      In summary: to ask forgiveness/to be excused only “desculpe” works; to ask for someone’s attention, “desculpe” and “com licença” both work well alone, but can be paired for extra politeness.

      ———-
      About “desculpe-me”:
      “-me” is just a first person pronoun. So when you say “desculpe-me”/”desculpa-me”, you are saying “forgive me”.
      Similarly, if you say “desculpe-o”/desculpa-o”, it means “forgive him”.
      We usually use these pronouns all the time, for example “help me” is “ajuda-me”.
      But in the case of “desculpe”, since it became such a quick expression to say at all times, the “-me” is usually ommited when talking about the first person. So, to say “forgive him/excuse him”, you have to say “desculpe-o”, but when saying “forgive me” you can just say “desculpe” (and it’s still as polite as “desculpe-me”, it’s just faster to say).

      ——-
      Sorry about this wall of text! The expressions are used in different contexts but also in the same context and it was hard to explain it with fewer words ^^’
      Hope I was helpful! 🙂

    3. @Zewzit thank you sooo much I understand how to use it now and I dont know what I would do without your help. And one more question if it’s fine.

      I herd a lot of people in YouTube who are from Portugal and they say ‘what’ as ‘como’ and sometimes ‘o que’. What’s the difference between them and are there more types of saying what in portuguese?

    4. @shiro.240sx
      The only way of saying ‘what’ in portuguese is by saying “o quê”/”o que”. The difference between those two is that “o quê” is used in a question, when nothing else follows it, while “o que” is used elsewhere. Example:
      “What?!” ” *O quê* ?!”
      “He did what?” “Ele fez *o quê* ?”
      “What did he do?” ” *O que* é que ele fez?”
      “I did what I said” “Eu fiz *o que* disse”

      ‘Como’ means “How”. “Como estás” is “How are you” for example.
      In english, when you just say ‘How?’, you can be asking a lot of different things, and it depends on the context: ‘How did you do that?’ ‘How did that happen?’ ‘How is that so?’, etc.
      In portuguese it’s the exact same. By saying ‘Como?’ you can ask: “Como fizeste isso?” “Como é que isso aconteceu?” “Como assim?”, etc.

      There is a single case that makes them mix up:
      When you don’t understand what someone said, you say “what?” (” *o quê* “), or “what did you say?” (” *o que* é que disseste?”).
      But in portuguese, while saying “what?” to a friend is totally fine, it is seen as rude when anywhere else. Instead, we say “Como?”, which sounds more polite, or even the complete expression “Como disse?” (“How did you say?”), which is even more polite.

      This causes another situation. Imagine you are watching a performance, and someone does like 5 incredible backflips. In english, you may jokingly say “What did you say?”, even though they really didn’t say anything, it’s just to express surprise.
      In portuguese it’s the same joke: you are so surprised that your speech even turns polite and you say “Como?”, with the tone of asking someone what they said. Of course, you can also just say “Como?” with the tone of “How did they do that?”, or even “Como assim?” (How is that so?).

      So yeah, when reacting as surprised the meanings can get a bit mixed up but they all work. When asking what somebody said it’s more polite to use “Como?”, but as expected, it’s weird to be polite between friends. In every other case they don’t mix up: “what” is “o quê/o que” and “como” means “how”

    5. @Zewzit ok thank you very much I do know the difference between them but never realised how it would be. Thank you very much I’ll keep an ear to hear what I’m saying. Thank you once more.

    1. In the case of “Bem vindo”, since you are saying “you, welcome!” it’s dependent on the ” *you* “. If you are speaking to a man, it’s “bem vindo”, if you are speaking to a woman it’s “bem vinda”. The same happens at 1:45. “glad to see *you* “, so “vê-lo” when speaking to men, “vê-la” to women.

      But be careful! At 1:53 for example: “Obrigado(a)”, even though it means “Thank you”, it’s literal translation is “[ *I* am] obliged/thankfull”, so it’s dependent on the ” *I* “. It doesn’t matter who you speak to, if you are a man, you say “Obrigado”, if you are a woman you say “Obrigada”

    2. @gerard max haha no problem at all! To be honest with you, the “Obrigado(a)” is such a trap that even we portuguese get it wrong sometimes. I’ve heard more than once this discussion, so if anything it means you are already mastering portuguese xD you have the same questions

  28. Happy to have found Carla.

    Please someone has recommendations for fun or interesting vlogs of native EU portugese speakers?
    Or children songs?
    It makes learning Portuguese fun.

  29. Thanks a million dear Carla. It was lovely and enjoyable, learning the 100 Portuguese basic expressions. God bless you Carla.👌👌🙏

  30. Olá Carla. Love to see your videos.
    Can you please guide me on what i can teach my son? He will be starting nursery.
    Also do you have any contacts of any teacher who teaches nursery children? We stay in Porto.
    Thanks in advance.

    1. Olá Carolyne! Thank you ☺️ at that sort of age (I’m assuming your son is in between the ages of 2 and 4) I don’t think you need to worry about teaching him. He’ll absorb Portuguese like a sponge if he’s simply exposed to the language (this is the most efficient way for him to learn it). If you want to get him familiar with it before he starts, and if you allow him to watch tv, watching Portuguese cartoons will definitely help and since you’re in Portugal that should be easy to access. And if you already know some Portuguese, speak to him in Portuguese.

      Do you mean if I know any teachers who teach Portuguese as a second language to nursery children? If so, I’m afraid I don’t.

      I can understand you may be worried he might not understand it at first, but trust me, he will pick it up 👌🏽 some children who are exposed to more than one language when they’re little may take a while to communicate properly, but eventually it happens. I know a few that only by the age of 5 managed to do so, but when they did they did it impeccably well!
      Hope this helps 🙂

    2. Thank you for your reply.
      I meant teaching Portuguese as a first language with English as a secondary language.
      Yes children do pick up fast.
      With this lock down, nurseries are closed, so i can’t get any teachers number.
      Will play some cartoons for my sons

    3. @Carolyne Ferrao I would also encourage you to speak Portuguese to him or make sure to have someone who can do that – at such an early age, watching cartoons and participating in fun little activities with a Portuguese speaking person (other kids, relatives or even a nursery teacher) on a regular basis, I believe will do the trick 👌🏽

  31. See, the problem with dominating Spanish and then having to learn Portuguese is we Spanish speakers tend to think that the Portuguese have it all wrong with their language.🤣 What a challenge but I will learn Portuguese.

  32. Portuguese sounds like Rusian Spanish to me and someone else said that before too so I know I’m not the only one 😁

    1. Olá! Yes I’ve heard the Russian comparison before as well and I think one of the reasons may be the fact we swallow vowels and when we do that it often sounds like we’re pronouncing 3 or 4 consonants together 😄

  33. 700 verbal words from Portuguese and English?
    please! You will create Are English and Portuguese verbs the best free courses on YouTube?

    1. Olá D J! For help with pronunciation watch this video and the others mentioned right at the end of it: https://youtu.be/1ijqsv-1g3k

      Once you’ve watched those and practiced with us, I am positive you’ll be able to read the phrases on this video a lot more comfortably 😉

  34. British lady really trying… didn’t know i could learn so much from a British person teaching a Latin dialect…I love Portuguese and the European one at that

    1. Normally the Portuguese speak faster than that… But if you want it slower just use the settings available. If you’re on the phone or tablet, you should see 3 little dots on the top right of the video – click on it and then click on playback speed – there you can slow it down.
      On desktop or laptop a different icon is on the bottom right to adjust quality and speed as well 👍🏽

  35. thank you for the collection, would be awesome if you could post it again without the music, it’s distracting and really annoying

    1. olá! If you’re ok you’re phone or tablet, you should see 3 little dots on the top right of the video – click on it and then click on playback speed – there you can slow it down.
      On desktop or laptop a different icon is on the bottom right to adjust quality and speed as well 👍🏽

  36. Obrigadíssimo por esse vídeo bem feito 🙂 A senhora podia fazer um vídeo similar sobre as gírias portuguesas que são necessários para nos relacionarmos bem com os portugueses?

  37. Too fast! Please give more time to repeat the phrases. Also, the pronunciation isn’t clear because you say the phrases so quickly.

  38. For “have a nice day” why using tenha not tenho, tenha um bom dia? Is it depend gender of the speaker?

    1. Olá, Timotius! “(You) have a nice day” you’re wishing the other person a nice day. “Tenho” referes to “Eu” and so it means “I have”.

      We use the Imperative mood for good wishes. “Tenha” is not feminine as verbs do not have a gender, it’s simply the formal imperative form of TER. “(Você/o senhor/a senhora) tenha um bom dia” – :
      The informal/familiar Imperative is: tem. “Tem um bom dia”.

    1. De nada, Miguel! We can appreciate that, so we haven’t included music in other teaching videos 👍🏽

  39. Common phrases are a great concept. Thanks much. Only wish the phrase was repeated two times & sadly the music is distracting… interfers with close listening to the phonemes. Is it possible to upload one without the music track, please? Thank you so much.

    1. Hot topic amongst the natives… yes, it is used, but it can be classed as rude if used with someone with who more formality is required. A teacher may address a teenage/young adult student by “você”, but a teacher may not appreciate a student addressing him/her by “você”. It also depends on regions and social classes. If in doubt just use “o senhor” or “a senhora”, or simply omit the pronoun and just use the verb – that’s the safest way to go about it, the verb in the 3rd person singular 👌🏽 Do pay closer attention to how the natives address each other as they speak 👍🏽

  40. Carla – I am a bit confused. Description says “European Portuguese”, yet I see voce. I though that is not used in PT at all, solamente en Brazil.

    1. In Portugal “você” is not widely used as it is in Brazil, but it’s still used. It’s a pronoun we are careful with, some people find it rude because it isn’t formal enough in certain contexts and others consider it to be ok with people they know but aren’t close to. It’s best to play safe and use “o senhor” and “a senhora” instead of “você” or you can simply omit the pronoun and start the phrase with the verb in the 3rd person singular 👌🏽

  41. Nice lesson but please don’t talk so fast
    Because I didn’t understand the words you are saying
    Thankyou 😊

    1. Obrigada. I hope you understood at least some words I said ☺️ because that wasn’t even the normal speed in which Portuguese can speak… 😅

  42. I find that this video is too fast for a beginner. It takes time to listen to the pronunciation, to read the interpretation and then to repeat the word out loud. I would also suggest that you repeat the word or phrase twice.

    1. Thanks for taking the time to share your comment, Diane. Unfortunately, we can’t change what’s out there now. You can, however, use the YouTube settings and slow it down! So that should help you 😊

  43. Can someone explain to me the difference between vir and vires. Seems like you’re pluralizing an infinitive of the verb?? What am I missing here?

    1. @JACOB FRIEDMAN also, “vires” can be the future conjunctive (generally used for future hypothetical situations) for “tu” for the verb “ver” – to see.

  44. So I know obrigado(a) depends on the speaker. As a man I would always say obrigado, right? But what about the other o(a) phrases? For example, would I always say Que bom vê-lo since I’m a man, or would it depend on the person I’m saying it to?

    1. Yes, that’s right. As a man you say “obrigado”, because you are the one feeling obliged for whatever favor or thing was done for you. But when you wish to say “nice to see you” the “you” refers to the other person, so that’ll depend on their gender, not yours. “Que bom vê-lo” is used for a man and “Que bom vê-la” for a woman.
      Hope this answers your question 🙂

  45. I see many you tube teachers making this devastating mistake for beginners – you are going too fast – read the word or sentence it out once slowly then a little faster and then ask the learner to repeat then go on to the next word to sentence . This gives a lot of hope to the one trying to learn . K8ndly keep this in consideration.

    1. Thanks for your feedback. This video was initially intended as an informative one and not as a lesson, but I can appreciate where you’re coming from 👌🏽

    1. Bem-vindo/a is used to welcome someone somewhere. De nada is used as a response to “thank you”. Does this clarify things for you?

  46. Loving The Journey! I am just finishing the two chapters of the Pre-Journey for beginners and it has been both challenging and fun. Highly recommend this course. Carla and Merlon have gone above and beyond to make it engaging, comprehensive and in line with the latest studies on language learning for adults! Muito obrigada!

    1. Thank you so much 🥰 we appreciate very much your positive feedback on our course and support both on here and on The Journey website. Thanks again and keep up the good work 😉

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