Greetings and politeness in Portuguese
Hello, please, thank you, sorry: the ten openers everything else builds on. Play the ten Portuguese words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 11 Portuguese phrases in this lesson
- Oláoh-LAH
- Hello
- Bom diabong DEE-ah
- Good morning
- Boa noiteBOH-ah NOY-teh
- Good evening
- Adeusah-DEH-oosh
- Goodbye
- Até logoah-TEH LO-goo
- See you
- Por favorpoor fah-VOR
- Please
- Obrigadooh-bree-GAH-doo
- Thank you
- De nadadeh NAH-dah
- You're welcome
- Desculpedesh-KOOL-peh
- Sorry
- Com licençakong lee-SEN-sah
- Excuse me
- Muito prazerMOON-too prah-ZEHR
- Nice to meet you
Universal greeting in European Portuguese, used any time of day. Safe for strangers and friends alike.
Used until around noon. The "o" in "bom" is slightly nasalised. Always well received in shops and cafés.
Used from dark on, on arrival as well as parting. Before that, "boa tarde" (BOH-ah TAR-deh), good afternoon.
A fairly definitive farewell. For a casual "see you later" prefer "até logo" (ah-teh LOH-goo) or "tchau" (CHOW) among friends.
Literally "until soon". Friends also say tchau (chow). Adeus sounds final.
Goes at the end of a request as well as the beginning. Tacking it on softens any order in a café or shop.
The everyday thank you, obrigada if you are a woman. European speakers swallow the final vowel until it sounds closer to "oh-bree-GAH-d"; Brazilians give it a full "doo".
The standard reply to a thank you. Literally means "it's nothing". Relaxed and universally appropriate.
The everyday apology, polite form.
Literally "with permission", used to get past someone or to interrupt.
Literally "much pleasure".