If you know a Romance language, it will be easier for you to learn Portuguese. It is closely related to Spanish, and even more closely related to Galician, which descends from the common ancestor tongue of Galician-Portuguese (also known as Old Portuguese, Medieval Galician, or galego-português). However, people who know a little Spanish may hastily conclude that Portuguese is close enough that it need not be studied separately. While they may be able to figure out the meaning of some signage, items on a menu, etc., understanding of verbal communication will be very low to nothing. Words such as "gente" (people) are pronounced so differently in either variant of Portuguese, that you would hardly recognise them. Also, some personal names such as "Jorge Ramos," for example, will be pronounced quite differently as well. If you speak Spanish fluently, invest a few hours getting used to the sound differences and some common words—after that you'll be able to make rapid progress understanding what people are saying to you. If you know Spanish, watch for a lot of new vowels, a large number of contractions (comparable to del and al) and irregular plurals. Some pronunciation differences can be easily missed, such as año (year) becoming ano. If you speak good French, you may find Portuguese pronunciation to be fairly easy, though much of the vocabulary will have changed substantially. For numbers 1,000,000,000 and above, European Portuguese uses the long scale (Brazilian Portuguese uses the short scale). For the second-person plural "you", the Portuguese use vocês with the third-person plural verb. The traditional form of second-person plural "you", vós, has fallen into disuse and nowadays is found only in literature, scripture, or highly formal contexts. The most important gender difference that travellers need to know is "thank you". Men say obrigad o, and women say obrigad a. ( Obrigado/a is an adjective which literally means "obliged".) Learning other adjective differences can also come in handy. "I am tired" is estou cansad o for men and estou cansad a for women. Most adjectives follow this pattern. As a general guide, stress the penultimate (last-but-one) syllable except where there is an accent, or the word ends with a diphthong (that is, 2 vowels which are pronounced as a single syllable – explained in full later on), or if it ends with any of the following letters: i; l; r; z; im; um; ins; uns – in which case, the stress is on the last syllable.

must-know Portuguese verbs to indicate your needs and desires: basics for English-speaking travelers If you’re new to a city or town and want to know what the attractions are and how to get to them, these Brazilian Portuguese phrases can help get you where you want to go. There’s nothing like asking a local to find out the best things to do, see and eat. Você pode me mostrar no mapa? – Can you show me where it is on the map? Common Portuguese Phrases That Will Help You Navigate Public Transportation This article is about Portuguese as spoken in Europe, Africa, and Asia.For Portuguese as spoken in Brazil, see Brazilian Portuguese phrasebook Portuguese-speaking areas Many vowel sounds do not have exact equivalents in English, so examples below are the best approximations.Please note that in Brazil, there are three branches of the police, the military, civil and federal police. If you have any problems such as being assaulted or robbed, you’ll need to file a report with the civil police. To get even more prepared for using these Brazilian Portuguese phrases, learn how to pronounce Brazilian Portuguese. And if you're worried that 67 phrases is a bit too much to remember for now, take the StoryLearning® approach and read short stories in Portuguese to learn and remember new vocabulary easily. Now that you have these essential Portuguese phrases, you’re ready to start using this new vocabulary in your own conversations! Concordo! ou Concordo plenamente! – I agree! or I totally agree! If, on the other hand, we don’t agree with what is being said, we can use the following phrases:

Here are the basic phrases in Portuguese to talk about the place of origin and residence of a person.

OPEN Aberto ( ah-BEHR-too) CLOSED Fechado ( feh-SHAH-doh) ENTRANCE Entrada ( ehn-TRAH-dah) EXIT Saída ( sah-EE-dah) PUSH Empurre ( ehng-POO-hee) PULL Puxe ( POO-sh) Notice! When you hear 'push', the Portuguese mean 'pull'! TOILET Casa de banho MEN Homens ( OH-mehns) WOMEN Mulheres ( moo-LYEH-riss) FORBIDDEN Proibido ( proh-ee-BEE-doh) Hopefully you won’t encounter any emergencies during your trip to Brazil, but in case you do, it’s important to be able to ask for help. At the end of this post, you will find more free material to learn Portuguese. Who is this Portuguese guide for? What Portuguese is taught, from Portugal or Brazil? Portuguese has definite and indefinite articles, with different forms according to the gender and number of the noun to which they refer:

With only three hours of audio, Collins Easy Learning Portuguese Audio Course is a fairly simple course that covers the essentials that you need for getting by in Portugal. It’s more of a short course to prepare you for a trip to Portugal, rather than either a course in Portuguese or a travel phrasebook. Collins Gem Portuguese Phrasebook and Dictionary Eating is – both – a need and a pleasure. With a few sentences you will be able to communicate in the café or in the restaurant in Portuguese. If you want to learn more useful phrases to be friendly in Portuguese, you have this video with free material to practice. Of course, one of your goals to striking a conversation with a native language speaker is to practice your own language skills. But you should probably let them know beforehand that you are a learner and as such, they might need to be more patient with you. Whether you need a reminder of your basic hellos and goodbyes, or you’re yet to learn them, here are some of the key greetings you need to know: PortugueseLearn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.

You will delve into the vocabulary and useful phrases for accommodation on your next trip to a Portuguese -speaking country in video #17 of this series of short videos, which includes material to practice for free.

Other basic Portuguese phrases:

It’s one thing to be able to ask where a place is, but it’s another thing altogether to use the directions you are given to successfully find the place. Here are a few phrases you need to understand when asking for directions in Portuguese. Brazil is famous for its buffet lunches, where you won’t need a menu. However, for all other restaurant experiences, you’ll need to be able to make your way around a menu and interact with the staff. RELATED CONTENT: Travelling to Portugal in May? Here’s what you need to know 15. Do you speak English? – Fala inlgês? With Portuguese Uncoveredyou’ll use my unique StoryLearning® method to learn Portuguese naturally through story… not rules. It’s as fun as it is effective. Languages offers a free app, web app, or set of MP3s that cover pretty much all of the essential travel phrases that you need for visiting Portuguese. In fact, it goes a little deeper than most of the phrasebooks and is a really good starting place for learning Portuguese. Oh, and it’s free!