The Penguin Portuguese Phrasebook (The Penguin Phrasebook Library)

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This way of saying you’re welcome is more informal and we use it more with friends and people we know well. This article is about Portuguese as spoken in Europe, Africa, and Asia. For Portuguese as spoken in Brazil, see Brazilian Portuguese phrasebook Portuguese has a complex verb conjugation system compared to English, but it's simpler than some other languages. There are three classes of conjugation, based on the ending of the infinitive: On the tombstone of St. Ignatius of Loyola, it is written, "Non coerceri a maximo, sed contineri a minimo, divinum est" (Not to be limited by the greatest, and yet to be contained in the tiniest—this is the divine). In short, one should not be frightened of the big things; one should go forward and take into account the smaller things.

With all the resources you can readily access these days, it’s easy and fun to get actively involved in practicing your linguistic skills—no matter how basic—beyond memorization. Grammar edit Portugal has some beautiful schools, but you can learn Portuguese right here on your own device. Gender edit For numbers 1,000,000,000 and above, European Portuguese uses the long scale (Brazilian Portuguese uses the short scale). OPEN Aberto ( uh-BEHR-too, /ɐ.ˈbɛɾ.tu/) CLOSED Fechado ( f(ih)-SHAH-doo, /fɨ.ˈʃa.du/) ENTRANCE Entrada ( ihn-TRAH-duh, /ẽ.ˈtɾa.dɐ/) EXIT Saída ( suh-EE-duh, /sɐ.ˈi.dɐ/) PUSH Empurre ( ehm-POO-rr(ih), /ẽ.ˈpu.ʁɨ/) PULL Puxe ( POO-sh(ih), /ˈpu.ʃɨ/) TOILET/RESTROOM Casa de banho ( KAH-zuh d(ih) BUH-nyoo, /ˈka.zɐ dɨ ˈbɐ.ɲu/) MEN Homens or Senhores ( AW-muhnsh, suh-NYOH-r(ih)sh, /ˈɔ.mɐ̃jʃ/, /sɐ.ˈɲo.ɾɨʃ/) WOMEN Mulheres or Senhoras ( moo-LYEH-r(ih)sh, suh-NYOH-ruhsh, /mu.ˈʎe.ɾɨʃ/, /sɐ.ˈɲo.ɾɐʃ/) FORBIDDEN Proibido ( proo-ee-BEE-doo, /pɾu.i.ˈbi.du/)

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direct object (masculine and feminine) 2 indirect object 3 reflexive or reciprocal, direct or indirect object The pronoun "you" edit

And if you need some extra reassurance on the pronunciation front, try inputting each separate word into your preferred Portuguese dictionary or translator app to hear how it’s spoken. Again, repeating them to yourself out loud is a must. When someone is telling us something that happened, for example, and they say “She should have come to the party”, we can simply nod our heads and say “right”.

Quick Tips to Make Learning Basic Portuguese a Breeze

Some phrases in this phrasebook still need to be translated. If you know anything about this language, you can help by plunging forward and translating a phrase. 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.