Countries of the World
A Country Named Portugal - Os Herois do Mar - Portuguese Language


Useful Portuguese Words and Phrases



English - Portuguese
Yes - sim
No - não
Thank You - obrigado (when a man says it) or obrigada (when a woman says it)
Good Bye - adeus
Good Morning - bom dia
Good Afternoon - boa tarde
Good Night - boa noite
Welcome - bem-vindo/ benvindo
Excuse Me - com licença
I'm Sorry - desculpe
See You Later - até logo
Can I? - posso?
How much? - quanto?
Here - aqui
There - ali
Near - perto
Far - longe
Hot - quente
Cold - frio
New - novo
Old - velho
Yesterday - ontem
Today - hoje
Tomorrow - amanhã
I need help. - Preciso de ajuda
Where's __ Street? - Onde é a rua __ ?
Do you know...? - Você sabe...?
Good - bom
Bad - mau
Open - aberto
Closed - fechado
Mother - mãe
Father - pai
Son - filho
Daughter - filha
Breakfast - pequeno-almoço
Lunch - almoço
Snack - lanche
Dinner - jantar
Sandwish - sandes
Ice Cream - gelado
Dessert - sobremesa
Coffee - café
Tea - chá
Juice - sumo
Olives - azeitonas
French Fries - batatas fritas
Vegetables - legumes
Butter - manteiga
Eggs - ovos
Bread - pão
Salad - salada
Cheese - queijo
Spoon - colher
Fork - garfo
Knife - faca
Glass/Cup - copo
Bottle - garrafa
Wine - vinho
Beer - cerveja
Sunday - domingo
Monday - segunda-feira
Tuesday - terça-feira
Wednesday - quarta-feira
Thursday - quinta-feira
Friday - sexta-feira
Saturday - sábado
January - Janeiro
February - Fevereiro
March - Março
April - Abril
May - Maio
June - junho
July - Julho
August - Agosto
September - Setembro
October - Outubro
November - Novembro
December - Dezembro
Vacation - férias
Money - dinheiro
Bus - autocarro
Train - comboio
Airplane - avião
Taxi - taxi
Keys - chaves
Soap - sabão or sabonete
Bathroom - quarto de banho
Newspaper - jornal
Magazine - revista
Letter - carta
Postcard - postal
Envelope - envelope
Stamp - selo
Post Office - correios
Sick - doente
Pain - dor
Hospital - hospital
Doctor - doutor
Prescription - receita

Understanding Portuguese and Pronunciation



NOTE: The rules given below refer to Portuguese as spoken in Portugal. Some of them don't apply to Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation.

At first the Portuguese language can seem difficult to understand, since as one of the Romance languages derived from Latin, one expects it to be close to the resonant rattle of Spanish or the Romantic cadences of Italian. Instead, its closed vowels and shushing consonants sound closer to an Eastern European language. But knowledge of Spanish, Italian, or French does help to decipher the written word.

Having an idea of French pronunciation helps to pronounce nasalized vowels, which are indicated by a tilde (~) over them or are followed by "m" or "n." The Portuguese word for wool, lã, therefore sounds roughly like the French word lin. Also helpful is knowing that the suffix "-ção" is the equivalent of the English "-tion," so informação is "information," and nação is "nation," for example. These words form their plural by changing the suffix to "-ções" (so nação becomes nações).

The cedilla under the "c" serves exactly the same purpose as in French -- to transform the "c" into a "ss" sound in front of the vowels "a," "o," and "u" (Açores, Graça, etc.).

The accent usually falls on the next-to-last syllable (Fado, azulejos, etc.), except when there's an acute accent to indicate the proper pronunciation (sábado, república, está, etc.).

As in other Romance languages, things are either masculine or feminine, with most masculine nouns ending in "o" and most feminine ones ending in "a."

* Ã is much like the French "-an" ending
* ÃO sounds like a nasal "ow"
* C has an "s" sound before "e" and "i"
* Ç functions as in French, pronounced as an "s"
* CH is soft: chá (tea) sounds like sha
* E at the end of a word is silent, unless it has an accent: it is silent in doze (twelve), pronounced doz, but stressed in pé (foot)
* EI sounds like the "a" in "table"
* J is pronounced as in French (like the "s" in "pleasure")
* G is also pronounced like the "s" in "pleasure" before "e" and "i," but hard before "a," "o," or "u"
* H is silent
* LH is pronounced like the Italian "gl"
* NH is pronounced like the Spanish "ñ" (like the "ni" in "onion")
* M takes on a nasal tone at the end of words, as in sim (yes)
* Õ is much like the French "-on" ending
* OU is pronounced similar to the "o" in "over"
* QU is pronounced as a "k" before "e" or "i" but as the "qu" in "quadruplets" before "a" or "o"
* R at the beginning of a word (or "rr" in the middle) is a harsh, guttural sound similar to French (in some areas of Portugal this "r" is not guttural, but strongly rolled)
* R in the middle or at the end of a word is a rolled sound, close to but stronger than the English "r"
* S is soft except when occurring between two vowels, when it is pronounced like a "z" (e.g. casa, meaning "house")
* S at the end of a word or syllable (before another consonant) is "sh," (inglês, meaning "English" is pronounced "inglesh," and escola, meaning "school," is "eshcola"), otherwise it sounds like the "s" in "sun"
* Z at the end of a word is pronounced "sh"


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A Country Named Portugal - Os Herois do Mar - Portuguese Language (Countries of the World)    -    Author : Noa - Portugal


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