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Basic phrases Yes, around 300 words it's all you need!
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Build your own sentences. Common sense will guide you through.
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So, Ready to learn this essential Portuguese vocabulary?

Here we go, choose them by category, if you feel it's easier for you.

1. Nouns
.
2. Verbs
.
3. Adjectives
.
3. Prepositions
.
4. Connector
.
5. Determinants
.
a) Definite Articles. Subscribe above
b) Indefinite Articles. Right Now!
c) Possessives.
Click here to learn more
d) Demonstratives. about Rafa's Newsletter.
 6. Pronouns.

7. Indefinite articles or pronouns. Here are some pages

you may find
8. Adverbs. interesting:

9. Interrogatives.

The Portuguese
alphabet.

European Portuguese
Definite and Indefinite articles
Pronunciation
.
Brazilian Portuguese
These words exist in the Portuguese vocabulary because saying, for instance, A pronunciation
porta" ["the door"] is not the same as saying Uma porta" ["a door"].
Portuguese
So, the Definite articles are as follows, but you also should read this page here: Determinants

THE Masculine Feminine a) Definite Articles

Singular O [oo] A [ah] b) Indefinite Articles

Plural OS [oosh] AS [ash]
c) Possessives

Go to top of the page. Portuguese Nouns

Portuguese Verbs

And the Indefinite articles which are the Portuguese words for "A", "An" and Free Portuguese Verb
"Some", are as follows: Table

A/An/Some Masculine Feminine Portuguese Adjectives

Singular UM [oong] UMA [oo-mah] Portuguese Prepositions
Plural UNS [oongsh] UMAS [oomah-sh]
Portuguese Connectors
Go to top of the page.
Portuguese Adverbs

Portuguese Question
Prepositions Words

Are also vital words in the Portuguese vocabulary because they are linking words. Portuguese Numbers
These words place the position or movement of something in time and place. There
are many but, basically, we only need 9 to communicate. In Portuguese some of Portuguese words similar
them must be contracted with the definite articles above. to English

Let's look at the Prepositions, and then their contractions. Direct and Reported
Speech
Prepositions Meaning Sound Contractions Meaning
Useful Portuguese
Do Phrases
From From the
[deh] EU da
De Of Of the Days Of The Week
[chee] BR dos
About About the
das
Phrases to get by -
Ao Brazilian Portuguese
To À To the
A [Ah]
At (with time) Aos At the Brazilian Portuguese
Às phrases for second meeting
Up to Até o Up to the
Some Portuguese Bad
Until Até a Until +
Até [Ah-tay] Words
Even (e.g. Even Maria was Até os time
there) Até as Even the Difference Between Por
No and Para in Portuguese
In In the
Na
Em On [eng] On the Present Subjunctive in
Nos
At At the Portuguese
Nas
For the Personal Infinitive in
For Pelo
Through Portuguese
Through Pela
Por * [poohr] The
Via Pelos Future Subjunctive in
Via The
By Pelas Portuguese
By the
To the Video-Lessons
To Para o
Towards
Towards Para a
Para * [pah-rah] the
For (as aim) Para os
For the
In orther to Para as
In order to *****
Com o
Com a
Com With [con] With the
Com os
Com as
Sem Without [seng] Sem o Without the
Sem a
 Sem os
Sem as
Sobre o
[soh- Sobre a
Sobre About About the
bray] Sobre os
Sobre as

The difference between "Por" and "Para" is commonly confusing. It might be a good
idea to check it out in order for you to use them correctly.

And that's it. These are all the prepositions of the Portuguese vocabulary you need
to know to communicate.

Go to top of the page.

Possessives
are the words that demonstrates ownership or possession. In the Portuguese
vocabulary, they can be pronouns (replacing an object name) or adjectives
(qualifying an object). Let's look at the next table to understand them better.

In this first group, the possessive comes before the noun,

e.g. O meu amigo come carne. (My friend eats meat).

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine

Singular Singular Plural Plural
Os meus... As minhas...
O meu... A minha...
My [oosh meh- [ash mee-
[oo meh-oo] [ah mee-nyah]
oosh] nyash]
Os teus...
Your dude O teu... A tua... As tuas...
[oosh teh-
(informal) [oo teh-oo] [ah too-ah] [ash too-ash]
oosh]
Your Sir Os seus...
O seu... A sua... As suas...
Your Madam [oosh seh-
[oo seh-oo] [ah soo-ah] [ash soo-ash]
(formal) oosh]
Os nossos... As nossas...
O nosso... A nossa...
Our [osh noh- [ash noh-
[oo noh-soo] [ah noh-sah]
soosh] sash]
Os vossos... As vossas...
Your guys O vosso... A vossa...
[osh voh- [ash voh-
(plural) [oo voh-soo] [ah voh-sah]
soosh] sash]

In this second group, the possessive comes after the noun,

e.g. O amigo dele come carne. (His friend eats meat).

... dele
His... / ... of him (his)
[deh-lee]
... dela
Her... / ... of her
[deh-lah]
... deles
Their... / ... of them (for males)
[deh-lesh]
... delas
Their... ... of them (for females)
[deh-lash]

Go to top of the page.

Nouns
If you are not sure what a noun is, click here to learn more.
When reading this Portuguese vocabulary, you'll find a definite article (O, A, Os, As)
- "The" in English - in front of each noun, which indicates the gender (masculine
or feminine) and the number (singular or plural) of it.

So, research shows that the most important nouns of the Portuguese vocabulary
are:

Portuguese noun Word sound English translation

A Água [ah ah-goo-ah] The Water
A Ajuda [ah ah-joo-dah] The Help
Os Anos [oosh ah-noosh] The Years
O Apelido [oo ah-peh-lee-doo] The Surname
The Bus (in EU
O Autocarro [oo aoo-toh-car-roo]
Portuguese)
(The) Bad luck
(O) Azar [oo ah-zahr]
Tough
 The Balcony
O Balcão [oo bahl-kaong]
The Counter
O Banho [oo bah-nyioo] The Bath
O Bilhete [oo bee-lyieh-teh] The Ticket
O Cartão [oo cahr-taong] The Card
The House
A Casa [ah kah-sah]
The Home
[oo kah-zahl] in EU
O Casal The Couple
[oo kah-zahoo] in BR
A Chegada [ah shay-gah-dah] The Arrival
A Coisa [Ah koee-zah] The Thing
A Conta [ah-kong-tah] The Bill
O Copo [oo koh-poo] The Glass
Careful
O Cuidado [oo-koo-ee-dah-doo]
The carefulness
A Desculpa [ah dsh-cool-pah] The Excuse
O Dia [oo deer] The Day
The Money
O Dinheiro [oo dee-nyieh-ee-roh]
The Cash
A Direita [ah dee-ray-ee-tah] The Right hand side
O Direito [oo dee-ray-ee-too] The (legal) Right
A Era [ah air-rah] The Era
[ah eesh-kayr-dah]
O Esquerdo/A Esquerda The Left hand side
[oo eesh-kayr-doo]
A Esquina [ah sh-keen-ah] The Corner
O Estudo [oo sh-too-doo] The Study
O Favor [oo fah-vohr] The Favour
O Fim [oo feeng] The End
[ah-frayn-tt] in EU
A Frente The front
[ah-frayn-tchee] in BR
O Frio [oo free-oo] The cold
[ah jayn-tt] in EU and [ah One (The people)
A Gente
jayn-tt] in BR We
O Homem [oo oh-mayeen] The Man
* A Hora (also compare with The Time
[ah oh-rah]
Tempo and Vez) The Hour
O Horário [oo oh-ráh-ree-oo] The Timetable
A Ida [ah ee-dah] The Go
O Lado [oo lah-doo] The Side
The Permission
A Licença [ah lee-sayn-sah]
The Licence
Most (of)
A Maioria (de) [ah may-oo-ree-ah]
The majority (of)
O Mal [oo mahll] The Bad thing
O Mês [oo may-sh] The month/The
Os Meses [oosh may-say-sh] months
O Minuto [oo mee-noo-too] The minute
The Woman
A Mulher [ah moo-lyier]
The Wife
A Noite [ah noh-ee-teh] The Night
O Nome [oo noh-meh] The Name
The News
As Novidades [ash noo-vee-dah-desh] (in terms of what is
new)
O Número [oo noo-may-roh] The Number
The Bus (Brazilian
O Ônibus [oo oh-nee-booss]
Portuguese
A Palavra [ah pah-lah-vrah] The Word
(Os) Parabéns [(oosh) pah-rah-baingsh] (The) Congratulations
O Pé [oo peh] The Foot
As Pessoas [ash peh-soh-ash] The People
A Porta [ah pohr-tah] The Door
O Português [oo poor-too-gay-sh] The Portuguese
The Plate
O Prato [oo prah-too]
The dish
 The hurry
A Pressa [ah pray-sah]
The Rush
O Primeiro [oo pree-mahee-roh] The first
O Princípio [oo preen-cee-peeoh] The Beginning
O Problema [oh proh-blay-mah] The Problem
The Next
O Próximo [oo pro-see-moo]
The following
The Fourth
O Quarto [oo kwar-too]
The Bedroom
O Recado [oo ray-kah-doo] The Message
The road
A Rua [ah roo-ah]
The street
O Semáforo [oo say-mah-foo-roh] The Traffic lights
A Semana [ah say-mah-nah] The Week
[ah sohr-tt] in EU or [ah
A Sorte The Luck
sohr-tchee] in BR
[(ah) tar-deh] in EU or Late
(A) Tarde
[(ah) tar-tchee] in BR (The) Afternoon
* O Tempo (also compare The Time (as
[oo taym-poo]
with Horas and Vez) The Weather
The Work
O Trabalho [oo trah-bah-lyioo]
The Assignment
O Troco [oo troh-koo] The Change
[oo ool-tee-moo] in EU
O Último and The Last (one)
[oo ool-tchee-moo] in BR
* A Vez (also compare with The turn
[ah vaysh]
Tempo and Horas) The time
The journey
A Viagem [ah vee-ah-jaying]
The Trip
The Return
A Volta [ah vohl-tah]
The Going back
O Vôo [oo voh-oo] The Flight

* Tempo, Vez and Hora are words that might be easily misused among the
meanings of the Portuguese vocabulary if we don't understand them properly:
In Portuguese you'd use the word "Vez" to describe a "turn" ("Agora é a minha
vez." - "Now it's my turn"). However, there are situations that we might incorrectly
tend to say "tempo" instead of "vez" (e.g. "Esta vez vou de carro" - "This time I'll
go by car"). Here we are using the word "time", but what we really mean is "this
turn, i'm going by car".
Tempo is more like measuring a period of time, for instance asking "how long"
something is going to take ("Quanto tempo é a reunião? Muito tempo?" - "How
long is the meeting? Very long?").
Hora(s) is used to specify for instance a flight time, or the specific time of a flight
("A que horas é o vôo? As 14.30?" - "What time is the flight? At 14.30?").

Go to top of the page.

Verbs
Are another important category of words of the Portuguese Vocabulary. If you are
not sure what a verb (or doing word) is,

click here to learn more.

Portuguese verb Word sound English translation

Abrir [ah-breer] To Open
To think
Achar [ah-shahr] To Guess
To Find
Ajudar [Ah-joo-darh] To Help
To be doing something
Andar [An-darh]
To Walk
To Take / To Catch / To
Apanhar [ah-pah-nyiarh]
Get
Aprender [Ah-prayn-dayrh] To Learn
Assinar [Ah-see-narh] To Sign
Chegar [shay-garh] To arrive
Deixar (de) [day-sharh] To Leave behind
To let
 (To Stop doing
something)
To go down
Descer [Desh-sayrh]
To Descend
Desculpar-se [daysh-cool-parr say] To Forgive
[dee-zayhr] EU
Dizer To Say / To Tell
[Tchee-zayhr] BR
Dormir [Door-meer] To Sleep
Escrever [Aysh-cray-vehr] To write / to Spell
Estar [eesh-tahr] To be (temporary)
Estudar [ees-too-dahr] To study
To Speak
Falar [fah-lahr]
To Say (BR) / To Tell (BR)
Fazer [fah-zayhr] To Do / To Make
Fechar [fay-shahr] To Close
To be located
Ficar [fee-kahr] To become
To Stay
To keep
Ficar com [fee-kahr con]
To stay with
Gostar de [goosh-tahr] To Like
Ir [eerh] To Go
Ler [layrh] To Read
Melhorar [may-lyio-rahr] To better / to improve
Morar [moh-rahr] To Live
Olhar [oh-lyiahr] To look (at)
Parecer [pah-ray-cehr] To Seem / To Look like
[peh-deer] EU
Pedir to Ask (for smething)
[pee-cheer] BR
Perceber [EU] [payr-seh-behr] To Understand
Perguntar [pehr-goon-tahr] To ask (questions)
Can
Poder [poh-dehr]
To be able to
Pôr [pohr] To Put
Precisar [pray-cee-zahr] To need
Preferir [pray-fay-reehr] To Prefer
Responder [raysh-pohn-dehr] To Answer
Saber [sah-behr] To Know (skills)
Sair [sah-eehr] To Leave / To Go out
Ser [sayhr] To Be (permanent)
Sentar(-se) [sayn-tahr] To Sit Down
[sayn-teehr] EU / [sayn-
Sentir To Feel
cheehr] BR
Subir [soo-beehr] To Go Up / To climb
[tay-rh (deh)] EU
Ter (de) To Have (to)
[tay-rh (chee)] BR
Trabalhar [trah-bah-lyiahr] To work
Trazer [trah-zehr] To Bring
Trocar [tro-kahr] To change / To Exchange
Usar [oo-sahr] To Use
To see
Ver [vayrr]
To Watch
Viajar [vee-ah-jar] To Travel / To Commute
Vir [Veerr] To Come
Voltar (a+other To Come Back /(To do
[Vohl-tahr ah)]
verb) again)
Voar [voo-ahr] To fly

Go to top of the page.

Adjectives
Are another category of the Portuguese vocabulary that we need to identify and
learn. Adjectives are words that describe objects, people or circumstances. They
are of great importance in the Portuguese vocabulary.
Remember Adjectives follow nouns (e.g. to say "A tall man" in Portuguese you'd
say "Um Homem alto".

Because, in the Portuguese vocabulary, adjectives describe nouns, they have to

agree in number and gender with these nouns.

When an adjective ends with an "o", it means that it's describing a masculine
noun. The adjectives in the following table will be all in their masculine form.

In order for you to learn better the adjectives of the Portuguese vocabulary, I'd
suggest you learn first the masculine, and then adapt it to the other forms.

You can easily transform it into the feminine gender by replacing the last "o" by an
"a".

The same applies to plurals - in which case you need to ad an "s" after the "o" or
"a".

e.g. "Aberto" means "open" for masculine nouns like "Um livro aberto", but if you
are describing a feminine noun like "porta" (door), you say "Uma porta aberta.

And the same for plurals: "Uns livros abertos" and "Umas portas abertas.

So, here you have the most common adjectives in the Portuguese vocabulary.

Portuguese
Word sound English translation
adjective
Aberto [ah-bayr-too] Open
Alto [ahl-too]EU / [ahoo-too]BR Tall
Baixo [bah-ee-shoo] Small (short in high)
Barato [bah-rah-too] Cheap
Bom/Boa/Bons/Boas [bong] Good
Bonito [Boo-nee-too] Pretty / beautiful
Caro [kah-roo] Expensive / Dear
Casado [kah-zah-doo] Married
Comprido [coom-pree-doo] Long (in lengh)
Curto [coor-too] Short (in lengh)
Directo [dee-reh-too] Direct
Right (hand) / Straight
Direito [dee-ray-too]
(legal) Right
Esquerdo [eesh-kehr-doo] Left hand
Fechado [fay-shah-doooo] Closed
Feio [fay-eeoo] Ugly
Frio [free-oo] Cold
[Gran-deh] EU / [Gran-chee]
Grande/Grandes Big / Large
BR
Longa [lon-gah] Long
longe (de) [lon-gee] Far (from)
Packed with people
Lotado [loo-tah-doo] Fully booked (e.g.
hotel)
Melhor/Melhores [may-lyiohr] Better
Mau/Má/Maus/Más [Maaooh] Bad
Novo [noh-voo] New / young
Pequeno [pay-kay-noo] Small / short
Perto (de) [pehr-too] Near / Close (to)
(O)Pior/(Os)Piores [(oo) pee-ohr] (The) Worse
Quente [kayn-teh]EU / [kayn-chee]BR Hot/warm
Sério [say-ree-oo] Serious / Honest
Velho [vay-lyioo] Old

Go to top of the page.

Are you finding Portuguese vocabulary difficult or rather interesting?

Don't forget to build sentences. You'll learn your Portuguese vocabulary better is
you feel the words.

Connectors are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. As

their name suggests, they connect 2 sentences and put them together in a way
that makes sense when we speak.
You don't need to know many of them. In the following table we will have the most
frequent and important ones:

Portuguese connector Word sound English translation

[ah naong sehr kay] EU
A não ser que... Unless...
[ah naong sehr kee]
[komo seh] EU
Como se... As if...
[komo see]
E [ee] And
While
Enquanto [eng-kwantoh]
Whilest
Once
Já que [jah] Given that
Given that
[mash]Eu
Mas But
[mah-eess] BR
Nem [naying] nor
Nem...nem [naying...naying] Neither...nor...
Ou [oh-oo] Or
Ou...ou [oh-oo...oh-oo] Either...or...
Para [pah-rah] In order to
Por isso [poor-ee-soh] Therefore
Therefore
Portanto [poor-tan-too]
So...
[kay] EU
Que That
[kee] BR
[seh] EU
Se If
[see]
[seh-naung] EU
Senão Otherwise
[see-naung]

Go to top of the page.

Adverbs are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. Adverbs
describe or tell us more about how a verb is performing.

Think this way: if adjectives describe objects, adverbs describe actions.

If we take as an example the sentence "Ele fala bem Português" (or in English, He
speaks Portuguese well.), we can see that the word "fala" [speaks] is the verb (in
other words, the doing word) and the word "bem" [well] is the adverb - which
describe how the verb is doing.

While you are learning the Portuguese vocabulary, you'll realize that sometimes
adverbs can also describe adjectives (e.g. "Ela é muito bonita" [She is very
pretty]. So, "muito" [very] is the adverb and "bonita" [pretty] is the adjective.

Also many adverb words that in English end in ...ly, in Portuguese the same words
end in ...mente.

So, can you imagine how much can you increase your Portuguese vocabulary right
now?

Can you imagine how may words you can immediately convert from English into
Portuguese? Lots of them! For instance, "immediately" in Portuguese is
"imediatamente"; "automatically" in Portuguese is "automaticamente"; "basically"
is "basicamente", and so on.

Now, who can tell me this is not great...?

In the following table, I'll present you the most common adverbs in the Portuguese
vocabulary. I'm also adding some useful common expressions that use those
adverbs. Learn them, and use them when you are talking to your Portuguese
speaking friends. They will be impressed with your Portuguese skills!

But, hey! Don't be greedy! Remember: 10 words or expressions only per day.
Otherwise you'll be retaining NONE in your memory!

OK, ready? Let's then analyze the most frequent adverbs of the Portuguese
vocabulary.

At that point of the situation

Portuguese
Word sound English translation
adverb
Agora Now
[ah-goh-rah] Nowadays
Agora? Right now?
Já agora... [jah ah-goh-rah] might as well...
There (where the listener is)
In that place
Aí [ah-ee]
So
In that case
Still
Ainda [ah-een-dah]
Yet
Ainda agora [ah-een-dah agoh-rah] Just now
Ainda assim [ah-een-dah asee-ing] Nevertheless
Although
Ainda que [ah-een-dah kay]
Even though
Here
In this place
Aqui [ah-kee]
At this point
In this occasion
Assim [ah-sing] This way
Assim como [ah-sing coh-mo] As well as
[ee ah-sing por dee-an-
...e assim por teh]EU
...and so on
diante [ee ah-sing por chee-an-
chee]BR
Assim que [ah-sing kee] As soon as
Assim seja [ah-sing say-jah] Amen
Ainda assim [Ah-een-dah-sing] However / Even though
[Bah-ing]EU
Bem Well
[Baing]BR
[deh-pray-sah] EU
Depressa Quickly
[chee-pray-sah]BR
[deh-vah-gahr] EU
Devagar Slowly
[chee-vah-gahr] BR
So
Então
In this case
[eing-taung] Having said that
Then
Então?
What's up?
Desde então [des-deing-taung] Since then
Hoje [Ohjeh] Today
[ohjen-dee-ah] EU
Hoje em dia Nowadays
[ohjen-cee-ah]
Mais hoje, mais [mah-eesh ohjeh, mah-eesh
Sooner or later
amanhã ah-mah-nyiah]
[deh ohjen dee-an-teh] EU
De hoje em diante From today on
[chee ohjen chee-an-chee] BR
Already
Já [jah]
Now
Já agora [jah-goh-rah] By the way
For the time being
Para já [prah jah]
For now
Over there
In that place
Lá [lah]
In between those people
Among those things
Later
Logo [loh-goo]
Immediately promptly
Logo que [loh-goo kay] As soon as
[daysh-deh loh-goo]EU
Desde logo Since then
[daysh-chee loh-goo]
[mal] EU Badly
Mal
[mah-oo] BR As soon as
Mal por mal... [Mal por mal] Preferentially...
[deh-mahlah-pee-ohr] EU
De mal a pior From worse to worse
[chee-mahoo-ah-pee-ohr] BR
More
[mah-eesh] EU In addition
Mais
[mah-eess] BR Also
Plus
 [Naong mah-eesh] EU Not +(verb or noun)+
Não ... mais
[naong mah-eess] BR anymore
[mah-eesh dear meh-noosh
dear] EU
Mais dia menos dia Sooner or later
[mah-eesh cheeah meh-
noosh cheeah] BR
[deh mah-eesh] EU Too much
De mais
[chee mah-eess] BR Too many
[sing mah-eesh nehing
Sem mais nem mehnosh] EU Suddenly
menos [mah-eesh cheeah meh- All of a sudden
noosh cheeah] BR
[meh-noosh] EU Less
Menos
[meh-nooss] BR Minus
[ah meh-noosh kay] EU
A menos que Unless
[ah meh-noosh kee]
[Naing mah-eesh naing meh-
Nem mais nem noosh] EU No more no less
menos [Nen mah-eess nen meh- Exactely
nooss]
[pay-loo meh-noosh] EU
Pelo menos At least
[pay-loo mah-eess]
[maysh-moo] EU Really
Mesmo
[mays-moo] BR Even (so)
[ay maysh-moo?] EU
É mesmo? Really?
[ ay mayss-moo?] BR
[maysh-noo kay /seh] EU
Mesmo que/se Even that / if
[mayss-moo kee / see]
[maysh-moo ah-kee] EU
Mesmo aqui Right here
[mayss-moo ah-kee]
[maysh-moo ah-sing] EU Even though
Mesmo assim
[mayss-moo ah-sing] Still! (like: expensive still!)
[oo maysh-moo] EU
O mesmo The same
[oo mayss-moo]
Nothing
Nada [nah-dah] No ... nothing
No ... anything
[deh nah-dah] EU Don't mention it
De nada
[chee nah-dah] BR You're welcome
Do not have any family
Não ser nada a [naong sehr nah-dah ah]
connections with
No
Não [nahong]
don't
Never
Nunca [nung-kah]
Never ever
[mah-eesh doo kay nung-
Mais do que nunca More than ever
kah]
Almost never
Quase nunca [kwah-zay nung-kah]
Rarely
Very
With intensity
Muito [mooing-too]
Too much
Frequently
Ontem [on-teng] Yesterday
Little (as "not much")
Pouco [paw-coo]
Rarely
Muito pouco [mooing-too paw-coo] Very little
Fazer pouco de [fah-zayr paw-coo deh] To take the micky of
Há pouco
[ah paw-coo] EU
(EU) A while ago
[fah-eess paw-coo] BR
Faz pouco (BR)
Por pouco [poor paw-coo] By the skin of my teeth
Pouco a pouco [paw-coo ah paw-coo] Little by little
Ready
Pronto [pron-too]
Readly
(pagamento) a
[ah pron-too] (payment) in cash
pronto
E pronto! [ee pron-too!] And full stop!
Sempre [seng-pray] Always
For ever
 Constantly
**In the end...
Sempre que [seng-pray kay] Every time that
Sim [sing] Yes
Só [soh] Only
A sós [ah sosh] In private
Also
As well
Também [tam-baying]
Too
In addition
Não só mas
[naong soh mash tam-baying] Not only but also
também
Tão [taung] So much
Tão (+ adjective) [taung] Too (e.g. Too good!)
Tanto [tahn-too] So much
Tanto melhor [tahn-too may-lyior] Even better
Tanto faz [tahn-too fahsh] It doesn't matter
Tanto quanto
[tahn-too kwan-too] As far as (...I know)
(...sei)
[ah pah-gee-nash tahn-tash]
A páginas tantas All of a sudden
EU
[Tar-deh] EU
Tarde Late
[Tar-chee] BR
[muing-too tar-deh] EU
Muito tarde Too Late / very late
[muing-too tar-chee] BR

** This is a rather coloquial expression in the Portuguese vocabulary but very

usefull and "sempre" gives the idea of decision (e.g. "Sempre foste a Portugal?" -
"In the end, did you go to Portugal?").

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Interrogatives are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary.

Interrogatives are the question-words. They allow us to ask questions like "Onde?"
[on-deh] - "where", "Quando" [kwando] - "When", etc.
The interrogatives of the Portuguese vocabulary are like this:

Portuguese Interrogative Word sound Meaning

A que horas? [ah kay oh-rash? What time at?
Com que frequência? [con kay fray-kwen-ceeah?] How often?
Com quem? [con kaing?] With who?
Como? [koh-moh?] How / What?
Como (é)? [koh-moh (ay)?] what (is it) like?
[don-deh?] EU
Donde? Where from?
{don-chee?] BR
[deh kay cohr?] EU
De que côr? What colour?
[chee-kee-cohr] BR
Há quanto tempo? [ah kwan-too teing-poo?] How long ago?
* (O) que? [oo kay?] what?
[on-deh?] EU
Onde? where?
[on-chee?]
[pah-rah on-deh?] EU
Para onde? where to?
[pah-rah on-chee?]
[pah-rah kay?] EU
Para que? What for?
[pah-rah kee?]
[poohr kay?] EU
Porque? / Por que? Why?
[poohr kee?]
Qual [kwal?] Which one
Quais? [kwaiss?] Which ones?
Quando? [kwan-doo?] When?
Quanto? [kwan-too?] How much?
[kwan-toosh?] EU
Quantos? How many?
[kwan-tooss?]
Quantos anos? [kwan-toos ah-noos?] How old?
[deh kay tah-mah-nyio?] EU How big/small?
De que tamanho?
[chee kee tah-mah-nyio?] What size?
Quem? [kaying?] Who?
Quem? [kaying?] Who?
* "O que?" is normally followed by a verb, (e.g. "O que bebe?" - "what would you
like to drink?"), whereas "Que?" is followed by a noun (e.g. "Que carro tem?" -
"What car do you have?").

Note: When European (EU) Portuguese native speakers ask a question, they
normally emphasize these question words of the Portuguese vocabulary with "é
que" (e.g. Quem é que come carne? - Who eats meat?). If you ask questions with
this "é que", you'll impress your Portuguese friends, because normally, only native
speakers use it! However, it has to be said really fast to sound natural. My
suggestion is: practise them all running the words together like this: "Como é
que?" [koo-may kay?], "porque é que?" [poohr-kay-kay?], and so on.

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And yes, now, go to the streets and start asking people questions in Portuguese!
Even if nobody understands you (in case you are in a non-Portuguese speaking
country), at least you are practising by saying it aloud...!

Numbers are also very important words in the Portuguese vocabulary. Please
click here to learn and practise the Portuguese numbers.
Fantástico! With this Portuguese vocabulary you can already speak Portuguese!

I told you it wouldn't be difficult!

Agora, vamos praticar! [ahgoh-rah vah-moosh prah-tee-car!] Now, let's practise!

Rafa x

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