Brazilian Portuguese phrasebook
Brazilian Portuguese (português brasileiro) is the variety of Portuguese spoken in Brazil. European Portuguese differs from the Brazilian variety in pronunciation, as well as in some vocabulary, though the written language is much closer than the oral. Due to the wide distribution of Brazilian television programs to the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world, many speakers in the Eastern Hemisphere can converse with Brazilians without great difficulty. Brazilians may have difficulty understanding certain words, especially slang terms, in European Portuguese but in general, if spoken slowly, educated speakers of either variety of Portuguese can understand each other.
AlphabetThe Portuguese alphabet (alfabeto) has 23 letters, plus 3 foreign ones. Accented vowels, cedillas (see below), diphthongs, digraphs (including ch), etc. do not count separately.
GrammarIn Brazil, spoken language can be very different from written language and official grammar, confusing non-native speakers.
Pronunciation guidePortuguese has both nasal vowels and reduced vowels. Nearly everyone struggles to learn them correctly. If you don't reduce the vowels, you will still be understood, but sound over-enunciating.
European vs. Brazilian PortugueseBesides pronunciation differences, there are also significant lexical differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese.
Phrase listTo ask a question in Portuguese use rising intonation to distinguish it from a statement., etc.
Learning morede:Thema:Sprachführer Portugiesisch es:Guia de conversación portugués fr:Guide linguistique portugais it:Tematica:Frasario portoghese ru:Португальский разговорник
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Brazilian Portuguese phrasebook" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0