7 Brazilian Portuguese Phrases You Need To Know

Brazilian Portuguese Phrases are important to know when you're going to Brazil for the first time. This is by no means any kind of exhaustive list but these will help you in starting out.

1) Tudo bem - People greet each other with this phrase. It literally means "is everything well?" but it really means "How are you?". I said this to everybody because I didn't know hardly any Brazilian Portuguese. I would just smile and nod and say "tudo bem?"

2) Ate logo - It's not pronounced like past tense of eat. It's more of ah-tay lah-goo. It's a popular way to say goodbye. It really means "see you later".

3) Bom dia - This is another greeting. It means "good morning". You also have "boa tarde" which means "good afternoon" or "boa noite" which means "good evening".

4) O meu nome e - This means "my name is". The o is an ooh sound. Meu is like meh-ooh. Nome is pronounced noh-mee eh.

5) Eu gostaria - This is pronouned ay-ooh goh-stah-ree-ah. This means I would like. You can use this in ordering in a restaurant. I would say this and then point to what I wanted. Pretty handy to know.

6) Legal - This is probably my favorite Portuguese word in the Brazilian language. It sounds nothing like it looks. It is pronounced leh-gow. It means cool. I remember someone was telling me about a girl they wanted me to meet. I thought I understood what they were saying and kept saying "legal". My friend finally asked me if I understood and I said no. My friend told me they were saying the girl's mother had died and I was saying "legal - cool". Pretty embarrassing!

7) Eu sou do Estados Unidos - This means I am from the United States. It is pronouned eh-ooh soh dooh ehs-tah-dooz ooh-nee-dooz.

I know these are only a few Brazilian Portuguese phrases but they were very helpful for me when I lived in Brazil. Make sure you practice them out loud and not just rehearse in your mind.