Learning Portuguese - Introductions

*English*	*Portuguese*	*Pronunciation/Notes*

My name is…	Chamo me…	Shamu-m^e… – lit. “I call myself…”
My name is…	O meu nome é…	^oo mayu nome eh – lit. “the my name is…”

What is your name?	Como se chama?	Komu s^e-shama? – lit. "How do you call yourself?"
What is your name?	Qual é o seu nome?	Kwal eh ^oosayu nome? – lit. “What is the your name?”

This is…	Este é…	Esht^e eh… (when introducing a male)
This is…	Esta é…	Esht^a eh… (when introducing a female)

my husband	o meu marido	^oo mayu mareedu – lit. “the my husband”

my wife	a minha esposa	a minya eshpoza – lit. “the my spouse”
my wife	a minha mulher	a minya mulyair – lit. “the my woman” – ‘mulher’ is usually used to refer to your own wife, whereas ‘esposa’ can be used for your own, or someone elses wife.

my boyfriend	o meu namorado	^oo mayu namorahdu – lit. “the my boyfriend”

my girlfriend	a minha namorada	a minya namorahda – lit. “the my girlfriend” – when used by a male referring to his female partner
my girlfriend	a minha amiga	a minya ameega – lit. “the my friend” – when used by a female referring to a female friend

a friend	um amigo	oom[ng] ameegu – a male friend
a friend	uma amiga	oom[ng]a ameega – a female friend

Do you speak English?	Fala Inglês?	Fahla Ingle[a]ysh? – Although the ‘ê’ sometimes sounds more open (‘ay’), the circumflex still denotes that it should be a close pronunciation. Listen carefully to a native speaker – the sound is like a cross between the ‘ea’ of ‘ear’ and the ‘ai’ of ‘air’. The same is true of the words ‘Inglesa’; ‘Português’; and ‘Portuguesa’.

I am learning Portuguese	Eu estou a aprender Português	Ay^oo eshtoh a aprender Portooge[a]ysh

I am English	Sou Inglês	Soh Ingle[a]ysh – only said by males
I am English	Sou Inglesa	Soh Ingle[a]yza – only said by females

I am Portuguese	Sou Português	Soh Port^ooge[a]ysh – only said by males
I am Portuguese	Sou Portuguesa	Soh Port^ooge[a]yza – only said by females

I am from England	Sou da Inglaterra	Soh da Inglaterrrra – lit. “I am from the England”

I am from Portugal	Sou de Portugal	Soh de Portugal – they don’t say ‘from the Portugal’ (like they do with England), just ‘from Portugal’ (like we do). Most other countries of the world require ‘from the’ (‘do’ or ‘da’ depending on the gender of the country – see section on nouns below)

Where are you from?	De onde é?	Di-yondi-yeh?

in England	na Inglaterra	na Inglaterrrra – lit. “in the England”

in Portugal	em Portugal	aym[ng] Portugal

I am from London	Sou de Londres	Soh de Londr^esh

Sorry!	Desculpe!	Deshculpe!

I am sorry	Lamento	Lamentu – lit. “I lament” (use this to sympathise with someone who has had some bad news).
I am sorry	Peço desculpas	Pessu Deshculp^ash – lit. “I ask for excuses”.

Excuse me	Com licença	Com[ng] lissensa – lit. “with permission”.

I don't understand	não entendo/não percebo	now[ng] entendu / now[ng] perssebu – lit. “not I understand”.

so then	então	entow[ng] – lit. “then”, but used frequently in places where English would say 'so', or 'right then'.

you (singular)	você	vosseh – A formal way of addressing someone (in Brazil they use você informally as well).
	o senhor	^oo senyor – lit. “the gentleman”
	a senhora	a senyora – lit. “the lady” Note, the Portuguese generally speak more formally than the English, so although referring to someone as 'the lady' or 'the gentleman' would sound rather pompous to us, it is quite common in Portuguese. Senhor/Senhora can also mean sir/madam, Mr/Mrs (‘Miss’ would be ‘a menina’, or ‘Senhorita’), or Lord/Lady.

I	eu	ayu

he	ele	ele - the first 'e' is very close, almost like an English 'i', whereas the second 'e' is barely audible (so it sounds almost like you are saying 'ill').

she	ela	el^a

'Com licença' is often said as a parting formality – for example, as a polite way to end a telephone conversation. The word 'então' is a very useful word for linking to a new subject without appearing too abrupt.

Comments

cool
Written by gig on 2005-12-21 14:29:43 IP: 80.3.128.8

Very cool!
But I want more conversation.
Thank you.

Is that right?
Written by Nev on 2006-01-07 15:41:41 IP: 134.146.0.27

I'm pretty basic in Portuguese (therefore looking to your pages to help me improve)...

But shouldn't that be 'nao intendo'? not 'entendo'...

Yes, it is right
Written by Administrator on 2006-01-07 16:36:29 IP: 80.3.128.5

'Não entendo' is correct. As far as I’m aware, there is no such word as ‘intendo’ in Portuguese.

Yeah, it is right
Written by Krystoffer on 2006-01-13 14:40:22 IP: 200.180.181.122

There's no such word like 'intender'...
I'm Brazilian and I'm really appreciating your site. It's very interesting. =~) Keep going!

Você
Written by Sonia on 2006-06-04 14:29:41 IP: 80.3.128.4

I am very confused about the use of "você" in Continental Portuguese.

To me it feels like people in Portugal never use it. I guess because they omit pronouns in general, like in
"Como está (você)?" or "Come se chama (você)" or "Aonde vai (você)" etc.

The teacher at the language school I visited in Portugal was very strict, meaning, that she would NEVER allow us to use "você", instead we had to use "a senhora/o senhor" or the name of the person.

What is your opinion? When do you use "você"?

Você
Written by Administrator on 2006-02-12 08:44:50 IP: 80.3.128.8

Você is not used a great deal in Portugal. Like you say, the person's name, or 'o senhor/a senhora' are more common. However, it is used to some extent, and is a more convenient word for an English speaker to remember as it sounds more natural and 'normal' in comparison to English. As noted above though, the use of 'o senhor/a senhora' is very common and does not come across as stuffy and formal to a person from Portugal.

Personally, I tend to use você quite often - largely because about half of the people I speak to in Portuguese are Brazilian anyway.

In Continental Portuguese, If you know the person quite well, you should use 'tu', and the appropriate equivalent verb form (second person singular) - although this has the added inconvenience of requiring you to learn a separate set of conjugations.

Awesome
Written by Gabe on 2006-02-17 10:58:35 IP: 80.3.128.8

I only want to learn portuguese to play a game, this site is awesome

nao entendo
sou ingles
fala ingles?

Very Cool!
Written by Gary Townsend on 2006-04-26 16:18:42 IP: 80.3.128.8

I happened upon this site by Googling as the few reference books I have on hand didn't seem to have what I was looking for.

Minha namorada é de Porto e ela has been very helpful with everything I have learned so far (please pardon my use of 'pidgin-Portuguese' in this comment). I'm more interested in learning European Portuguese than Brazilian and it irks me that there is little to no material out there that makes European its primary focus (no offense to Brazilians, of course).

Estou a aprender a falar português e francês, although my focus is primarily on French, at the moment. (Falo também muito pouco grego, algum espanhol --estudei o espanhol por dois anos--, muito pouco alemão, e algum tailandês [vivi em Tailândia por três anos many years ago].) I'm currently going through a French course e minha namorada é encouraging me to finish that (while spoon-feeding me Portuguese, of course), as the French will ultimately help my Portuguese since the grammar is virtually identical. Once I finish the French course, I will make Portuguese the focus of my linguistic studies.

If it isn't obvious, I think learning languages is fun! :D

I like what I've seen here and I will definitely be bookmarking it! Thanks for making this site available! :D

Comments and mistakes
Written by Ricardo Barreira on 2006-06-04 14:31:28 IP: 80.3.128.4

[Administrator: The following comment has been edited, as it pointed out some typing errors on this page which have now been corrected].

The sentences you have there are very formal in European Portuguese, they sound more like Brazilian Portuguese. More informal ways of saying it are "Como te chamas?" ou "Qual é o teu nome?". In European Portuguese, "seu" is a formal word, while "teu" is informal.

[Administrator: I made a conscious decision to use formal phrases because a newcomer to the language is much more likely to need to speak politely and formally than informally. But thanks for pointing out the informal alternatvies anyway]

About "my girlfriend":

1- Don't forget about gay people

[Administrator: I wouldn't know about that vocabulary!]

2- "A minha amiga" can also be used by a male, not only a female. Besides, what does it have to do with "my girlfriend?"

[Administrator: This was added with reference to the expression 'girlfriend' as used in English (and especially in the US) when females refer to other female friends. Yes, males can also refer to a female friend as 'amiga', but that would not mean 'girlfriend', but 'girl friend'].

Reply
Written by Ricardo Barreira on 2006-06-06 13:42:51 IP: 213.199.128.177

> 1- Don't forget about gay people

[Administrator: I wouldn't know about that vocabulary!]

Oh, I was just mentioning that where you have "a minya namorahda – lit. “the my girlfriend” – when used by a male referring to his female partner" it's also possible that it's a female referring to a female partner so you could take replace "a male" by "someone" and "his" by "his/her". It was just a small nitpick

About number 2 I see what you mean

"você"
Written by Tais on 2006-06-09 13:52:39 IP: 80.3.128.8

The word "você" is a contraction of the ancient expression "Vossa Mercê", which was used by the common people to refer to the authorities. That explains why it is now used in formal conversations in Portugal.

"Vossa Mercê" was reduced to "vosmecê" and later became "você" as it is used nowadays. (Not sure if the transformation first occurred in Portugal or in Brazil)

Brazilians tend to use a rather contracted form " 'cê " (like " 'till " or " 'cus " in American English), although it is only acceptable to use " 'cê" in spoken Brazilian Portuguese.

ajuda-me faz favor!
Written by mandi on 2006-11-22 10:00:12 IP: 80.3.128.6

I just started learning to speak Portuguese - only I can never get the right arrangement of words like which way around in a sentence they go! Also could you put in some pick-up lines???
Please...
Desculpe por favor! e muito (vocabulary???)
obrigado
(Do portuguese say gracias??)
Mandi

Ajuda
Written by Administrator on 2009-07-15 08:38:03 IP: 80.3.128.6

Please refer to the grammar section for information about which way round words go (eg. see adjectives)

The main focus of this site is on grammar rather than vocabulary, although there is a good sampling of useful vocab in the reference section, and I might try to add some more. I don't plan to add pick-up lines though, sorry!

The Portuguese word for vocabulary is 'vocabulário', and the Portuguese never say 'Gracias'.

This site (Like It)
Written by Chris Evans on 2006-12-12 11:57:33 IP: 80.3.128.6

I have made the move to Porto, North Portugal and just finished a month's intensive course. I have bookmarked this site and find it a helpful tool. One of the things I did learn was the word 'vocé' I was told that you must remember the conjugation but omit the word vocé as it doesn't sound polite. :upset

Therefore if someone older said to me "Bom Dia, Tudo bem?" I would answer and reply "e O Senhor?" instead of "e vocé?" Just sounds better.

barwork
Written by laura on 2007-01-04 13:43:47 IP: 81.144.226.100

Hey in the summer I'll be working in a bar in the Algarve - any tips on useful phrases that I would need? They have like 3 words for beer...I thought it was just cerveja? Help!!

Also, about saying obrigado in the algarve....a national told me to add 'a' if talking to a lady and 'o' for a man. He also said that mostly they say obrigado regardless. Is this just slang?

Beer
Written by Administrator on 2009-05-11 08:43:03 IP: 80.3.128.6

A cerveja is a small beer, caneca is a large one (closer to an English pint). In Brazil they also have chopp, which is always served ice cold - I'm not sure if that is a brand or a generic term. Sagres is a very popular Algarvian brand, as is Super Bock. Other Portuguese brands include Tagus and Cristal. Sagres and Super Bock come in various forms - (eg. lager, stout) but pale lager is the most common.

About obrigado/a, please see the notes at the end of this page: http://www.learningportuguese.co.uk/language/basic-greetings.html

Eu estou a aprender Portugues
Written by Gally on 2007-02-14 11:41:45 IP: 195.92.109.226

Cool site, been using it for a few weeks to get started with Portuguese but why haven't you got a native pronouncing "Eu estou a aprender Portugues"? This would be really useful when trying to speak to the locals. I appreciate that you've got the phonetic version there but it make such a difference being able to hear it and try to replicate.

As I said this is a really cool site, best I've been able to find for what I want, well done and BIG thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Eu estou a aprender Português
Written by Administrator on 2007-02-14 11:43:08 IP: 80.3.128.6

Sorry, that one was added later - after I'd already taken the recordings. If I get another opportunity, I will try and get a recording of that phrase.

Written by Ana on 2007-10-04 13:38:53 IP: 82.154.125.120

Russell, adorei o seu site!

Sou portuguesa e vou começar a dar aulas de Português a um casal inglês. Penso que o seu site vai ajudar-me imenso a saber o que ensinar!
Cumprimentos,
Ana

[Ed: Translation:
Russell, I loved your site!
I am Portuguese and I am going to start giving Portuguese lessons to an English couple. I think your site will help me immensely to know what to teach! Greetings, Ana.]

I dont understand
Written by Nardia Joy on 2007-10-31 17:40:02 IP: 195.194.218.248

Hmmmm

I lived in Portugal for a year in the late 90's and was always told to say "Nao Percebo" when I didnt understand something rather than using entender.

Any ideas?

Perceber/Entender
Written by Administrator on 2007-10-31 17:56:52 IP: 80.3.252.130

You can use either entendo or percebo. Perceber literally means 'to perceive', but is used as an alternative to entender (to understand).

Percebo
Written by Chris Denyer on 2007-11-10 10:40:29 IP: 217.44.143.150

Yeah, I find perceber used a lot more by the Portuguese that I know.

A suggestion for the admin; how about a section about idioms and conversational phrases, to complement the basic greetings and introductions pages. It could include a few things like:

À Propósito - "as it happens", e.g. "À propósito, Davi também gosta de brincar" ('As it happens, dave likes to mess around too')

Eu Também - "Me too", e.g. "Gosto muito dela!" "Eu também!" ('I like her a lot!' 'Me too!')

Tudo mal - "Everything's bad", used as a play on the expression "Tudo bem" (everything's well). E.g. "Olá Marianna, tudo bem?" "Tudo mal! Estou na escola!"

Além disso - roughly "Furthermore", "moreover", e.g. "Além disso, aprender Português vai abrir portas para novas experiências" (Moreover, learning Portuguese will open doors to whole new experiences).

Ao (verbo) - literally "At the...", but used with a verb becomes 'upon doing/saying/seeing/...' E.g. "Ao ver isso, Miguel irou-se" (Upon seeing this, Miguel was enraged).

Visto que - "Seeing that/as...", e.g. "Visto que os velhos sofrem, é melhor não envelhecer!" (Seeing as how the elderly suffer, it's best not to grow old!)

Demais - "Too much", lit. "Of more". E.g. "Está quente demais!" (it's too hot), "Paulo, tu és demais!" (Paul, you are too much!)

Então - "Then", or argumentatively, "Well then...", or impatiently "Well?". E.g. "Então, falou mais uma vez” (Then he spoke once more), “Então, por que bateste o teu irmão?!” (Well then, why did you hit your brother!?), or if you’re amongst friends and everyone’s delaying: “...Então?...” (...Well?...)

I can't guarantee the Portuguese in the examples is correct, but they've been some useful idioms for me! They help in breaking away from the need to structure a phrase 'the english way'

General Thanks!
Written by Sarah Dixon on 2008-03-06 08:57:18 IP: 81.193.243.227

Just wanted to say "congratulations" on this web site! I purchased several Portuguese language courses before leaving the States only to find that they were all Brazilian Portuguese and not European!! Upon arriving in Portugal (Central) we have found it impossible to find a good teacher at reasonable rates.

I have been trying to learn out of a book but the pronunciation is difficult unless you hear the words. Your site has included some common and useful phrases and it has really helped me understand more about general pronunciation, grammar and verbs.

One thing though - I am always asked "Comprender?" or "Nao compreder" - or something similar!! or when I say something they will reply with a nod of their head " ahh - comprendo" Isn't this the more common way of saying understand - or when they nod their head are they really calling me an idiot?? - lol

Oh well - back to studying the rest of the site

Entender/Compreender
Written by Administrator on 2008-03-06 09:00:35 IP: 80.3.252.130

Compreender is an alternative to entender with the same basic meaning - I'm not sure which is more common really, but either will be understood.

Lindinho !!
Written by NN on 2008-06-03 14:08:03 IP: 212.219.245.253

Hiya! Wonder if anyone can help.
Met a Portuguese girl a while back and she called me lindinho. I asked her what it meant and she said it couldn't really be translated!!! Any ideas?
Ta

Lindinho
Written by Administrator on 2008-06-03 14:11:14 IP: 80.3.252.130

It means she likes you!

Lindo means good-looking, or handsome (it is a masculine version of beautiful). Lindinho is a diminuitive form of that word, which indicates affection. So the rough equivalent in English would be 'cute'.

Lindinho
Written by NN on 2008-07-09 17:05:14 IP: 212.219.245.253

Many thanks for that!

Love the website, been really helpful. I'm off to Portugal next week for a roadtrip from Faro to Lisbon, with the girl who called me lindinho, so I can put what I've learnt to the test!!!! Obrigado!

Mr
Written by Stuart Rogers on 2008-10-01 12:51:07 IP: 93.108.64.228

I have just started PORTUGUESE lessons in Vila Nova de Cacel
on the Algarve after having been living in Manta Rota now for 16 months. Now settled and hopefully more able to aquire/learn the language. We have a fantastic teacher but having just found this site I have found that it really helps with regards to my study and homework, Thank you. Keep up the good work.

Muito bom, nao dificil, nao facil, (in between) meia :grin

Stuart Rogers
Written by Vitor Bernardo on 2008-11-17 10:17:10 IP: 194.81.223.130

Good, good xD

but you meant...

Muito bom, nem e dificil nem e facil, e assim assim... =D

The more difficult word for an English to pronouce is 'orgulhoso' (proud), they find it hard to pronounce, never heard someone before saying it right believe me!

Lol good stuff you have got going on here...

Written by Sofia on 2008-11-16 23:17:46 IP: 84.90.22.159

Found your website while trying to teach portuguese to a couple of friends, one of them showed this to me.
Very interesting and very easy to understand.

About the "você"... Well i'm a native and i can tell you that people rarely use it because it's considered rude to do it.
It's considered lack of respect and usually people only do it if they are starting to get into an arguement with a stranger.

Why? Well i really don't know... i do know i'd feel offended if someone said "você" to me :P

Sofia
Written by Vitor Bernardo on 2008-12-13 20:02:28 IP: 79.67.9.79

"você"... how could you be offended if someone called you você ? They were just showing respect, I don't get that...

Unless you are too young to be treated by "você". But even that doesn't make it offensive...

When 2 people don't know each other they have to call each other by "você", if they call 'tu' that's offensive, because they are not showing respect.

Pronunciation of 'e'
Written by Ananth Venkatesh on 2009-04-12 20:45:49 IP: 203.192.199.217

in 'Qual é o seu nome ?', is the 'e' in 'nome' silent ?

Nome
Written by Administrator on 2009-04-13 08:25:18 IP: 81.103.153.54

In European pronunciation, technically, the 'e' in 'nome' is reduced - virtually silent, but not quite (check the audio clip), although when in full flow, it may be dropped altogether. In Brazilian pronunciation, the 'e' is usually pronounced quite strongly (sounds like 'nomi' in Brazilian).

Tu - Você - 0/a senhor/a
Written by David on 2009-05-08 17:08:22 IP: 62.48.239.34

Olá! Congratulations on your site!
I'm portuguese and I woul like to had my to cents about the usage of tu/você/o senhor ou a senhora.
We use "tu" when we adress a close friend, someone of our age, close family, etc. Nevertheless, we can be close friends to someone that has twice our age. In that case, we would adress that person with "você" (think of você as "half formal"). When adressing someone you don't know or some authority, your boss, etc. we use "o senhor, a senhora". Just to make things worse, there are people, mainly the so called "upper classes" or "wannabes", that tend to use "você" to adress their spouses and even their kids, their brothers, etc. However, it is unpolite to adress someone who you should adress to as "o senhor/a senhora" with "você"... I hope I haven't made things wose. Keep up the great work!

Perceber/Entender/Compreender
Written by Jose' Carlos on 2009-06-17 18:55:38 IP: 91.110.206.15

Your website is great for foreigners to learn portuguese. One of the best.
Portuguese is a complicated language because we have a lot of synonyms. The verb "perceber" is more used in familiar conversations or between friends "Percebeste o que te disse?" (Did you understood what I just said?) - Sim, Percebi. (Yes I did.) The verb "entender" is more used on it's on "Entendeste?" at the end of an afirmation [more like in the sense of ear]. The verb compreender is more used by teachers/pupils when they teach maths or languages or in general when they want to know if they understood what the teacher explained. "Compreenderam?" in this case you can answer back with anyone of the verbs: "Sim, senhor percebi/entendi/compreendi perfeitamente"

é
Written by Amy on 2009-08-01 10:33:35 IP: 79.74.132.139

Is 'é' pronounced 'ee' when the next word begins with a vowel?
e.g. O meu nome é Amy. Or is it still 'eh'?

Thanks

é
Written by Administrator on 2009-08-01 19:36:12 IP: 81.103.153.54

It is always pronounced the same way: 'eh'.

é
Written by Patrik on 2009-08-19 02:55:26 IP: 187.7.11.236

''é'' is pronounced like the ''e'' in ''get'',''met''...

Great site!
Written by AlleghenyJ on 2009-08-29 22:24:45 IP: 173.48.214.73

Thanks to everyone who contibutes to this site. The comments regarding virtually every topic are terrific, from subtleties of pronunciation to social usage issues to what is current or typical usage (as opposed to what one finds in textbooks). I have just started learning Portuguese and I already consider your site my \"learning accelerator\"! Thanks again.

Written by jessica on 2009-12-10 10:25:03 IP: 90.219.0.71

I have been trying to learn portuguese for quite a bit now and its really confusing, this is soooo helpful. thankyou

Written by Meredith on 2010-03-22 14:37:49 IP: 190.160.196.45

I have a friend in Portugal whom I address with "tu" (though this is really a "Portunhol" version of my Spanish "tú" and hopefully doesn't sound inappropriate). After reading David's comment above I was wondering, if I am introduced to that person's friends for the first time, should I address the friends as "você" or "tu"? Surely not "o senhor"?

Written by Administrator on 2010-04-07 09:11:20 IP: 81.103.153.54

When being introduced to your friend's friends, to start with it would be safer to use o senhor or perhaps você. Better still, try and get them to use 'you' first, and copy whichever form they use! If they are from your own peer group and you anticipate seeing them often, you can probably use 'tu' straight away.

A blessing
Written by Antony Fernandez on 2010-04-24 12:00:06 IP: 117.204.92.38

Hello, I'm an Indian who learned portuguese from my country rather late in my life, just for academic interest. Your site has come to me as a blessing to keep my hard-earned portuguese intact. Your audio tip for pronunciation check is simply superb. Parabens e muito obrigado.

Many thanks
Written by Fabio on 2010-05-27 02:20:27 IP: 90.209.236.243

I have to say.. This website is brilliant!
I was born in Portugal but raised in England since I was a toddler. My whole family are Portuguese and all speak it except me and my two brothers. After truely realising how important it is I've been looking for lessons and have been looking at this site as a starter. I already know some Portuguese but this site is great to fill in those gaps.
I'm really happy that you have put in the effort to create this website, I'm rather impressed and proud too!

Keep up the amazing work, really appreciated.

Obrigado
Written by Josh silva on 2010-11-23 02:24:08 IP: 72.197.218.187

I am Portuguese and have been trying to learn Portuguese for awhile. Out of all the websites and library matterial this is one of the most helpful. Muito Obrigado! By the way a guy from youtube gave me your website.

My name is...
Written by Roy M on 2010-12-18 17:09:33 IP: 68.103.210.84

Excellent Site! I stumbled across this site while wanting to learn Portuguese to speak with my fellow teammates who came from Brazil to a small town in Kansas!

I know that this site is primarily concerned with E. Portuguese but it also helps with Brazilian Portuguese as well.

So I had a question.

Is Me chamo also correct as chamo me? Are they interchangeable? Or is one used in written and the other spoken Portuguese? Or is one Brazilian and the other European Portuguese?

Muito obrigado!

Chamo-me
Written by Administrator on 2011-01-17 16:07:07 IP: 213.107.108.12

Chamo-me is a reflexive verb, and you can find out more about positioning the pronoun here: http://www.learningportuguese.co.uk/language/verbs-reflexive.html

Using "você"
Written by Filipa Oliveira on 2011-07-11 03:48:35 IP: 217.129.197.235

Hi! I'm a european portuguese native speaker and I must tell you that I find this site quite interesting.
I'm keen on studying languages and I got here because I always wanted to teach foreigners some portuguese.
I've noticed some doubts such as the use of "você". When you are talking to someone who you don't know very well you can say "Você" (you) or "A senhora" (for ladies) and "O senhor" (for men). The use of "o senhor" and "a senhora" shows much more respect for the person to whom you are talking to. It does sound badly when the word "você" isn't used in the most appropriate way. But when you are asking questions you can always omit it. For example: Como se chama? (what's your name?). If you are about to mention to whom you are talking to, there you'd better be more polite. Prefer "A senhora precisa de ajuda?" (do you need help?) rather than "Você precisa de ajuda?". Use "você" when talking to someone that you know better and is not much older than you. Sorry for my english.
I hope it helps.

THANKS!
Written by Pat from Spain on 2011-08-18 08:48:15 IP: 77.208.159.198

Thank you so much for this site! Brillliant!
nd

Learning Portugues
Written by Bongeka on 2012-02-28 08:59:59 IP: 163.195.240.74

Olá! I've just started learning portugues and im having so much fun.My Friends have also joined along. Tchau

Formal and informal forms
Written by Liz Morgan on 2012-03-29 00:28:03 IP: 94.7.83.61

I love this site because nearly all the people I talk to in Portuguese are family and friends so I use the tu forms all the time etc. However it is so hard to find information about this form and its conjugations as most material is written for visitors and assume they won't need to use tu, so it's omitted!! Aaargh, it's the worst for me, and of course in Brazilian Portuguese the tu form doesn't exist at all! Thanks so much, you're a life saver (my Portuguese partner is useless at teaching me his language). I'm also in the habit of quickly switching to the tu form when meeting people if I know I'm going to be seeing them regularly. I never o senhored anyone in all the years I lived there, I don't think I offended anyone, well not that I know anyway. Perhaps they all forgive the ignorant Brits, because they know we don't have this distinction in our language. I don't know. But I did overhear a friend getting into an argument with a old guy from Porto, he was affronted she didn't O Doutor him (O dr, O engineer, o professor is considered more formal and respectful than O senhor - it denotes education!!) She just answered how did he know she wasn't an Dr too and use that form with her!! Apparently there are some Portuguese adults who never use voce and "tu" everyone! However at the same time there are families who speak to their children using voce! You can hear the little ones voceing their siblings, sounds strange to me. I am trying to raise our daughter bilingually too. God knows how I'll direct her to make the distinction.

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