0.1.1 Common Greetings Flashcards

Olá works any time of day and is a neutral greeting, similar to “hello” in English.

Boas is a very casual Portuguese way to greet someone. Use it only with friends or people you know well

Tchau is an informal and very common way to say “bye” in Portugal. You’ll hear it everywhere.

Just like in English, you can also say tchau-tchau (“bye-bye”).

Adeus is very formal and suggests you won’t see the person again. In everyday life, Portuguese people say tchau instead.

This phrase is used from the morning until noon, in a similar way to how “good morning” in used in English.

Boa tarde is used from noon to early evening, usually until around 6 p.m.

Boa noite is used at night both as a greeting and as a goodbye. It also means “good night” when someone is going to sleep.

Translation: “Hello!”

Não means “no,” and it can also mean “do not” or “does not” when it comes before a verb.

In Portuguese, accent marks show which part of the word is stressed, in cases where natural stress rules are overridden.

So, in the word português, the accent tells you to stress the last part, so you pronounce it as por-tu-- guês.

“English” = Inglês

Note that, just as in English, inglês can mean both the language and the nationality. It is always stressed on the last syllable: in-GLÊS.

“I speak” = eu falo

Portuguese verbs change their ending depending on who is speaking. Here, falo is the first-person singular form of the verb falar (“to speak”).

“you speak” = fala (often without a pronoun)

In Portuguese, “yes/no” questions look just like regular sentences; you raise your intonation at the end. It’s like saying “You speak English?” in English.

In European Portuguese, subject pronouns are usually omitted, so Fala inglês? is the most natural way to ask. While Você fala inglês? is grammatically correct, it is less commonly used in Portugal and is not considered especially formal.

“I don’t speak” = Eu não falo

Remember that the word não can mean “no” by itself, and it can also mean “do not” or “does not” when it comes before a verb