Essentials
Greetings & Politeness
💡 Quick Tip
Portuguese people appreciate any attempt at their language. Even a simple obrigado goes a long way. "Bom dia" up to noon, "boa tarde" until dark, "boa noite" after.
Hello / Good day
Olá / Bom dia
oh-LAH / bom DEE-ah
Good afternoon
Boa tarde
BOH-ah TAR-deh
Good evening / Good night
Boa noite
BOH-ah NOY-teh
Thank you (man speaking)
Obrigado
oh-bree-GAH-doo
Thank you (woman speaking)
Obrigada
oh-bree-GAH-dah
The speaker's gender changes the ending, not the person you're thanking
Please
Por favor / Faz favor
por fah-VOR / fash fah-VOR
Excuse me / Sorry
Com licença / Desculpe
kom lee-SEN-sah / desh-KUL-peh
Yes / No
Sim / Não
seem / nowng
"Não" — the ão sounds like a nasal "ow"
Do you speak English?
Fala inglês?
FAH-lah een-GLESH?
I don't understand
Não percebo
nowng per-SEH-boo
Can you repeat slowly?
Pode repetir devagar?
POD-eh reh-peh-TEER deh-vah-GAR?
Goodbye
Adeus / Tchau
ah-DAY-oosh / chow
Tchau (from Italian ciao) is more casual
👆 Tap any card to highlight it
Food & Drink
Restaurants & Cafés
☕ Coffee Culture
A bica is a Lisbon espresso. Ask for uma imperial for draft beer, um fino further north. Lunch is the main meal — look for prato do dia (dish of the day) for great value.
A table for two, please
Uma mesa para dois, por favor
OO-mah MAY-zah PAH-rah doysh, por fah-VOR
The menu, please
A ementa, por favor
ah eh-MEN-tah, por fah-VOR
"Menu" also works as many places use it
What do you recommend?
O que recomenda?
oo keh reh-koo-MEN-dah?
I'll have this (pointing)
Quero isto
KEH-roo EESH-too
An espresso, please
Uma bica, por favor
OO-mah BEE-kah, por fah-VOR
A coffee with milk
Um galão / Um meia de leite
oom gah-LOWNG / oom MAY-ah deh LAYT
Galão = milky latte in a glass · Meia de leite = half coffee, half milk in a cup
Water, please
Água, por favor
AH-gwah, por fah-VOR
Still / Sparkling water
Água sem gás / com gás
AH-gwah seng gash / kom gash
A glass of wine
Um copo de vinho
oom KOH-poo deh VEEN-yoo
Red / White / Rosé
Tinto / Branco / Rosé
TEEN-too / BRAN-koo / roh-ZEH
The bill, please
A conta, por favor
ah KON-tah, por fah-VOR
It was delicious!
Estava delicioso!
esh-TAH-vah deh-lee-SYOH-zoo!
I'm vegetarian
Sou vegetariano/a
soh veh-zheh-tah-RYAH-noo/nah
Getting Around
Directions & Transport
🚋 Sintra Tip
For Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais, you'll likely be driving. Ask locals for parque de estacionamento (parking). Trails are called trilhos or percursos pedestres.
Where is...?
Onde fica...?
ON-deh FEE-kah?
How do I get to...?
Como chego a...?
KOH-moo SHEH-goo ah?
Turn left / right
Vire à esquerda / direita
VEE-reh ah esh-KEHR-dah / dee-RAY-tah
Straight ahead
Em frente / Sempre em frente
eng FREN-teh / SEM-preh eng FREN-teh
Near / Far
Perto / Longe
PEHR-too / LON-zheh
Parking / Car park
Estacionamento
esh-tah-syoh-nah-MEN-too
Train station
Estação de comboio
esh-tah-SOWNG deh kom-BOY-oo
Portugal says "comboio" for train, not "trem"
A ticket to Sintra, please
Um bilhete para Sintra, por favor
oom beel-YEH-teh PAH-rah SEEN-trah, por fah-VOR
One way / Return
Só de ida / Ida e volta
so deh EE-dah / EE-dah ee VOL-tah
Bus stop
Paragem de autocarro
pah-RAH-zheng deh ow-toh-KAH-roo
Hiking trail
Trilho / Percurso pedestre
TREE-lyoo / per-KUR-soo peh-DESH-treh
I'm lost
Estou perdido/a
esh-TOH per-DEE-doo/dah
Hotel & Everyday
The practical stuff
🚻 Bathroom Words
"Casa de banho" is the standard term. You'll also see WC on signs (just say "vay-say"). On doors: Senhoras = women, Homens = men.
Where is the bathroom?
Onde é a casa de banho?
ON-deh eh ah KAH-zah deh BAHN-yoo?
Where is the WC? (quickest)
Onde é o WC?
ON-deh eh oo vay-SAY?
Men / Women
Homens / Senhoras
OH-mengsh / sehn-YOH-rash
You'll see H and S on bathroom doors
Is there a bathroom here?
Há casa de banho aqui?
ah KAH-zah deh BAHN-yoo ah-KEE?
I have a reservation
Tenho uma reserva
TEN-yoo OO-mah reh-ZEHR-vah
What time is check-out?
A que horas é o check-out?
ah keh OH-rash eh oo check-out?
Can I leave my luggage?
Posso deixar a minha bagagem?
POH-soo day-SHAR ah MEEN-yah bah-GAH-zheng?
The Wi-Fi password?
A senha do Wi-Fi?
ah SEN-yah doo wee-fee?
Do you have an ATM nearby?
Há um multibanco perto?
ah oom mool-tee-BAN-koo PEHR-too?
ATMs are called "Multibanco" in Portugal — unique to here
I'd like to pay
Queria pagar
keh-REE-ah pah-GAR
I need a taxi
Preciso de um táxi
preh-SEE-zoo deh oom TAK-see
Can you take a photo of us?
Pode tirar uma foto?
POD-eh tee-RAR OO-mah FOH-too?
What does this mean?
O que significa isto?
oo keh seeg-nee-FEE-kah EESH-too?
Nice to meet you
Muito prazer
MWEE-too prah-ZEHR
Cheers! (drinking)
Saúde!
sah-OO-deh!
I'm sorry to bother you
Desculpe incomodar
desh-KUL-peh een-koo-moo-DAR
Hot / Cold
Quente / Frio
KEN-teh / FREE-oo
More / Less
Mais / Menos
mysh / MEH-noosh
With / Without
Com / Sem
kom / seng
No problem / You're welcome
De nada
deh NAH-dah
Shopping
Markets & Stores
How much does this cost?
Quanto custa isto?
KWAN-too KUS-tah EESH-too?
It's too expensive
É muito caro
eh MWEE-too KAH-roo
Do you have something cheaper?
Tem algo mais barato?
teng AL-goo mysh bah-RAH-too?
I'd like to buy this
Queria comprar isto
keh-REE-ah kom-PRAR EESH-too
Do you accept cards?
Aceita cartão?
ah-SAY-tah kar-TOWNG?
Just looking, thanks
Só estou a ver, obrigado/a
so esh-TOH ah vehr, oh-bree-GAH-doo/dah
Open / Closed
Aberto / Fechado
ah-BEHR-too / feh-SHAH-doo
What time do you close?
A que horas fecha?
ah keh OH-rash FEH-shah?
Emergencies
Safety & Health
🚨 Emergency Numbers
112 — Emergency (Police, Fire, Ambulance)
808 24 24 24 — SNS health line (24h)
Help!
Socorro!
soh-KOH-roo!
Call an ambulance!
Chame uma ambulância!
SHAH-meh OO-mah am-boo-LAN-syah!
Call the police!
Chame a polícia!
SHAH-meh ah poh-LEE-syah!
I need a doctor
Preciso de um médico
preh-SEE-zoo deh oom MEH-dee-koo
Where is the hospital?
Onde fica o hospital?
ON-deh FEE-kah oo osh-pee-TAL?
Where is the pharmacy?
Onde fica a farmácia?
ON-deh FEE-kah ah far-MAH-syah?
I'm allergic to...
Sou alérgico/a a...
soh ah-LEHR-zhee-koo/kah ah...
I lost my passport
Perdi o meu passaporte
per-DEE oo may-oo pah-sah-POR-teh
I've been robbed
Fui assaltado/a
fwee ah-sal-TAH-doo/dah
Numbers
Essential counting
0
Zero
ZEH-roo
1
Um / Uma
oom / OO-mah
2
Dois / Duas
doysh / DOO-ash
3
Três
tresh
4
Quatro
KWAH-troo
5
Cinco
SEEN-koo
6
Seis
saysh
7
Sete
SEH-teh
8
Oito
OY-too
9
Nove
NOH-veh
10
Dez
desh
20
Vinte
VEEN-teh
50
Cinquenta
seen-KWEN-tah
100
Cem / Cento
seng / SEN-too
What time is it?
Que horas são?
keh OH-rash sowng?
It's 3 o'clock
São três horas
sowng tresh OH-rash
Today / Tomorrow / Yesterday
Hoje / Amanhã / Ontem
OH-zheh / ah-mahn-YANG / ON-teng
How it Sounds
European Portuguese pronunciation
🎵 Key Insight
European Portuguese is very different from Brazilian Portuguese — vowels are swallowed and reduced. Unstressed "e" often disappears entirely. "s" at the end of a word sounds like "sh".
Tricky Letters & Sounds
ã / ão
Nasal vowel — like "ang" or "own" but through your nose
não, amanhã, pão
lh
Like the "ll" in Spanish "pollo" — a soft "ly" sound
bilhete, vermelho
nh
Like the "ñ" in Spanish — a soft "ny"
amanhã, vinho
s / z (end)
"s" at end of word → "sh" sound
mais → "mysh", tres → "tresh"
x
Often "sh" sound
caixa → "KY-shah"
ch
"sh" sound (not "ch" as in "church")
chamo → "SHAH-moo"
j / g(e/i)
Soft "zh" — like the "s" in "measure"
jardim, gente
r (start)
Guttural — like a gentle French "r"
restaurante, rua
e (unstressed)
Often nearly silent or reduced to "uh"
de → "deh" or barely "d"
Stress Rules
á, é, ê...
Accent marks always show where stress falls
No accent
Most words stress the second-to-last syllable
-ção, -gem
These endings always take the stress
Machine Learning em Português
Tech & AI terminology
🧠 A Note on Tech Portuguese
Portuguese CS vocabulary often borrows directly from English (prompt, token, deep learning), but native terms exist and are used in academic writing. In conversation, Portuguese speakers freely mix English ML terms into sentences.
Artificial Intelligence
Inteligência Artificial
een-teh-lee-ZHEN-syah ar-tee-fee-SYAL
Often abbreviated as "IA"
Neural Network
Rede Neuronal / Rede Neural
REH-deh new-roo-NAL / new-RAL
"Neuronal" is more common in Portugal, "Neural" in Brazil
Deep Learning
Aprendizagem Profunda
ah-pren-dee-ZAH-zheng proo-FOON-dah
The English term is also widely used
Machine Learning
Aprendizagem Automática
ah-pren-dee-ZAH-zheng ow-too-MAH-tee-kah
Attention (mechanism)
Atenção
ah-ten-SOWNG
Same word for "attention" in everyday speech
Self-attention
Auto-atenção
OW-too ah-ten-SOWNG
Transformer
Transformador
trans-for-mah-DOR
Same root as "transform" — also just "Transformer" in papers
Entropy
Entropia
en-troo-PEE-ah
Cross-entropy (loss)
Entropia cruzada
en-troo-PEE-ah kroo-ZAH-dah
Loss function
Função de perda / função de custo
foon-SOWNG deh PEHR-dah / KOOSH-too
Gradient
Gradiente
grah-DYEN-teh
Gradient Descent
Descida do gradiente
desh-SEE-dah doo grah-DYEN-teh
Backpropagation
Retropropagação
reh-troo-proo-pah-gah-SOWNG
Weights
Pesos
PEH-zoosh
Embedding
Incorporação / Embedding
een-kor-poo-rah-SOWNG
The English "embedding" is used more often in practice
Layer
Camada
kah-MAH-dah
Hidden layer
Camada oculta / escondida
kah-MAH-dah oh-KOOL-tah / esh-kon-DEE-dah
Parameter
Parâmetro
pah-RAH-meh-troo
Training
Treino / Treinamento
TRAY-noo / tray-nah-MEN-too
Inference
Inferência
een-feh-REN-syah
Fine-tuning
Afinação / Fine-tuning
ah-fee-nah-SOWNG
Dataset
Conjunto de dados
kon-ZHOON-too deh DAH-doosh
Overfitting
Sobreajuste / Sobreajustamento
soh-breh-ah-ZHOOSH-teh
Tokenization
Tokenização
toh-keh-nee-zah-SOWNG
Large Language Model
Modelo de Linguagem Grande
moh-DEH-loo deh leeng-GWAH-zheng GRAN-deh
"LLM" is used as-is in conversation
Prompt
Prompt / Instrução
prompt / een-stroo-SOWNG
Probability distribution
Distribuição de probabilidade
deesh-tree-boo-ee-SOWNG deh proo-bah-bee-lee-DAH-deh
Activation function
Função de ativação
foon-SOWNG deh ah-tee-vah-SOWNG
Matrix / Vector
Matriz / Vetor
mah-TREESH / veh-TOR