Thank you and hello in PortugueseWith pronunciation, and the replies you'll hear back
Everything here is Brazilian Portuguese, with notes where Portugal does it differently. It is a friendly language to attempt: people react warmly to a foreigner trying, and they will not switch to English on you the way they might elsewhere. Here are 18 phrases people actually use in Brazil and Portugal, in the order worth learning them. The replies you will hear back are included too.
"Thank you" in Portuguese
Obrigado / Obrigada
oh-bree-GAH-doo / oh-bree-GAH-dah
Men say obrigado, women say obrigada. It never changes based on who you are thanking.
Thank you
Obrigado / Obrigada
oh-bree-GAH-doo / oh-bree-GAH-dah
Pick the one that matches your own gender.
Hi
Oi
oy
The everyday hello in Brazil. Olá is a bit more formal and is the default in Portugal.
Excuse me (getting past someone)
Com licença
kong lee-SEN-sah
For sorry, use desculpa (des-KOOL-pah).
Yes / No
Sim / Não
seeng / nowng
Both are nasal. Não is one syllable, not two.
Please
Por favor
poor fah-VOR
Goes on the end of almost anything and instantly softens it.
The respelling is an approximation. Portuguese respells into English better than most languages, but the nasal vowels have no English equivalent at all. When you see owng or eng in the readings below, that is an approximation: the sound comes out through your nose with your mouth barely closing. Brazilians also turn di and ti into jee and chee, which is why banheiro is bahn-YAY-roo but bom dia comes out bong JEE-ah. In Portugal the unstressed vowels get swallowed, so the same words sound noticeably clipped.
Five phrases is genuinely enough for Portuguese
You do not need to work through a phrasebook before you go. Almost everything a traveller says falls into these five shapes, and they are listed under "Start with these five" above.
- Thank you … The one you will use most. If you learn a single word, make it this one.
- Hello … Said the moment you walk into a shop. Whether you say it changes how you are treated.
- Excuse me … Some languages split calling someone over and apologising into different words. Check the list above.
- How much is it? … Needed for every purchase and every meal. If you miss the number, ask them to show it.
- I don't understand … Without this you end up nodding along and walking off in the wrong direction.
Getting these five automatic beats memorising twenty. Twenty phrases you have to search your memory for are worth nothing at the moment you need them.
Obrigado or obrigada depends on you, not on them
This is the single most common mistake travellers make in Portuguese. The word is literally an adjective meaning obliged, and it agrees with the person feeling obliged, which is you. So a man says obrigado to everyone, a woman says obrigada to everyone, forever. Getting it wrong is not offensive, but getting it right is the small signal that you actually learned something instead of reading it off a card. If you are unsure in the moment, valeu (vah-LEH-oo) is a casual thanks in Brazil that has no gender at all.
The hard part is not speaking, it is understanding the reply
Almost every phrasebook only covers what you say. What actually stops people is the second after they finish talking, when the other person answers. How many of you. For here or to go. Card or cash. Go quiet and the exchange dies. Nod along and you get the wrong thing.
The good news is that the replies are a small, predictable set. Choose "You hear" in the list above and you will see only the ones that actually come back at you in Brazil and Portugal. Reading them once before you go is most of the work.
If you still cannot catch it, ask them to write it down. Numbers and place names are far easier to read than to hear.
Say it clearly rather than say it perfectly
Portuguese respells into English better than most languages, but the nasal vowels have no English equivalent at all. When you see owng or eng in the readings below, that is an approximation: the sound comes out through your nose with your mouth barely closing. Brazilians also turn di and ti into jee and chee, which is why banheiro is bahn-YAY-roo but bom dia comes out bong JEE-ah. In Portugal the unstressed vowels get swallowed, so the same words sound noticeably clipped.
The usual failure is not a wrong vowel, it is going quiet because you are unsure. Keep it short, say it at normal volume, and finish the phrase in one breath. Everyone can tell you are a visitor attempting Portuguese, and if it does not land they will simply ask again. Copy the written form to your phone so you have something to show when speaking does not work.
Other languages
FAQ
Q.How do you say thank you in Portuguese?
Obrigado / Obrigada, pronounced roughly oh-bree-GAH-doo / oh-bree-GAH-dah. Men say obrigado, women say obrigada. It never changes based on who you are thanking. If you learn one word before you travel, make it this one. It works at the till, when someone gives you directions, and when someone gives up a seat.
Q.Will the pronunciation guide alone get me understood?
Portuguese respells into English better than most languages, but the nasal vowels have no English equivalent at all. When you see owng or eng in the readings below, that is an approximation: the sound comes out through your nose with your mouth barely closing. Brazilians also turn di and ti into jee and chee, which is why banheiro is bahn-YAY-roo but bom dia comes out bong JEE-ah. In Portugal the unstressed vowels get swallowed, so the same words sound noticeably clipped.
Q.How much should I learn before I go?
Five phrases. Thank you, hello, excuse me, how much is it, and I don't understand. That covers nearly every situation a traveller hits. Getting those five automatic matters far more than adding a sixth, because at the moment you need them there is no time to think.
Q.Why bother when I have a translation app?
For getting something done, the app wins. People still learn a few words because it changes how they are treated. In a 2025 Preply survey of 1,526 US adults, 47 percent of those who used the local language said locals treated them better, 80 percent said learning phrases before a trip is important, and 58 percent actually did it. A greeting is less about transferring information and more about signalling that you made an effort.
Q.I can ask the question, but I cannot understand the answer.
That is the most common way this goes wrong, and it is why this page includes the other side. Choose "You hear" in the list above to see only what gets said back to you in Brazil and Portugal. There are not many variations: how many of you, eat in or take away, card or cash. Reading them once removes most of the surprise.
Q.Does this work offline?
Yes. Everything runs in the browser, with no account and nothing sent to a server. Open it once before you fly and it will usually still be there on the plane or in a dead zone. You can copy any phrase and show the screen when speaking does not work.
Reading a phrase is not the same as saying it
You can recognise every phrase on this page and still freeze at the counter, because there is no time to think. Inko lets you say Portuguese out loud to an AI for 60 seconds a day, and afterwards it shows you what you could have said instead. A week before you fly is enough to make a difference.