This cheat sheet covers everyday Portuguese greetings, polite expressions, numbers, and basic beginner phrases. Students need these essentials to start simple conversations, understand classroom directions, and build confidence with pronunciation. It is designed as a quick reference for speaking, listening, and reviewing common words used in real situations.
The core ideas include choosing the right greeting for the time of day, using polite words like por favor and obrigado or obrigada, and recognizing numbers from basic counting patterns. Students should also learn how accents affect pronunciation and meaning in Portuguese. Short phrases such as Como você se chama?
and Eu sou... help students introduce themselves and respond politely.
Key Facts
- Olá means hello and can be used in most everyday situations.
- Bom dia means good morning, boa tarde means good afternoon, and boa noite means good evening or good night.
- Por favor means please, obrigado is used by a male speaker to say thank you, and obrigada is used by a female speaker to say thank you.
- Como você se chama? means What is your name?, and Eu me chamo... means My name is....
- The numbers 1 to 10 are um, dois, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove, dez.
- The numbers 11 to 20 are onze, doze, treze, quatorze, quinze, dezesseis, dezessete, dezoito, dezenove, vinte.
- In Portuguese, accents matter because words like três and voce without the correct accent in você can look or sound incorrect.
- Tchau means bye, and até logo means see you later.
Vocabulary
- Olá
- Olá means hello and is a common greeting in Portuguese.
- Bom dia
- Bom dia means good morning and is used earlier in the day.
- Por favor
- Por favor means please and is used to make requests polite.
- Obrigado/Obrigada
- Obrigado or obrigada means thank you, with the ending often matching the speaker.
- Número
- Número means number and is used when talking about counting or quantities.
- Como você se chama?
- Como você se chama? means What is your name?
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using obrigado for every speaker is a common mistake because female speakers usually say obrigada when thanking someone.
- Forgetting accents in words like três and você is wrong because accents guide pronunciation and can affect correct spelling.
- Using boa noite only for goodbye is incomplete because boa noite can mean good evening or good night depending on the situation.
- Confusing Spanish and Portuguese greetings, such as writing hola instead of olá, is wrong because they are different languages with different spelling.
- Pronouncing every letter exactly like English is a mistake because Portuguese sounds and stress patterns are different.
Practice Questions
- 1 Write the Portuguese numbers for 3, 8, 12, and 20.
- 2 Translate these Portuguese numbers into English: cinco, sete, onze, dezesseis.
- 3 Write a short Portuguese introduction that includes hello, your name, please, and thank you.
- 4 Explain why using polite phrases such as por favor and obrigado or obrigada can change the tone of a conversation.