Brazilian corporate Portuguese is one of the most distinctive registers in the language because it is openly hybrid: a layer of polished, fixed politeness formulas inherited from formal letter-writing sits side by side with a thick layer of English loanwords. Saying "vou dar um feedback no call depois do briefing" is not lazy or wrong in São Paulo's business world — it is a marker of in-group professional identity. To function in a Brazilian workplace you need both layers: the courtesy formulas that keep emails respectful and the anglicisms that signal you belong. This page maps both.
The politeness layer: fixed email and meeting formulas
These are the chunks that open and close professional emails and frame requests. They are highly conventional — Brazilians expect them, and their absence reads as curt or even rude.
| Portuguese | English | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Prezado(a) / Prezados(as) | Dear (formal) | email greeting |
| Conforme combinado | As agreed / as discussed | referring back |
| Segue em anexo | Please find attached | sending a file |
| Aguardo retorno | I await your reply | closing a request |
| Fico à disposição | I remain at your disposal | polite sign-off |
| Qualquer dúvida, estou à disposição | If you have any questions, I'm available | offering help |
| Atenciosamente | Yours sincerely / Best regards | formal closing |
Prezado Senhor Almeida, conforme combinado, segue em anexo a proposta atualizada.
Dear Mr. Almeida, as agreed, please find the updated proposal attached.
Qualquer dúvida, fico à disposição. Aguardo seu retorno.
If you have any questions, I'm available. I look forward to your reply.
The phrase à disposição is grammatically a trap: it requires the crase (à = a + a), because disposição is a feminine noun governed by estar a. Dropping the accent ("estou a disposição") is a frequent slip even among native writers, but in a polished email it stands out.
The verb seguir in "segue em anexo" is impersonal — the document "follows attached." It does not agree with a subject the way English "I am attaching" would. You can also say "segue anexo" (without "em") or, more fully, segue em anexo o documento solicitado (here's the requested document, attached). For more on letter and email conventions, see the email and letter formulas page.
The anglicism layer: corporate borrowings
Brazilian business speech borrows English words wholesale, often inflecting them with Portuguese grammar. These are not slang — they are the expected vocabulary in many companies, especially in tech, marketing, finance, and multinationals.
| Borrowing | Meaning | How it's used |
|---|---|---|
| call | a video/phone meeting | "marcar uma call" (set up a call) |
| deadline | deadline | "o deadline é sexta" (the deadline is Friday) |
| feedback | feedback | "dar um feedback" (give feedback) |
| briefing | project brief | "passar o briefing" (hand over the brief) |
| budget | budget | "estourar o budget" (blow the budget) |
| report | report | "mandar o report" (send the report) |
| follow-up | follow-up | "fazer um follow-up" (do a follow-up) |
Vamos marcar uma call amanhã para alinhar o briefing antes do deadline.
Let's set up a call tomorrow to align on the brief before the deadline.
Te dou um feedback depois que eu revisar o report.
I'll give you feedback after I review the report.
Crucially, the borrowed nouns take Portuguese articles and gender. A call, o deadline, o feedback — and they get Portuguese verbs glued onto them: marcar uma call, dar um feedback, mandar o report. This blending is the heart of the register: the grammar is Portuguese, the content words are English, and using them fluently signals that you are a corporate insider.
The native business idioms
Alongside the anglicisms, Brazilian Portuguese has its own vivid native idioms for getting work done. These often surprise learners because they're metaphorical:
- alinhar — to get on the same page (lit. "to align"). "Vamos alinhar" = let's sync up.
- dar um retorno — to get back to someone, to follow up with an answer.
- tocar o projeto — to run/keep a project moving (lit. "to play/touch the project").
- bater a meta — to hit the target/quota.
- fechar negócio — to close a deal.
- estar copiando o fulano — to cc someone ("fulano" = so-and-so).
Preciso alinhar com a equipe antes de fechar negócio com o cliente.
I need to sync up with the team before closing the deal with the client.
Esse mês a gente bateu a meta e ainda sobrou budget.
This month we hit the target and still had budget left over.
Te dou um retorno até o fim do dia. Estou copiando a Marina no e-mail.
I'll get back to you by end of day. I'm cc'ing Marina on the email.
The expression dar um retorno is worth dwelling on. English "get back to you" frames it from the speaker's return; Brazilian Portuguese frames it as giving a return (dar) — a small but telling difference in how the favor of a reply is conceptualized. The polished email version is the noun-heavy aguardo retorno (I await a reply), whereas the spoken office version is the verby te dou um retorno.
The verb tocar in "tocar o projeto" is a dead metaphor most natives don't notice — like English "running" a project, the literal sense (to play/touch) has faded. "Quem está tocando esse projeto?" means "Who's running this project?"
Register sliding scale
The same intent shifts wording dramatically across the formality scale. Compare:
Solicito a gentileza de confirmar o recebimento. (formal)
I kindly request that you confirm receipt. (very formal email)
Me confirma se chegou, por favor. (informal)
Let me know if it arrived, please. (casual message to a colleague)
A formal client email uses solicito a gentileza de (I request the kindness of) and full pronoun placement; a Slack message to a teammate uses the spoken me confirma with the object pronoun in front (proclisis), which is standard in Brazil but technically informal. Knowing which dial to turn is the real B2 skill here — see the formal vs. informal pragmatics page for the underlying system.
Common Mistakes
❌ Caro Senhor, eu quero que você me manda o relatório.
Incorrect — too direct, and 'manda' should be subjunctive after 'quero que'.
✅ Prezado Senhor, solicito o envio do relatório. Aguardo retorno.
Dear Sir, I request that the report be sent. I await your reply.
Business Portuguese softens direct commands into nominalizations ("solicito o envio" rather than "quero que você mande").
❌ Eu vou attachar o arquivo no email.
Incorrect — 'attachar' is not a Portuguese verb; the file 'follows attached'.
✅ Segue em anexo o arquivo.
The file is attached.
Not every English word gets borrowed. "Attach" is rendered with the native formula segue em anexo or the verb anexar (anexei o arquivo = I attached the file), never "attachar."
❌ Estou a disposição para qualquer dúvida.
Incorrect — missing crase; it must be 'à disposição'.
✅ Estou à disposição para qualquer dúvida.
I'm available for any questions.
The fixed phrase is à disposição (with crase). This is the single most common spelling slip in Brazilian business email.
❌ Vou fazer um feedback para você.
Incorrect collocation — feedback takes 'dar', not 'fazer'.
✅ Vou dar um feedback para você.
I'm going to give you some feedback.
Borrowed nouns still obey Portuguese collocation. It's dar um feedback, marcar uma call, mandar um report — using the wrong verb instantly marks a non-native.
❌ Conforme combinamos, segue o anexo proposta.
Incorrect word order and missing preposition.
✅ Conforme combinado, segue em anexo a proposta.
As agreed, please find the proposal attached.
The frozen formula is conforme combinado (a fixed participle, not the conjugated "combinamos"), and the attachment phrase is segue em anexo a proposta.
Key Takeaways
- Brazilian business register is a hybrid: native politeness formulas + heavy English borrowings.
- Master the email template conforme combinado → segue em anexo → fico à disposição → aguardo retorno.
- Borrowed nouns (call, deadline, feedback) take Portuguese gender, articles, and collocations (dar um feedback, not fazer).
- Native idioms like alinhar, dar um retorno, tocar o projeto, bater a meta, fechar negócio are everyday office vocabulary.
- Don't forget the crase in à disposição — it's the classic written slip.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Email and Letter FormulasB1 — The fixed openings, bodies, and closings of Brazilian written correspondence, graded by formality — from 'Prezado(a)...Atenciosamente' to 'Olá...Abraços'.
- Academic and Educational ExpressionsB2 — The impersonal, hedged formulas that signal scholarly register in Brazilian Portuguese essays, abstracts, and academic writing.
- Formal vs Informal RegisterA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese chooses between the informal você-default and the formal o senhor / a senhora — by age, hierarchy, service, and intimacy.