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Portuguese (Portugal)

### The Greetings That Split the Day

Portuguese does not have one all-purpose *hello* the way Swedish has *hej*. It divides the day into three, and you pick the one that fits the hour:

| formula | when |
|---|---|
| **bom dia** | from waking until about midday |
| **boa tarde** | from midday until dusk |
| **boa noite** | after dark — arriving AND leaving |

Learn them as frozen units. The pieces (*bom*, *dia*, *tarde*, *noite*) behave like ordinary words elsewhere, but here they are welded together, and **boa tarde** and **boa noite** take the feminine *boa* because *tarde* and *noite* are feminine nouns.

**boa noite** does double duty: it is both *good evening* on the way in and *good night* on the way out. Unlike English, you may greet someone with it.

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### Leaving

**adeus** is the plain goodbye. **até logo** is *see you later* — same day — and **até amanhã** is *see you tomorrow*. The *até* in both is the ordinary preposition *until*, so the pattern extends: *até sábado*, *até segunda*.

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### Please, Thank You, and the Reply

**obrigado** is thank you — and it is an ADJECTIVE, not an interjection. It agrees with the person SPEAKING, never with the person being thanked:

| speaker | form |
|---|---|
| a man | **obrigado** |
| a woman | **obrigada** |

So a woman thanking a man still says *obrigada*. Strengthen it with *muito*: **muito obrigado**.

**por favor** is please. The reply to thanks is **de nada** — literally *of nothing*.

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### Meeting Someone, and Small Talk

**muito prazer** is what you say on being introduced. **tudo bem?** is the everyday *how's it going* — and, answered flat, it is also the reassurance *it's fine*. **bem-vindo** welcomes someone; it agrees like an ordinary adjective (*bem-vinda* to a woman) and keeps its hyphen.

Greetings and courtesy (bom dia, obrigado)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

prep

preposition

pron

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstratives and the verb to be (isto é, o, a)

Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)

Yes/no questions and question words (quem, o que)

Plural pronouns, articles, and verbs (somos, são, os, as)

Origin and possession (de, do, da)

Introductions (chamar-se)

Indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)

The verb to be for locations (estar)

Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)

Preposition for locations (em, no, na)

Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)

The verb to have (tenho, tem)

Regular -ar verbs (falar, trabalhar)

Regular -er verbs (comer, beber)

Regular -ir verbs (abrir, partir)

My, your, and our (o meu, a nossa)

His, hers, and theirs (dele, dela)

Adjective agreement and placement

Days of the week (segunda-feira)

Months of the year (janeiro)

Counting by tens to 100 (trinta, quarenta...)

Telling time (é uma, são...)

Asking about time (quando, a que horas)

The verb to go (ir)

Prepositions of direction (a, para)

Preposition a contractions (ao, à, aos, às)

Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)

Demonstratives (este, esse, aquele)

Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)

Asking which and how many (qual, quanto)

Plurals ending in -ão (-ões, -ãos, -ães)

Plurals ending in consonants (-ns, -is, -es)

The verb to like (gostar de)

The verb to need (precisar de)

The verb to want (querer)

The verb can or may (poder)

Expressing obligation (ter de)

Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)

Quantifiers (muito, pouco)

Comparatives (mais... do que, menos... do que)

Equality comparisons (tão... como)

The preposition com (comigo, contigo)

Coordinating conjunctions (e, mas, ou, porque)

The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Double negation (nunca, nada, ninguém)

Present continuous (estar a)

Near future (ir)

Past tense of regular -ar verbs

Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs

Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)

Direct object pronouns (me, te, o, a, nos, os, as)

Pronoun placement with negatives and questions

Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)

Asking the way (à direita, sempre em frente)

Colours (vermelho, amarelo, cor-de-rosa)

Money and shopping (custar, a moeda)

Getting around (o motorista, a paragem de autocarro)

Weather and seasons (faz calor, o inverno)

Omitting the subject pronoun

Where things are: ficar (Onde fica...?)

Richer questions: que + noun and é que

Numbers above 100 (cento e vinte, mil)

First-person sound changes (durmo, prefiro)

Advice and ability: dever and saber

Asking why: porquê and porque

When one thing happens: quando-clauses

Here and there: aqui, aí, ali (cá e lá)

Formal and plural possessives: o seu, o vosso

Irregular presents: ver, vir, dar

Present irregulars

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Stem-changing reflexives

Attached object pronouns (-lo, -la, -los, -las)

Nasal attached pronouns (-no, -na, -nos, -nas)

Pronoun placement with adverbs

Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

Past tense of ter, estar, poder, and saber

Past tense of querer and vir

Past tense of ver, dar, and ler

Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)

Time elapsed in the past (há)

Already and not yet (já, ainda não)

Question	Answer
good morning	bom dia
Good morning, madam!	Bom dia, senhora!
Good morning! How are you?	Bom dia! Como está?
good afternoon	boa tarde
Good afternoon, teacher!	Boa tarde, professor!
Good afternoon! Are you well?	Boa tarde! Está bem?
good evening / good night	boa noite
Good evening, Ana!	Boa noite, Ana!
goodbye	adeus
Goodbye, friends!	Adeus, amigos!
Goodbye, doctor!	Adeus, senhor médico!
see you later	até logo
See you later, Mum!	Até logo, mãe!
We are here. See you later!	Nós estamos aqui. Até logo!
see you tomorrow	até amanhã
Good night, and see you tomorrow!	Boa noite, e até amanhã!
See you tomorrow, at school!	Até amanhã, na escola!
welcome (greeting someone)	bem-vindo
Welcome, teacher!	Bem-vindo, professor!
Are you the new student? Welcome!	Tu és o aluno novo? Bem-vindo!
how's it going? / it's fine	tudo bem
Hello! How's it going?	Olá! Tudo bem?
please	por favor
A coffee, please.	Um café, por favor.
Please, madam!	Por favor, senhora!
thank you	obrigado
Everything's fine, thank you.	Tudo bem, obrigado.
Thank you, sir!	Obrigado, senhor!
Thank you very much!	Muito obrigado!
you're welcome	de nada
Thank you! You're welcome.	Obrigado! De nada.
You're welcome, friend.	De nada, amigo.
pleased to meet you	muito prazer
Pleased to meet you! My name is Ana.	Muito prazer! Eu chamo-me Ana.
Pleased to meet you, teacher!	Muito prazer, professora!

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