Scheduling anything — a class, a flight, a dinner reservation — means being able to say and understand dates confidently. Portuguese handles days, months, and dates a little differently from English, and this guide covers exactly what changes.

Days of the Week

Months of the Year

How to Write and Say a Date

Portuguese writes dates as day, then month, then year — the same order used across most of the world outside the US. August 11, 2026 becomes 11 de agosto de 2026, read aloud as "onze de agosto de dois mil e vinte e seis."

For "what's the date today," ask Que dia é hoje? or Qual é a data de hoje? — either works in both Brazilian and European Portuguese.

Numbers show up everywhere from day one — prices, phone numbers, ages, addresses — which makes them one of the highest-value things to learn early. Portuguese numbers follow tight, predictable patterns once you get past the first twenty, so this list gets you to genuine fluency with numbers fast.

0–15: Memorize These Individually

16–19: The "Ten Plus" Pattern

The Tens: 20 to 100

Combining tens and units

Connect the ten and the unit with "e" (and): vinte e um (21), trinta e cinco (35), noventa e nove (99). This single pattern covers every number from 21 to 99.

The cem / cento distinction

Use cem for exactly 100, alone. Use cento when a number follows it: cento e um (101), cento e vinte (120).

"Tchau" is the goodbye everyone learns first, and it's genuinely useful — but Portuguese has a whole range of farewells for different situations, from a quick hallway exit to saying goodbye to someone you might not see for a long time. Here's the full toolkit.

The Everyday Goodbyes

The "Até" Formula

One of the most efficient patterns in Portuguese: até ("until") plus almost any time word or event builds a natural goodbye. Até domingo (see you Sunday), até a próxima (until next time), até mais (see you around) — once you know the pattern, you can build farewells for situations no phrasebook covers.

"Hello in Portuguese" and "good morning in Portuguese" are two of the most-searched Portuguese phrases online — and for good reason, they're the first words in every single conversation you'll ever have. But most guides stop at the translation and skip the part that actually matters: what to say immediately after, and when to use formal versus informal greetings.

This guide covers both.

The Core Greetings

What to Say Right After

A bare "olá" and silence feels abrupt in Portuguese, just like in English. Here's the near-automatic follow-up sequence native speakers use.

A Note on Formality

In Brazil, "você" is used comfortably in almost all everyday situations, formal or informal — Brazilians rarely reach for a more formal pronoun with strangers. In Portugal, the informal "tu" is common between friends and peers, but strangers, older people, and professional settings often call for "você" or even the more formal "o senhor / a senhora." When you're unsure in Portugal, defaulting to a slightly more formal register is the safer choice.

Travel phrasebooks get you through a trip. This list is different — it's built for actually holding a conversation with someone: asking how they are, reacting naturally, making plans, and expressing an opinion without sounding like you're reading off a card.

These are grouped by function rather than dumped alphabetically, so you can practice a whole category — like reacting to news, or making plans — in one sitting.

Small Talk Openers

Reacting Naturally

These small words do a lot of heavy lifting in real conversation — they signal you're actually listening.

Giving Opinions and Making Plans

Everyday Verbs You'll Use Constantly

A handful of high-frequency verbs cover a disproportionate share of daily conversation. Learn these before almost anything else.

You don't need fluency to travel confidently — you need about 60 phrases that cover 90% of real situations: checking in, ordering food, asking for directions, and getting out of trouble politely. This guide gives you exactly those, with both Brazilian and European Portuguese versions where they differ, so you're covered no matter which country you land in.

Bookmark this page. You'll use it more than any grammar lesson in your first week.

At the Airport and Getting Around

These are the first phrases you'll need, often within minutes of landing.

At the Hotel

At the Restaurant

Food vocabulary is one of the biggest BR/PT vocabulary gaps — the words below are the ones you'll use every single meal.

Getting Out of Trouble Politely

A short list of phrases that smooth over almost any awkward moment — miscommunication, needing help, or simply not understanding fast speech.