Portuguese for moving to Portugal
For anyone moving to Portugal or buying a house there: viewings, tax number, bank account, tradespeople, neighbours and doctor's appointments. All in European Portuguese, as it is spoken in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.
Pronunciation in six rules
European Portuguese sounds different from how it looks: many vowels are swallowed. These rules help with reading and understanding.
Swallowed vowels
Unstressed vowels are short or almost disappear. A final e is often not heard at all, unstressed o sounds like ‘oo’ and unstressed a like the ‘a’ in ‘about’: noite (night) = ‘NOYT’, obrigado = ‘oh-bree-GAH-doo’.
s becomes sh
At the end of a syllable s sounds like sh: dois (two) = ‘DOYSH’, escola (school) = ‘ush-KOH-luh’. Before b, d, g, l, m, n, r or v it is softer, like the ‘s’ in ‘measure’. Between two vowels s is a ‘z’: casa = ‘KAH-zuh’.
Nasal vowels
ão is a nasal ‘ow’, as if you said ‘now’ through your nose: pão (bread) = ‘pow~’. A final em is a nasal ‘ay’: tem (has) = ‘tay~’. An m or n after a vowel usually just makes the vowel nasal.
nh, lh and ç
nh is the ny in ‘canyon’ (vinho = ‘VEE-nyoo’), lh is the lli in ‘million’ (trabalho = ‘truh-BAH-lyoo’), ç is a plain s (preço = ‘PREH-soo’).
j, g, z and x
j, and g before e and i, sound like the s in ‘measure’: junta = ‘ZHOON~-tuh’. z is an English z, but at the end of a word it becomes ‘sh’: luz (light) = ‘LOOSH’. x is often ‘sh’: lixo (rubbish) = ‘LEE-shoo’.
The r
At the start of a word and as rr, r is throaty, much like a French r: renda (rent) = ‘RREN~-duh’. Everywhere else it is a single quick tap of the tongue: quarto (bedroom) = ‘KWAR-too’.
In the transcriptions below the stressed syllable is in CAPITALS, syllables are joined with hyphens, words are separated by spaces and ‘·’ separates sentences. ‘uh’ is a short, weak vowel as in ‘about’, ‘~’ after a vowel means it is said through the nose (‘pow~’, ‘tay~’, ‘oon~’), ‘zh’ is the s in ‘measure’ and ‘rr’ the throaty r. The transcription is an approximation; the speech recognition in LingoTrip listens more closely.
Greetings and being polite
- Bom dia! / Boa tarde!boh~ DEE-uh · BOH-uh TARDGood morning. / Good afternoon. (from midday)
- Obrigado. / Obrigada.oh-bree-GAH-doo · oh-bree-GAH-duhThank you. (Men say obrigado, women obrigada.)
- Desculpe.dush-KOOLPExcuse me. / Sorry.
- Não percebo. Pode falar mais devagar?now~ pur-SEH-boo · POHD fuh-LAR maizh dvuh-GARI don't understand. Could you speak more slowly?
- Fala inglês?FAH-luh een~-GLESHDo you speak English?
Viewing a house or flat
- Gostaríamos de ver a casa.goosh-tuh-REE-uh-moosh duh VEHR uh KAH-zuhWe'd like to view the house.
- Quantos quartos tem?KWAN~-toosh KWAR-toosh tay~How many bedrooms does it have?
- O preço é negociável?oo PREH-soo EH nuh-goo-SYAH-velIs the price negotiable?
- Há problemas de humidade?AH proo-BLEH-mush duh oo-mee-DAHDAre there any problems with damp?
- A casa tem licença de utilização?uh KAH-zuh tay~ lee-SEN~-suh duh oo-tee-lee-zuh-SOW~Does the house have a habitation licence?
- Quanto é o condomínio por mês?KWAN~-too EH oo kon~-doo-MEE-nyoo poor MESHHow much is the service charge per month?
Paperwork and the bank
- Preciso de um número de contribuinte.pruh-SEE-zoo duh oon~ NOO-muh-roo duh kon~-tree-BWEEN~TI need a tax number (NIF).
- Queria abrir uma conta bancária.kuh-REE-uh uh-BREER OO-muh KON~-tuh ban~-KAH-ryuhI'd like to open a bank account.
- Que documentos preciso de trazer?kuh doo-koo-MEN~-toosh pruh-SEE-zoo duh truh-ZEHRWhich documents do I need to bring?
- Onde fica a junta de freguesia?ON~D FEE-kuh uh ZHOON~-tuh duh fruh-guh-ZEE-uhWhere is the parish council office?
- Tenho uma marcação às dez.TUH-nyoo OO-muh mar-kuh-SOW~ azh DESHI have an appointment at ten.
Tradespeople and moving in
- Pode fazer-me um orçamento?POHD fuh-ZEHR-muh oon~ or-suh-MEN~-tooCould you give me a quote?
- Quando pode começar?KWAN~-doo POHD koo-muh-SARWhen can you start?
- Há uma fuga de água na casa de banho.AH OO-muh FOO-guh duh AH-gwuh nuh KAH-zuh duh BUH-nyooThere's a leak in the bathroom.
- A luz não funciona.uh LOOSH now~ foon~-SYOH-nuhThe electricity isn't working.
Neighbours and daily life
- Somos os novos vizinhos.SOH-mooz oozh NOH-voosh vee-ZEE-nyooshWe're the new neighbours.
- Muito prazer.MWEEN~-too pruh-ZEHRPleased to meet you.
- Onde se compra pão fresco?ON~D suh KON~-pruh pow~ FRESH-kooWhere can you buy fresh bread?
- Quando passa o lixo?KWAN~-doo PAH-suh oo LEE-shooWhen are the bins collected?
Doctor and pharmacy
- Onde fica o centro de saúde?ON~D FEE-kuh oo SEN~-troo duh suh-OODWhere is the health centre?
- Preciso de marcar uma consulta.pruh-SEE-zoo duh mar-KAR OO-muh kon~-SOOL-tuhI need to book a doctor's appointment.
- Onde fica a farmácia?ON~D FEE-kuh uh far-MAH-syuhWhere is the pharmacy?
- Tenho dores nas costas.TUH-nyoo DOH-rush nush KOSH-tushI have backache.
Emergency number throughout Portugal: 112. For health questions, call the SNS 24 helpline on 808 24 24 24.
Good to know
Get your NIF first
Without a Portuguese tax number (NIF) almost nothing works: no tenancy agreement, no bank account, no internet contract, no house purchase. It is usually your first trip to the authorities.
T2 means two bedrooms
Flats and houses are described as T0 to T5. The number counts the bedrooms, not all the rooms. So a T2 has two bedrooms plus a living room.
Portugal, not Brazil
Many apps and courses teach Brazilian Portuguese. Pronunciation and quite a few words are clearly different in Portugal, so for everyday life there the European variety is worth it.
Polite with ‘o senhor’
Instead of a plain ‘you’, people in Portugal often say o senhor or a senhora (literally ‘the gentleman’, ‘the lady’): O senhor pode ajudar-me?, Could you help me?
How buying a house in Portugal works
Our sister project Heimweit has a step-by-step guide to buying property in Portugal: the process, the costs and the usual pitfalls.
A course for exactly your move
A phrasebook can only guess what you're planning. In LingoTrip you tell it: buying a house in the Algarve, moving to Lisbon with children, renovating a quinta in the Alentejo. LingoTrip builds a course around exactly those conversations, with audio, speech recognition and spaced review until you leave.
Coming soon to the App Store and Google PlayFAQ
Can I get by in Portugal with English?
In Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve often yes. At government offices, with tradespeople, in the countryside and with older neighbours, less so. That is exactly where a few phrases of Portuguese open a lot of doors.
How long until I can manage everyday life?
For the phrases on this page, one to three weeks with a few minutes a day is enough. Handling appointments at the tax office or with builders on your own takes longer. A course that practises exactly your appointments is a good start.
Should I learn Brazilian or European Portuguese?
If you live in Portugal, learn European Portuguese. Speakers of both understand each other, but pronunciation, forms of address and many everyday words differ.
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