“Olá” is the best choice and go-to option for most social situations regardless of the person you are addressing. Translating to “hello,” It's somehow formal, but also friendly.
In Portuguese, people use the expressions Bom dia, Boa tarde and Boa noite both when saying hello and goodbye, as in Olá, bom dia - Hello, good morning or Adeus, boa tarde - Goodbye and good afternoon to you. For good evening, boa tarde is used before it gets dark and boa noite after.
“Hello” in Portuguese – Olá!
Olá is the best choice for most social situations regardless of the person you are addressing.
Olá – “Hello” in Portuguese
Olá is the simplest, safest way to say “hello” in Portuguese, both European and Brazilan. It sounds like the Spanish hola, except with hola the first syllable is stressed (OH-la), but with olá you stress the second syllable (oh-LA).
How to respond: With all of these, responding with Bom dia / Boa tarde / Boa noite is all that's needed. You could also add a “How are you?” into it: Boa noite, como vai? (Good evening, how are you?)
Important Phrases
The response is the same “tudo bem”. “Legal”, pronounced “leh-gal” means “cool” and “nossa” means “wow”. “Bom dia”, “Boa tarde” and “Boa noite” mean “Good Morning”, “Good Afternoon” and “Good Night” respectively.
“You're Welcome” in Portuguese: De nada
So when someone says obrigado or valeu to you, gives you their graças, or tells you that they want to agradecer you, what should your reply be? The most common way to say “you're welcome” is de nada; literally “of nothing”. You can also say por nada.
I'm good. Estou bem.
Greetings for certain moments of the day
“Bom dia” literally means “good day," but you'd only use it to say “good morning” in Portuguese. Note that Brazilians pronounce “dia” like “jee-ah” while the Portuguese say “dee-ah.” Meaning “good afternoon” in Portuguese, it is used between lunchtime and sunset.
Women should always say “obrigada” (thank you), and men should always say “obrigado” (thank you). If you are very grateful, you can say: - Muito obrigada. (Thank you very much.)
In Portuguese, laughter can be represented in different ways: huehuehu = hahaha, rsrsrsrs = hahaha, and kkkk = hahahaha. “Rs” is short for risos which means laughter and “kkkk” is short for the laughing sound of “kakaka.”
'Oi' literally just means 'hi' in Portuguese, and has no similarity to the dismissive and rude 'oi' in English. It is more informal than 'ola' that means 'hello' but it's used in almost every situations from in shops and on public transport, to greeting friends or business acquaintances.
When you sneeze once, usually in Portugal we say “Santinho/a”. When you sneeze a second time, we say “Deus te ajude”. If you sneeze the third time (this isn't so common), then it's“Deus, te faça feliz”.
Ya, in Portuguese simply means “Yes.” It is a widely used word and can also be used instead of saying things like “uh-huh” or carry on. It literally means “type”; it is used to say something is similar to something else.
The most common items you'll find in a Portuguese breakfast are: bread, sliced cheese, sliced ham, bread, jam, and a milky coffee. Sometimes it's just toast without the ham and cheese, but the common denominators are almost always bread and a milky coffee like a galão or a meia de leite.
It is important to dress in a respectful manner, particularly when entering formal spaces such as a church. Casual attire (e.g. barefoot, beachwear) is inappropriate in public and can make one seem unsophisticated. Similarly, it is important to speak respectfully and politely.
Portuguese are traditional and conservative. They are a people who retain a sense of formality when dealing with each other, which is displayed in the form of extreme politeness.
Greetings. Ways to greet people include: Bom dia (bong jee-ah) – good morning, Boa tarde (bowa tarjay) – good afternoon/evening, Boa noite (bowa noychay) – good night. And more informally: Oi! Opa! and Tudo bem? (toodoo beng) – hi / how are you?
If you'd like to say “thank you” in Portuguese, you would say “obrigado” when addressing a man or “obrigada” when addressing a woman.
One should shake hands again upon leaving. When greeting acquaintances and friends, men embrace and pat one another on the back, and women kiss both cheeks, starting with the right. Between women, you only shake hands on very formal occasions, and if you don't know the person at all.