European vs Brazilian Portuguese: the differences that matter in Portugal

Portuguese is one language with two main standards: the Portuguese of Portugal (European Portuguese, often written pt-PT) and the Portuguese of Brazil (pt-BR). Speakers understand each other, a bit like British and American English. But the differences go further than accent: some of the most common everyday words, the word for “you”, where the small pronouns go and how you say what is happening right now all change.

Most apps, textbooks and videos teach Brazilian Portuguese, because Brazil has far more speakers. If you live in Portugal, or are about to move there, that is the wrong variety to start with. Here are the differences you will notice first, with European Portuguese examples you can listen to.

Why it matters if you live in Portugal

People in Portugal understand Brazilian Portuguese: they hear it in TV series and music, and many Brazilians live in Portugal. The problem is the other direction. European Portuguese swallows many of its vowels, so learners who trained their ear on Brazilian audio often struggle to follow a conversation in Lisbon or Porto. And the words you need every day, at the station, in the café, at the health centre or with your landlord, are often not the ones a Brazilian course teaches.

Daily life in Portugal happens in European Portuguese: the forms at as Finanças, the letters from the bank, the announcements on the train. Learning that variety from day one saves you from relearning a set of words and a pronunciation later.

1. “You”: tu

In Portugal, tu is the normal “you”, with its own verb form: Como estás? It is the form Portuguese children learn first, and the one you will use with most people.

Sometimes people show extra respect, for example to someone much older, by using the verb on its own (Como está?) or o senhor / a senhora: De onde é o senhor? That is optional and depends on the relationship.

In Brazil, a different pronoun is the everyday “you” (see the table below). In Portugal that word is not used much, and the plural, vocês, is the one you will hear.

• Como estás?How are you?
• Como está?How are you? (with extra respect)
• Tu falas inglês?Do you speak English?
• De onde é o senhor?Where are you from, sir? (with extra respect)

2. Estar a + infinitive

To say what is happening right now, Portugal uses estar a + infinitive: Eu estou a trabalhar (“I’m working”). It works the same way with every verb and every person. Brazil uses the gerund instead, the verb form ending in -ndo. If you only change one habit, change this one: it is the clearest sign of which Portuguese someone learned.

• Eu estou a trabalhar.I’m working.
• Está a chover e eu não tenho guarda-chuva.It’s raining and I don’t have an umbrella.
• O que é que tu estás a fazer?What are you doing?
• O bebé está a dormir.The baby is sleeping.

3. Where the small pronouns go

Little pronouns like me, te and se normally come after the verb in Portugal, joined with a hyphen: Eu chamo-me Ana (literally “I call myself Ana”). They move in front of the verb only after certain words, such as não, question words like como and onde, and que: Como te chamas? Não me lembro.

In Brazil these pronouns usually go before the verb, even at the very start of a sentence. Portugal also puts the article in front of possessives: o meu pai, a minha casa.

• Eu chamo-me Ana.My name is Ana.
• Eu levanto-me às sete.I get up at seven.
• Dói-me a cabeça.My head hurts.
• Como te chamas?What’s your name?
• O meu nome é Maria.My name is Maria.

4. Everyday words

Vocabulary is where most learners get caught out. Some of the most frequent words of daily life are different, and you need the Portuguese ones at the station, in the café and at home. These are all taught in Bica, in their European Portuguese form.

A few words exist in both countries but carry different weight. In Portugal a rapariga is the normal, neutral word for a girl; in parts of Brazil the same word can be offensive. It is one more reason not to mix the two varieties.

5. Pronunciation

This is the difference you will hear first. European Portuguese swallows its unstressed vowels: obrigado sounds like “o-bri-GA-du”, and the final -e of boa noite almost disappears. An s at the end of a word or before a consonant sounds like English “sh”, so adeus is roughly “a-DEH-ush”. Brazilian Portuguese keeps its vowels open and clear, which is why many people find it easier to follow at first.

In most of Brazil, t and d before an “ee” sound turn into “ch” and “j” sounds. In Portugal they stay plain t and d. The rhythm is different too: European Portuguese sounds faster and more clipped. The only cure is listening to Portugal voices from the start.

• Obrigado!Thank you!
• Boa noite, até logo.Good night, see you later.
• Adeus, até logo!Goodbye, see you later!

6. Spelling

Since the 1990 Spelling Agreement the two countries spell most words the same way, but some differences remain. Portugal writes an acute accent where Brazil has a circumflex before m or n, as in bebé, económico and António. It also keeps consonants that are still pronounced in Portugal, as in facto and contacto, and drops some that Brazil keeps, as in a receção.

So which should you learn?

If you are moving to Portugal, learn European Portuguese from the start. The grammar is largely shared, so a switch later is possible, but unlearning a pronunciation and a set of everyday words takes time, and you will use those words every day, from the pastelaria to as Finanças.

Bica teaches only European Portuguese. Every word and sentence is checked automatically for Brazilian vocabulary, spelling and grammar before it reaches you, and all the audio uses a European Portuguese voice.

Sources on forms of address

• Practice Portuguese: formal and informal treatment
• Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa: forms of address
• The perception and acceptability of address forms in European Portuguese (Working Papers em Linguística, 2019)