English speakers who choose to dive into Portuguese will find that it is not as difficult to learn as it sounds. Many Portuguese language learners find that the Portuguese accent is easier to master than a Spanish accent. The grammar and sentence structures of Portuguese are simplified compared to English, and both English and Portuguese share deep Latin roots. You’ll learn that many words sound similar to English and have the same meaning—this is called cognates. These cognates may give you an advantage when it comes to learning and speaking Portuguese. Build your confidence up by starting with some basic words to start building your Portuguese word bank:
- Olá = Hello
- Parabéns = congratulations
- Love = Amor
- Sim = Yes
- Não = No
- Chaves = Keys
- Mulher = Woman
- Homem = Man
- Cachorro = Dog
- Gato = Cat
- Café = Coffee
- Você = you (formal)
- Mãe = Mother
- Pai = Father
- Canção = Song
- Maçã = Apple
The more you practice, the more natural the various words and expressions in Portuguese will start to feel. Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion® methodology teaches you the language, beyond the words. We prepare you to use your new language in your everyday life which is the most effective way of learning. It’s not just about the features, but what you’re able to do because of them, enabling you to handle situations in Portuguese with confidence.
Basic Portuguese Phrases and Words
Portuguese is the native language of millions of individuals around the world. As the ninth most powerful language in the world, you can learn Portuguese and join those conversations. With the ability to understand and speak Portuguese, you’ll be among 250 million who speak the second most-spoken romance language in the world.
Portuguese-English cognates can give you a significant headstart to speaking Portuguese comfortably and confidently. For instance, here’s a common Portuguese sentence: “Animais não são permitidos no restaurante.” This sentence is made up almost entirely of Portuguese-English cognates. Here we break it down word by word:
- Animais = Animals
- não são = are not
- permitidos = allowed (permitted)
- no = at the
- restaurante = restaurant
When you put this all together, you get, “Animals are not allowed in the restaurant.”
Portuguese is relatively quick to pick up and begin speaking. That understanding will give you a head start to understanding other widely-used Romance languages such as Italian, French, and Spanish. Simple phrases grease the wheels of daily conversation in most every language, including Portuguese.
- How are you? = Tudo bem?
- Bom dia = Good morning
- Boa tarde = Good afternoon
- Boa noite = Good night
- Obrigado = Thank you
- Desculpe-me por falar tão mal o português. = Excuse my poor Portuguese.
- Só falo um pouco de português. = I only speak a little Portuguese.
Getting your Portuguese pronunciation right relies on immediate feedback. This real-time feedback will allow you to make corrections and practice with accurate pronunciation until you can shape the sounds that make up Portuguese. Rosetta Stone integrates a proven and patented speech-recognition engine into each and every lesson. Called TruAccent, this speech-recognition engine provides instant feedback to help you conform your accent to that of native Portuguese speakers. TruAccent can be a tremendous advantage in helping you learn to speak, and understand Portuguese.
After beginning Portuguese learners have conquered the basics that make up the building blocks of speaking the language, the next step is to move on to the longer phrases in Portuguese conversations. Rosetta Stone’s 10-minute language lessons are built in just this way, which naturally leads to the ability to comfortably and confidently speak Portuguese.
Try Our Award-Winning App
Surround yourself with Portuguese (Brazil) whenever, wherever with the Rosetta Stone app .
Download a unit and knock it out on the train or a flight. Select a 5-10 minute lesson and sneak it in while you wait in line or for your ride to show up. And explore dynamic features, like Seek and Speak, where you can point at an object in the real world and get a translation .
The best part? You don’t have to choose between app or desktop. Both come with your subscription and sync, so you can switch between devices seamlessly.
