At a glance
What will be easy
-ção matches -tion (informação, nação), -dade matches -ty (cidade, universidade), and -mente matches -ly (rapidamente). Many words are clear at first sight.
Nouns don’t change for case, and a yes/no question is just a statement with rising intonation: Fala inglês? means “Do you speak English?”
Once you know the main rules (ç is s, lh sounds like lli in million, nh like ny in canyon), you can read most words aloud. Written accents show the stress: café, inglês, avó.
What will be hard
Pão (bread), mãe (mother) and não (no) are said partly through the nose, and the nasal changes the meaning: lã (wool) vs lá (there). English has nothing quite like it.
In Portugal unstressed vowels almost disappear (telefone sounds like “tl-FON”) and s often sounds like sh (português, “poor-too-GAYSH”). In Brazil vowels are clearer, but de and te turn into “jee” and “chee”: dia sounds like “JEE-uh”. Pick one variety for listening and stick to it.
Verbs change for every person and tense, ser and estar both mean “to be” (sou inglês, estou cansado), and the subjunctive is common: espero que goste. There is even a future subjunctive: quando puder (when I can).
Your first 10 phrases
| Phrase | How to say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Olá! Tudo bem? | oh-LAH, TOO-doo BAYN | Hi! How are you? |
| Bom dia | bohn DEE-uh (Brazil: bohn JEE-uh) | Good morning |
| Obrigado / obrigada | oh-bree-GAH-doo / oh-bree-GAH-duh | Thank you (men say obrigado, women obrigada) |
| Por favor | poor fuh-VOR | Please |
| Desculpe | dish-KOOLP (Brazil: jis-KOOL-pee) | Sorry, excuse me |
| Quanto custa? | KWAN-too KOOSH-tuh (Brazil: KOOS-tuh) | How much is it? |
| Onde fica a casa de banho? | OHN-duh FEE-kuh uh KAH-zuh duh BUH-nyoo | Where’s the toilet? (in Brazil: o banheiro) |
| Não entendo | nown en-TEN-doo | I don’t understand |
| Pode falar mais devagar? | POD fuh-LAR mysh dvuh-GAR (Brazil: PO-jee fah-LAH mice jee-vah-GAH) | Could you speak more slowly? |
| Um café, por favor | oong kuh-FEH, poor fuh-VOR | A coffee, please |
From A1 to B2: what to learn at each level
- A1
Articles and gender, ser, estar and ter, the present tense of regular verbs, contractions like no, na, do, da, numbers, around 1,000 of the most common words.
- A2
The preterite (falei, comi), the future with ir + infinitive, reflexive verbs and pronoun position (chamo-me in Portugal, me chamo in Brazil).
- B1
Imperfect versus preterite, the conditional, the present subjunctive, por versus para, around 3,000 words.
- B2
Past and future subjunctive (se eu fosse, quando puder), the personal infinitive (para fazermos), compound tenses, 3,500 words and more.
How long it takes to learn Portuguese
According to the US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), a native English speaker needs about 24 weeks of intensive study to reach professional working proficiency in Portuguese. The closer a language is to your own, the faster the road.
More on timing: How long does it take to learn a language to B1 and B2?.
Your first month, 15–20 minutes a day
Choose European or Brazilian Portuguese and listen mostly to that one. Learn the reading rules, nasal vowels and the 100 most common words with 10 minutes of flashcards and 5 minutes of reading aloud every day.
Ser, estar and ter, articles and contractions (no, na, do, da), simple sentences about yourself. Start listening to short dialogues.
The present tense of -ar, -er and -ir verbs and key irregulars: ir, fazer, poder. Write 3 sentences a day about your day.
Your first A1 stories and 300 words in review. Try a five-minute conversation with a native speaker or in a chat.
Typical mistakes and how to avoid them
Age uses ter (to have): Tenho 30 anos.
Ser is for what something is (Sou engenheiro, a casa é grande), estar for temporary states (Estou cansado, a sopa está fria).
Puxe means pull, even though it looks like push. Push is empurre.
A livraria is a bookshop (a library is a biblioteca), atualmente means “currently”, and pretender means “to intend”.
Did you know?
- Around four in five Portuguese speakers live in Brazil, which makes Portuguese the most spoken language of the Southern Hemisphere.
- English took marmalade, molasses and cobra from Portuguese. Marmelada is quince paste, from marmelo, “quince”.
- The Japanese word pan (bread) comes from Portuguese pão: Portuguese traders were the first Europeans to reach Japan, in the 16th century.
Portuguese exams
The main international certificates: CAPLE (CIPLE, DEPLE, DIPLE), Celpe-Bras. Many of them map their levels to the CEFR scale from A1 to C2.
→ Portuguese language test for Portuguese nationality: CIPLE A2 and other proofs
How NewLexi helps you learn Portuguese
- Words on your topics. Portuguese cards are generated on request or added from the translator, text, a photo or a file.
- Spaced repetition for every word and four mastery levels.
- Stories and dialogues in Portuguese at your level, written with your words; tap any word for a translation.
- Portuguese grammar from A1 to C2, a writing trainer with AI correction and a chat.
- Lock Screen cards and iPhone widgets to review words on the go.
FAQ
Is Portuguese hard for English speakers?
It is one of the easier languages for you: the FSI puts it at about 24 weeks of full-time study. Reading comes fast; most of the effort goes into listening, nasal vowels and verb forms.
How long does it take to reach B1?
A common benchmark is 350–400 hours of study, about a year at an hour a day. If you already speak Spanish, it takes much less.
Which certificate should I take?
For European Portuguese, the CAPLE exams of the University of Lisbon: CIPLE (A2), DEPLE (B1), DIPLE (B2). For Brazil, the Celpe-Bras. Portuguese citizenship requires at least A2.
Should I learn European or Brazilian Portuguese?
Choose by your goal: Brazil has most of the speakers, music and media, Portugal is the choice for living in Europe. Grammar and spelling are nearly the same and speakers understand each other, though Portuguese people usually follow Brazilians more easily than the other way round.
