Oi, então? E ai?

Before you start learning Portuguese, you might have thought of how much Portuguese vocabulary you need.

You might have thought of how many words you need to know to start speaking, and sustain a conversation with native
speakers.

Well, I can tell you that you only need around 300 words* (*according to my own research and under the circumstances this
research was carried out, of course.).

I'm going to present them to you here with some explanations. These words are very important because, in many cases, one
word can be used in different situations, with different meanings.

By the way, a revolutionary way to learn Portuguese vocabulary easily and effortless is already available. Click the box
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OK, here I'll divide this essential Portuguese Vocabulary into categories, so that you can build sentences.

Learn no more than 10 words or expressions per day. Choose them from the different categories and learn them by heart. And
yes, put your heart into it too.

Try to identify each word of this Portuguese vocabulary with the corresponding English words you use in the same situations.

Then, when you are having a conversation with one of your Portuguese native speaking friends, use this Portuguese words
and... feeeeel them.

Build your own sentences. Common sense will guide you through.

So, Ready to learn this essential Portuguese vocabulary?

Here we go, choose them by category, if you feel it's easier for you.

 1. Nouns.
 2. Verbs.
 3. Adjectives.
 3. Prepositions.
 4. Connector.
 5. Determinants.
a) Definite Articles.
b) Indefinite Articles.
c) Possessives.
d) Demonstratives.

 6. Pronouns.
 7. Indefinite articles or pronouns.
 8. Adverbs.
 9. Interrogatives.

 Definite and Indefinite articles.

These words exist in the Portuguese vocabulary because saying, for instance, A porta" ["the door"] is not the same as
saying Uma porta" ["a door"].

So, the Definite articles are as follows, but you also should read this page here:

THE Masculine Feminine

Singular O [oo] A [ah]
 Plural OS [oosh] AS [ash]

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And the Indefinite articles which are the Portuguese words for "A", "An" and "Some", are as follows:

A/An/Some Masculine Feminine

Singular UM [oong] UMA [oo-mah]
Plural UNS [oongsh] UMAS [oomah-sh]

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 PrepositionsAre also vital words in the Portuguese vocabulary because they are linking words. These words place the
position or movement of something in time and place. There are many but, basically, we only need 9 to communicate. In
Portuguese some of them must be contracted with the definite articles above.

Let's look at the Prepositions, and then their contractions.

Prepositions Meaning Sound Contractions Meaning

Do
From From the
[deh] EU da
De Of Of the
[chee] BR dos
About About the
das
Ao
To À To the
A [Ah]
At (with time) Aos At the
Às
Até o
Up to Up to the
Até a
Até Until [Ah-tay] Until + time
Até os
Even (e.g. Even Maria was there) Even the
Até as
No
In In the
Na
Em On [eng] On the
Nos
At At the
Nas
For Pelo For the
Through Pela Through The
Por * [poohr]
Via Pelos Via The
By Pelas By the
To Para o To the
Towards Para a Towards the
Para * [pah-rah]
For (as aim) Para os For the
In orther to Para as In order to
Com With [con] Com o With the
Com a
 Com os
Com as
Sem o
Sem a
Sem Without [seng] Without the
Sem os
Sem as
Sobre o
Sobre a
Sobre About [soh-bray] About the
Sobre os
Sobre as

The difference between "Por" and "Para" is commonly confusing. It might be a good idea to check it out in order for you to use
them correctly.

And that's it. These are all the prepositions of the Portuguese vocabulary you need to know to communicate.

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 Possessivesare the words that demonstrates ownership or possession. In the Portuguese vocabulary, they can be
pronouns (replacing an object name) or adjectives (qualifying an object). Let's look at the next table to understand them better.

In this first group, the possessive comes before the noun,

e.g. O meu amigo come carne. (My friend eats meat).

Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural

O meu... A minha... Os meus... As minhas...
My
[oo meh-oo] [ah mee-nyah] [oosh meh-oosh] [ash mee-nyash]
O teu... A tua... Os teus... As tuas...
Your dude (informal)
[oo teh-oo] [ah too-ah] [oosh teh-oosh] [ash too-ash]
Your Sir O seu... A sua... Os seus... As suas...
Your Madam (formal) [oo seh-oo] [ah soo-ah] [oosh seh-oosh] [ash soo-ash]
O nosso... A nossa... Os nossos... As nossas...
Our
[oo noh-soo] [ah noh-sah] [osh noh-soosh] [ash noh-sash]
O vosso... A vossa... Os vossos... As vossas...
Your guys (plural)
[oo voh-soo] [ah voh-sah] [osh voh-soosh] [ash voh-sash]

In this second group, the possessive comes after the noun,

e.g. O amigo dele come carne. (His friend eats meat).

... dele
His... / ... of him (his)
[deh-lee]
... dela
Her... / ... of her
[deh-lah]
... deles
Their... / ... of them (for males)
[deh-lesh]
... delas
Their... ... of them (for females)
[deh-lash]

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 NounsIf you are not sure what a noun is, click here to learn more.
When reading this Portuguese vocabulary, you'll find a definite article (O, A, Os, As) - "The" in English - in front of each noun,
which indicates the gender (masculine or feminine) and the number (singular or plural) of it.

So, research shows that the most important nouns of the Portuguese vocabulary are:

Portuguese noun Word sound English translation

A Água [ah ah-goo-ah] The Water
A Ajuda [ah ah-joo-dah] The Help
Os Anos [oosh ah-noosh] The Years
O Apelido [oo ah-peh-lee-doo] The Surname
O Autocarro [oo aoo-toh-car-roo] The Bus (in EU Portuguese)
(The) Bad luck
(O) Azar [oo ah-zahr]
Tough
The Balcony
O Balcão [oo bahl-kaong]
The Counter
O Banho [oo bah-nyioo] The Bath
O Bilhete [oo bee-lyieh-teh] The Ticket
O Cartão [oo cahr-taong] The Card
The House
A Casa [ah kah-sah]
The Home
[oo kah-zahl] in EU
O Casal The Couple
[oo kah-zahoo] in BR
A Chegada [ah shay-gah-dah] The Arrival
A Coisa [Ah koee-zah] The Thing
A Conta [ah-kong-tah] The Bill
O Copo [oo koh-poo] The Glass
Careful
O Cuidado [oo-koo-ee-dah-doo]
The carefulness
A Desculpa [ah dsh-cool-pah] The Excuse
O Dia [oo deer] The Day
The Money
O Dinheiro [oo dee-nyieh-ee-roh]
The Cash
A Direita [ah dee-ray-ee-tah] The Right hand side
O Direito [oo dee-ray-ee-too] The (legal) Right
A Era [ah air-rah] The Era
[ah eesh-kayr-dah]
O Esquerdo/A Esquerda The Left hand side
[oo eesh-kayr-doo]
A Esquina [ah sh-keen-ah] The Corner
O Estudo [oo sh-too-doo] The Study
O Favor [oo fah-vohr] The Favour
O Fim [oo feeng] The End
[ah-frayn-tt] in EU
A Frente The front
[ah-frayn-tchee] in BR
O Frio [oo free-oo] The cold
One (The people)
A Gente [ah jayn-tt] in EU and [ah jayn-tt] in BR
We
O Homem [oo oh-mayeen] The Man
The Time
* A Hora (also compare with Tempo and Vez) [ah oh-rah]
The Hour
O Horário [oo oh-ráh-ree-oo] The Timetable
A Ida [ah ee-dah] The Go
O Lado [oo lah-doo] The Side
The Permission
A Licença [ah lee-sayn-sah]
The Licence
Most (of)
A Maioria (de) [ah may-oo-ree-ah]
The majority (of)
O Mal [oo mahll] The Bad thing
O Mês [oo may-sh]
The month/The months
Os Meses [oosh may-say-sh]
O Minuto [oo mee-noo-too] The minute
The Woman
A Mulher [ah moo-lyier]
The Wife
A Noite [ah noh-ee-teh] The Night
O Nome [oo noh-meh] The Name
The News
As Novidades [ash noo-vee-dah-desh]
(in terms of what is new)
O Número [oo noo-may-roh] The Number
O Ônibus [oo oh-nee-booss] The Bus (Brazilian Portuguese
A Palavra [ah pah-lah-vrah] The Word
(Os) Parabéns [(oosh) pah-rah-baingsh] (The) Congratulations
O Pé [oo peh] The Foot
As Pessoas [ash peh-soh-ash] The People
A Porta [ah pohr-tah] The Door
O Português [oo poor-too-gay-sh] The Portuguese
The Plate
O Prato [oo prah-too]
The dish
The hurry
A Pressa [ah pray-sah]
The Rush
O Primeiro [oo pree-mahee-roh] The first
O Princípio [oo preen-cee-peeoh] The Beginning
O Problema [oh proh-blay-mah] The Problem
The Next
O Próximo [oo pro-see-moo]
The following
The Fourth
O Quarto [oo kwar-too]
The Bedroom
O Recado [oo ray-kah-doo] The Message
The road
A Rua [ah roo-ah]
The street
O Semáforo [oo say-mah-foo-roh] The Traffic lights
A Semana [ah say-mah-nah] The Week
A Sorte [ah sohr-tt] in EU or [ah sohr-tchee] in BR The Luck
[(ah) tar-deh] in EU or [(ah) tar-tchee] in Late
(A) Tarde
BR (The) Afternoon
The Time (as
* O Tempo (also compare with Horas and Vez) [oo taym-poo]
The Weather
The Work
O Trabalho [oo trah-bah-lyioo]
The Assignment
O Troco [oo troh-koo] The Change
[oo ool-tee-moo] in EU and
O Último The Last (one)
[oo ool-tchee-moo] in BR
The turn
* A Vez (also compare with Tempo and Horas) [ah vaysh]
The time
The journey
A Viagem [ah vee-ah-jaying]
The Trip
The Return
A Volta [ah vohl-tah]
The Going back
O Vôo [oo voh-oo] The Flight

* Tempo, Vez and Hora are words that might be easily misused among the meanings of the Portuguese vocabulary if we don't
understand them properly:
In Portuguese you'd use the word "Vez" to describe a "turn" ("Agora é a minha vez." - "Now it's my turn"). However, there are
situations that we might incorrectly tend to say "tempo" instead of "vez" (e.g. "Esta vez vou de carro" - "This time I'll go by
car"). Here we are using the word "time", but what we really mean is "this turn, i'm going by car".
Tempo is more like measuring a period of time, for instance asking "how long" something is going to take ("Quanto tempo é a
reunião? Muito tempo?" - "How long is the meeting? Very long?").
Hora(s) is used to specify for instance a flight time, or the specific time of a flight ("A que horas é o vôo? As 14.30?" - "What
time is the flight? At 14.30?").

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 VerbsAre another important category of words of the Portuguese Vocabulary. If you are not sure what a verb (or doing
word) is,

click here to learn more.

Portuguese verb Word sound English translation

Abrir [ah-breer] To Open
To think
Achar [ah-shahr] To Guess
To Find
Ajudar [Ah-joo-darh] To Help
To be doing something
Andar [An-darh]
To Walk
Apanhar [ah-pah-nyiarh] To Take / To Catch / To Get
Aprender [Ah-prayn-dayrh] To Learn
Assinar [Ah-see-narh] To Sign
Chegar [shay-garh] To arrive
To Leave behind
Deixar (de) [day-sharh] To let
(To Stop doing something)
To go down
Descer [Desh-sayrh]
To Descend
Desculpar-se [daysh-cool-parr say] To Forgive
[dee-zayhr] EU
Dizer To Say / To Tell
[Tchee-zayhr] BR
Dormir [Door-meer] To Sleep
Escrever [Aysh-cray-vehr] To write / to Spell
Estar [eesh-tahr] To be (temporary)
Estudar [ees-too-dahr] To study
To Speak
Falar [fah-lahr]
To Say (BR) / To Tell (BR)
Fazer [fah-zayhr] To Do / To Make
Fechar [fay-shahr] To Close
To be located
Ficar [fee-kahr] To become
To Stay
To keep
Ficar com [fee-kahr con]
To stay with
Gostar de [goosh-tahr] To Like
Ir [eerh] To Go
Ler [layrh] To Read
Melhorar [may-lyio-rahr] To better / to improve
Morar [moh-rahr] To Live
Olhar [oh-lyiahr] To look (at)
Parecer [pah-ray-cehr] To Seem / To Look like
[peh-deer] EU
Pedir to Ask (for smething)
[pee-cheer] BR
Perceber [EU] [payr-seh-behr] To Understand
Perguntar [pehr-goon-tahr] To ask (questions)
Can
Poder [poh-dehr]
To be able to
Pôr [pohr] To Put
Precisar [pray-cee-zahr] To need
Preferir [pray-fay-reehr] To Prefer
Responder [raysh-pohn-dehr] To Answer
Saber [sah-behr] To Know (skills)
Sair [sah-eehr] To Leave / To Go out
Ser [sayhr] To Be (permanent)
Sentar(-se) [sayn-tahr] To Sit Down
Sentir [sayn-teehr] EU / [sayn-cheehr] BR To Feel
Subir [soo-beehr] To Go Up / To climb
[tay-rh (deh)] EU
Ter (de) To Have (to)
[tay-rh (chee)] BR
Trabalhar [trah-bah-lyiahr] To work
Trazer [trah-zehr] To Bring
Trocar [tro-kahr] To change / To Exchange
Usar [oo-sahr] To Use
To see
Ver [vayrr]
To Watch
Viajar [vee-ah-jar] To Travel / To Commute
Vir [Veerr] To Come
Voltar (a+other verb) [Vohl-tahr ah)] To Come Back /(To do again)
Voar [voo-ahr] To fly

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 AdjectivesAre another category of the Portuguese vocabulary that we need to identify and learn. Adjectives are words
that describe objects, people or circumstances. They are of great importance in the Portuguese vocabulary.

Remember Adjectives follow nouns (e.g. to say "A tall man" in Portuguese you'd say "Um Homem alto".

Because, in the Portuguese vocabulary, adjectives describe nouns, they have to agree in number and gender with these nouns.

When an adjective ends with an "o", it means that it's describing a masculine noun. The adjectives in the following table will be
all in their masculine form.

In order for you to learn better the adjectives of the Portuguese vocabulary, I'd suggest you learn first the masculine, and then
adapt it to the other forms.

You can easily transform it into the feminine gender by replacing the last "o" by an "a".

The same applies to plurals - in which case you need to ad an "s" after the "o" or "a".

e.g. "Aberto" means "open" for masculine nouns like "Um livro aberto", but if you are describing a feminine noun like "porta"
(door), you say "Uma porta aberta.

And the same for plurals: "Uns livros abertos" and "Umas portas abertas.

So, here you have the most common adjectives in the Portuguese vocabulary.

Portuguese adjective Word sound English translation

Aberto [ah-bayr-too] Open
Alto [ahl-too]EU / [ahoo-too]BR Tall
Baixo [bah-ee-shoo] Small (short in high)
Barato [bah-rah-too] Cheap
Bom/Boa/Bons/Boas [bong] Good
Bonito [Boo-nee-too] Pretty / beautiful
Caro [kah-roo] Expensive / Dear
Casado [kah-zah-doo] Married
Comprido [coom-pree-doo] Long (in lengh)
Curto [coor-too] Short (in lengh)
Directo [dee-reh-too] Direct
Right (hand) / Straight
Direito [dee-ray-too]
(legal) Right
Esquerdo [eesh-kehr-doo] Left hand
Fechado [fay-shah-doooo] Closed
Feio [fay-eeoo] Ugly
Frio [free-oo] Cold
Grande/Grandes [Gran-deh] EU / [Gran-chee] BR Big / Large
Longa [lon-gah] Long
longe (de) [lon-gee] Far (from)
Packed with people
Lotado [loo-tah-doo]
Fully booked (e.g. hotel)
Melhor/Melhores [may-lyiohr] Better
Mau/Má/Maus/Más [Maaooh] Bad
Novo [noh-voo] New / young
Pequeno [pay-kay-noo] Small / short
Perto (de) [pehr-too] Near / Close (to)
(O)Pior/(Os)Piores [(oo) pee-ohr] (The) Worse
Quente [kayn-teh]EU / [kayn-chee]BR Hot/warm
Sério [say-ree-oo] Serious / Honest
Velho [vay-lyioo] Old

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Are you finding Portuguese vocabulary difficult or rather interesting?

Don't forget to build sentences. You'll learn your Portuguese vocabulary better is you feel the words.

 Connectors are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. As their

name suggests, they connect 2 sentences and put them together in a way that makes
sense when we speak.
You don't need to know many of them. In the following table we will have the most frequent and important ones:

Portuguese connector Word sound English translation

[ah naong sehr kay] EU
A não ser que... Unless...
[ah naong sehr kee]
[komo seh] EU
Como se... As if...
[komo see]
E [ee] And
While
Enquanto [eng-kwantoh]
Whilest
Once
Já que [jah] Given that
Given that
[mash]Eu
Mas But
[mah-eess] BR
Nem [naying] nor
Nem...nem [naying...naying] Neither...nor...
Ou [oh-oo] Or
Ou...ou [oh-oo...oh-oo] Either...or...
Para [pah-rah] In order to
Por isso [poor-ee-soh] Therefore
Therefore
Portanto [poor-tan-too]
So...
[kay] EU
Que That
[kee] BR
[seh] EU
Se If
[see]
[seh-naung] EU
Senão Otherwise
[see-naung]

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 Adverbs are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. Adverbs

describe or tell us more about how a verb is performing.
Think this way: if adjectives describe objects, adverbs describe actions.

If we take as an example the sentence "Ele fala bem Português" (or in English, He speaks Portuguese well.), we can see that
the word "fala" [speaks] is the verb (in other words, the doing word) and the word "bem" [well] is the adverb - which describe
how the verb is doing.

While you are learning the Portuguese vocabulary, you'll realize that sometimes adverbs can also describe adjectives (e.g. "Ela
é muito bonita" [She is very pretty]. So, "muito" [very] is the adverb and "bonita" [pretty] is the adjective.

Also many adverb words that in English end in ...ly, in Portuguese the same words end in ...mente.

So, can you imagine how much can you increase your Portuguese vocabulary right now?

Can you imagine how may words you can immediately convert from English into Portuguese? Lots of them! For instance,
"immediately" in Portuguese is "imediatamente"; "automatically" in Portuguese is "automaticamente"; "basically" is
"basicamente", and so on.
Now, who can tell me this is not great...?

In the following table, I'll present you the most common adverbs in the Portuguese vocabulary. I'm also adding some useful
common expressions that use those adverbs. Learn them, and use them when you are talking to your Portuguese speaking
friends. They will be impressed with your Portuguese skills!

But, hey! Don't be greedy! Remember: 10 words or expressions only per day. Otherwise you'll be retaining NONE in your
memory!

OK, ready? Let's then analyze the most frequent adverbs of the Portuguese vocabulary.

At that point of the situation

Portuguese adverb Word sound English translation
Agora Now
[ah-goh-rah] Nowadays
Agora? Right now?
Já agora... [jah ah-goh-rah] might as well...
There (where the listener is)
In that place
Aí [ah-ee]
So
In that case
Still
Ainda [ah-een-dah]
Yet
Ainda agora [ah-een-dah agoh-rah] Just now
Ainda assim [ah-een-dah asee-ing] Nevertheless
Although
Ainda que [ah-een-dah kay]
Even though
Here
In this place
Aqui [ah-kee]
At this point
In this occasion
Assim [ah-sing] This way
Assim como [ah-sing coh-mo] As well as
[ee ah-sing por dee-an-teh]EU
...e assim por diante ...and so on
[ee ah-sing por chee-an-chee]BR
Assim que [ah-sing kee] As soon as
Assim seja [ah-sing say-jah] Amen
Ainda assim [Ah-een-dah-sing] However / Even though
[Bah-ing]EU
Bem Well
[Baing]BR
[deh-pray-sah] EU
Depressa Quickly
[chee-pray-sah]BR
[deh-vah-gahr] EU
Devagar Slowly
[chee-vah-gahr] BR
So
Então
In this case
[eing-taung] Having said that
Then
Então?
What's up?
Desde então [des-deing-taung] Since then
Hoje [Ohjeh] Today
[ohjen-dee-ah] EU
Hoje em dia Nowadays
[ohjen-cee-ah]
Mais hoje, mais amanhã [mah-eesh ohjeh, mah-eesh ah-mah-nyiah] Sooner or later
[deh ohjen dee-an-teh] EU
De hoje em diante From today on
[chee ohjen chee-an-chee] BR
Already
Já [jah]
Now
Já agora [jah-goh-rah] By the way
For the time being
Para já [prah jah]
For now
Over there
In that place
Lá [lah]
In between those people
Among those things
Later
Logo [loh-goo]
Immediately promptly
Logo que [loh-goo kay] As soon as
[daysh-deh loh-goo]EU
Desde logo Since then
[daysh-chee loh-goo]
[mal] EU Badly
Mal
[mah-oo] BR As soon as
Mal por mal... [Mal por mal] Preferentially...
[deh-mahlah-pee-ohr] EU
De mal a pior From worse to worse
[chee-mahoo-ah-pee-ohr] BR
More
[mah-eesh] EU In addition
Mais
[mah-eess] BR Also
Plus
[Naong mah-eesh] EU
Não ... mais Not +(verb or noun)+ anymore
[naong mah-eess] BR
[mah-eesh dear meh-noosh dear] EU
Mais dia menos dia Sooner or later
[mah-eesh cheeah meh-noosh cheeah] BR
[deh mah-eesh] EU Too much
De mais
[chee mah-eess] BR Too many
[sing mah-eesh nehing mehnosh] EU Suddenly
Sem mais nem menos
[mah-eesh cheeah meh-noosh cheeah] BR All of a sudden
[meh-noosh] EU Less
Menos
[meh-nooss] BR Minus
[ah meh-noosh kay] EU
A menos que Unless
[ah meh-noosh kee]
[Naing mah-eesh naing meh-noosh] EU No more no less
Nem mais nem menos
[Nen mah-eess nen meh-nooss] Exactely
[pay-loo meh-noosh] EU
Pelo menos At least
[pay-loo mah-eess]
[maysh-moo] EU Really
Mesmo
[mays-moo] BR Even (so)
[ay maysh-moo?] EU
É mesmo? Really?
[ ay mayss-moo?] BR
[maysh-noo kay /seh] EU
Mesmo que/se Even that / if
[mayss-moo kee / see]
[maysh-moo ah-kee] EU
Mesmo aqui Right here
[mayss-moo ah-kee]
[maysh-moo ah-sing] EU Even though
Mesmo assim
[mayss-moo ah-sing] Still! (like: expensive still!)
[oo maysh-moo] EU
O mesmo The same
[oo mayss-moo]
Nothing
Nada [nah-dah] No ... nothing
No ... anything
[deh nah-dah] EU Don't mention it
De nada
[chee nah-dah] BR You're welcome
Não ser nada a [naong sehr nah-dah ah] Do not have any family connections with
No
Não [nahong]
don't
Never
Nunca [nung-kah]
Never ever
Mais do que nunca [mah-eesh doo kay nung-kah] More than ever
Almost never
Quase nunca [kwah-zay nung-kah]
Rarely
Very
With intensity
Muito [mooing-too]
Too much
Frequently
Ontem [on-teng] Yesterday
Little (as "not much")
Pouco [paw-coo]
Rarely
Muito pouco [mooing-too paw-coo] Very little
Fazer pouco de [fah-zayr paw-coo deh] To take the micky of
Há pouco
[ah paw-coo] EU
(EU) A while ago
[fah-eess paw-coo] BR
Faz pouco (BR)
Por pouco [poor paw-coo] By the skin of my teeth
Pouco a pouco [paw-coo ah paw-coo] Little by little
Ready
Pronto [pron-too]
Readly
(pagamento) a pronto [ah pron-too] (payment) in cash
E pronto! [ee pron-too!] And full stop!
Always
For ever
Sempre [seng-pray]
Constantly
**In the end...
Sempre que [seng-pray kay] Every time that
Sim [sing] Yes
Só [soh] Only
A sós [ah sosh] In private
Also
As well
Também [tam-baying]
Too
In addition
Não só mas também [naong soh mash tam-baying] Not only but also
Tão [taung] So much
Tão (+ adjective) [taung] Too (e.g. Too good!)
Tanto [tahn-too] So much
Tanto melhor [tahn-too may-lyior] Even better
Tanto faz [tahn-too fahsh] It doesn't matter
Tanto quanto (...sei) [tahn-too kwan-too] As far as (...I know)
A páginas tantas [ah pah-gee-nash tahn-tash] EU All of a sudden
[Tar-deh] EU
Tarde Late
[Tar-chee] BR
[muing-too tar-deh] EU
Muito tarde Too Late / very late
[muing-too tar-chee] BR

** This is a rather coloquial expression in the Portuguese vocabulary but very usefull and "sempre" gives the idea of decision
(e.g. "Sempre foste a Portugal?" - "In the end, did you go to Portugal?").

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 Interrogatives are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary.

Interrogatives are the question-words. They allow us to ask questions like "Onde?" [on-
deh] - "where", "Quando" [kwando] - "When", etc.The interrogatives of the Portuguese vocabulary are
like this:

Portuguese Interrogative Word sound Meaning

A que horas? [ah kay oh-rash? What time at?
Com que frequência? [con kay fray-kwen-ceeah?] How often?
Com quem? [con kaing?] With who?
Como? [koh-moh?] How / What?
Como (é)? [koh-moh (ay)?] what (is it) like?
[don-deh?] EU
Donde? Where from?
{don-chee?] BR
[deh kay cohr?] EU
De que côr? What colour?
[chee-kee-cohr] BR
Há quanto tempo? [ah kwan-too teing-poo?] How long ago?
* (O) que? [oo kay?] what?
[on-deh?] EU
Onde? where?
[on-chee?]
[pah-rah on-deh?] EU
Para onde? where to?
[pah-rah on-chee?]
[pah-rah kay?] EU
Para que? What for?
[pah-rah kee?]
[poohr kay?] EU
Porque? / Por que? Why?
[poohr kee?]
Qual [kwal?] Which one
Quais? [kwaiss?] Which ones?
Quando? [kwan-doo?] When?
 Quanto? [kwan-too?] How much?
[kwan-toosh?] EU
Quantos? How many?
[kwan-tooss?]
Quantos anos? [kwan-toos ah-noos?] How old?
[deh kay tah-mah-nyio?] EU How big/small?
De que tamanho?
[chee kee tah-mah-nyio?] What size?
Quem? [kaying?] Who?
Quem? [kaying?] Who?

* "O que?" is normally followed by a verb, (e.g. "O que bebe?" - "what would you like to drink?"), whereas "Que?" is followed
by a noun (e.g. "Que carro tem?" - "What car do you have?").

Note: When European (EU) Portuguese native speakers ask a question, they normally emphasize these question words of the
Portuguese vocabulary with "é que" (e.g. Quem é que come carne? - Who eats meat?). If you ask questions with this "é que",
you'll impress your Portuguese friends, because normally, only native speakers use it! However, it has to be said really fast to
sound natural. My suggestion is: practise them all running the words together like this: "Como é que?" [koo-may kay?], "porque
é que?" [poohr-kay-kay?], and so on.