How To Write Emails in Portuguese

How To Write Formal And Informal Emails In Brazilian Portuguese

Thanks to posts by Transparent :)… here are some suggestions for writing both formal and informal emails in Brazilian Portuguese:

gmail in portuguese

How To Write Formal Emails in Portuguese

For those who need to learn Portuguese for work, this will come in handy…

1. Salutation / Greeting

A formal salutation to use is “Prezado Senhor” or “Prezada Senhora”, depending on the gender (senhor is male, senhora is female). You can also use Senhores, if you’re writing to more than one person.

If you don’t know who the e-mail is going to, you could just say “Bom dia,” or “Boa tarde,” or “Boa noite,”

2. Body of the e-mail

Here are some key phrases you might need:

-Quero agradecer (I’d like to thank you…)

-Encaminho em anexo (I’m sending you an attachment)

-Solicito essa oportunidade (I’m seeking this opportunity)

-Venho enviar a documentação (I’m sending you the documentation)

3. Ending

The most common way to sign off a formal email is with “Atenciosamente” (sincerely). Here are some other ones you can use:

Sem mais, agradeço desde já,  (And with that, I thank you in advance)

Com meus cumprimentos, (Best regards)

Atentamente, Sinceramente (Sincerely)

So let’s look at a full example e-mail.

Prezado Senhor,

Somos uma empresa de representações em vendas e temos em nosso quadro funcional apenas vendedores altamente capacitados e profissionalizados.

Anexamos nesta oportunidade nosso portfolio para análise e manifestamos nossa intenção de representar sua empresa em municípios da região. Caso haja interesse por parte de sua empresa, nos colocamos à disposição para novos contatos.

Agradecemos a atenção.

Atenciosamente,

Sérgio Fernandes

How to Write Informal Emails in Portuguese

These are the types of messages you’d send to co-workers, friends, or acquaintances.

1. Salutation / Greeting

First, look at This Post on informal greetings in Portuguese. And also, Here is a list of words for informally addressing your friends in Portuguese.

You can use “Querido” or “Querida” for dear, if it’s a loved one or a friend. The simplest salutation is just Olá or more commonly Oi (hello, hi). For co-workers who you may not know well, you could use “Prezado colega…” or “Estimado colega…” (Dear colleague) and these would be more formal salutations.

2. Body of the E-mail

Some key phrases for the body of the email:

–Tudo bem? or Tudo bom? (How’s it going?)

–Como estão as coisas? (How are things?)

–Tentei ligar para você (I tried to call you)

–Queria saber se (I wanted to know if)

–Bom final de semana! (Have a good weekend)

3. Ending

In an informal email, end by saying:

Um abraço (a hug)
Um beijo (a kiss)
Abraços (hugs)
Beijos (kisses)
Abs! (short for abraços) or Bjs! (short for beijos)
Até mais! (until later! / talk to you later!)

For co-workers and slightly more formal recipients, you can use:

Saudações (salutations)
Obrigado/a (thank you)
Aguardo sua resposta (I look forward to hearing from you)

Here’s an example of an informal email.

Oi Maria!

Tudo bem? Como estão as coisas em São Paulo? Aqui está fazendo muito calor, não aguento mais.

Liguei para você ontem para ver se recebeu os documentos que enviei por Sedex. Já chegaram? Posso te passar o número de rastreamento se quiser. O pacote era para chegar na segunda-feira, por isso queria saber.

Aguardo sua resposta. Até mais!

Saudações,

João

Brazilian Portuguese: Bem Vs. Bom

Since much of Portuguese Blog is aimed at intermediate and advanced learners, I thought we’d do a post to help some of our readers who are just starting to study Portuguese. Still, this particular tip should be useful for everyone, since I’ve noticed this is a common mistake.

Bem vs. Bom

It’s important to remember that bem, which means fine or well, can be used as an adverb or adjective, whereas bom, which means good, can be used as a noun or an adjective. Since they can both be used as adjectives, it can get a little confusing. Let’s take a look at some examples to see when to use bem and when to use bom.

Correct: Eu não sinto muito bem. I don’t feel very well.

Incorrect: Eu não sinto muito bom.

Here, you use bem as an adjective to describe how you feel. This is a key one to remember, since you use it frequently in conversation:

Como você está? How are you?

Estou bem, e você? I’m fine, and you?

You would never say “Estou bom” or “Estou boa” in response to “How are you?

Correct: A comida é muito boa. The food is very good.

Incorrect: A comida é muito bem.

In this case, you need an adjective that means good, so you need bom (or boa).

Correct: Ela canta bem. She sings well.

Incorrect: Ela canta bom.

Here, you need a word to describe the verb (an adverb), so you know you’ll need bem.

Correct: O bom é que não precisa de visto. The good thing is that you don’t need a visa.

Incorrect: O bem é que não precisa de visto.

Here you need a noun, so you know you’ll need bom.

Do you have trouble distinguishing between bom and bem? What are some cases you find difficult to remember?

 

How To Make Nouns Plural in Portuguese

Here are some rules for forming plural nouns in Brazilian Portuguese:

Words ending in vowels
Just add an “s.”

janela –> janelas [window -> windows]

cotovelo –> cotovelos [elbow -> elbows]

jacaré –> jacarés [crocodile -> crocodiles}

 

2. Words ending in “r” “s” or “z”
Add an “es.”

cor–> cores [color -> colors]

mês –> meses [month -> months]*

chafariz –> chafrizes [fountain -> fountains]

*note that the circumflex disappears in the plural

 

Words that are always plural

os parabéns [congratulations]

as costas   [back] of body

os óculos   [eyeglasses]

as férias  [vacation]

 

Words ending in al

With these nouns, the al changes to ais.

sinal –> sinais  [stoplight -> stoplights]

capital –> capitais  [capital -> capitals]

moral –> morais  [moral –> morals]

 

Words ending in el

Here, el becomes éis.

papel –> papéis  [paper -> papers]

anel –> anéis  [ring -> rings]

hotel –> hoteis [hotel -> hotels]

 

Words ending in il

These nouns change their endings to is.

funil –> funis  [funnel –> funnels]

barril –> barris [barrel –> barrels]

 

Words ending in ol

These nouns have their endings changed to óis.

lençol –> lençóis

farol –> faróis

 

When a noun ends in “ão,” there are different rules for how to make it plural, and it is simply a matter of memorization to remember which nouns have which rule.

 

1. ão to ãos
irmão –> irmãos  [brother -> brothers]

mão –> mãos  [hand -> hands]

 

2. ão to ães
cão –> cães  [dog -> dogs]

pão –> pães  [bread -> bread (plural)]

alemão –> alemães [German –> Germans]

3. ão to ões
organização –> organizações  [organization -> organizations]

gavião –> gaviões  [hawk -> hawks]

avião –> aviões  [airplane -> airplanes]

 

Also, nouns that end with “em” change to ens.

nuvem –> nuvens  [cloud -> clouds]

bem –> bens  [good -> goods]

trem –> trens  [train -> trains]

 

Augmentatives & Diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese

Augmentatives In Portuguese

The suffix -ão is often used in Portuguese as an augmentative. An augmentative increases the quality of the original word, often indicating a larger size. For example:

• forte (strong) – fortão (very strong)
• centro (centre) – centrão (big centre)

Augmentatives are very popular in Brazil. An important football championship is the Brasileirão and some famous football stadiums are the Minerão in Belo Horizonte, the Barradão in Salvador, and the Engenhão in Rio de Janeiro. Names of stores also commonly adopt augmentatives, like Drogão, Feirão, Ponto Frio Bonzão and there is a popular Sunday TV programme called Domingão do Faustão. The most common augmentatives are the masculine -ão and the feminine -ona. For example:

• um jogo (a game) – um jogão (a great game)
• uma mesa (a table) – uma mesona (a big table)

Strangely enough, the masculine augmentative can also sometimes be used with a feminine noun. The noun then becomes grammatically masculine with a feminine meaning. For example:

• uma mulher (a woman)
• um mulherão (a big/hot woman) (normally used by men rather than women to describe a woman).

Diminutives In Portuguese

A diminutive is a word formed by adding letters to the end of a word to show that something or somebody is smaller. In Portuguese, the most common diminutives are formed by adding the masculine suffix -inho, and the feminine suffix -inha.

• Livro (book) – livrinho (little book)
• Casa (house) – casinha (little house)

The suffixes -zinho and -zinha are normally added to words that end in stressed vowels.

• Café (coffee) – cafezinho (small coffee)
• Irmã (sister) – irmãzinha (little sister)

Diminutives are very popular in Brazil. Noun and adjective diminutives are the most common, but they can also be formed with other parts of speech. They are often used to convey intimacy, endearment and affection, but they can also have many different meanings or connotations. Here are just a few examples:

• Oi, amorzinho! – Hi, honey! (For somebody you love.)
• Seu bebê é tão bonitinho. – Your baby is so cute. (Showing affection.)
• Vamos tomar uma cerveja bem geladinha. – Let’s have a really nice cold beer. (To emphasize the quality of the adjective, meaning ‘nice and …’)
• Nós temos um probleminha. – We have a small problem. (Often meaning it’s a huge problem.)
• Vou tomar um uisquinho. – I’m going to have just one little whisky. (Maybe trying to hide a vice.)
• Vou fumar um cigarrinho. – I’m going to smoke just one little cigarette. (Maybe trying to hide a vice.)
• Vou dar uma saidinha. – I’m just going to pop out. (Implying a quick return, which is not always the case.)

Diminutives can also change the meaning of the word. For example:

• Curso – a course (in school).
• Cursinho – a preparatory course specifically for the university entrance examination (which is called the vestibular in Brazil).

Other Examples:

fofinho: this means “cute,” or “cutie pie.”

bonitinho: this means “pretty” or “cute.”

amorzinho: this literally means “little love,” used to express a person you adore.

anjinho: this means “little angel.”

baixinho: this literally means “little small person,” commonly used to describe a short person or a young child.

What Does Cuja or Cujo Mean in Portuguese?

What does Cuja/Cujo mean in Brazilian Portuguese? Cujo/Cuja is a pronoun in Portuguese that means ‘whose’ and precedes a noun without an article, but is employed as an adjective pronoun. For Example:

 “qual será o animal cujo nome a autora não quis escrever?” – “which would be the animal whose name the author did not wish to write?”

“gosto muito desse compositor cujas músicas sei de cor.” – “i really like that composer whose songs I know by heart.”

As one can observe, cujo/cuja has a possessive value that agrees in gender and number with the object possessed. Keep in mind that it isn’t used in everyday speech but you will often encounter it in written Portuguese.

*Sources:

http://eyesonbrazil.com/

Grammar Lessons: Pronouns in Portuguese

Portuguese Personal Pronoun Lesson

*In Brazil, with nouns having gender, it is very common to use ele/ela to refer to objects. For example: “eu achei ele” – “i found it” (referring to a masculine noun).

eu – i

você – you (singular)

ele – he, it (m)

ela – she, it (f)

vocês – you (plural)

nós – we

eles – they, them (m)

elas – they, them (f)

*You can avoid using the plural forms of verbs altogether by using “a gente” – for we, and “todo mundo” – the entire world/everyone,  for they. Both forms use 3rd person singular and are very commonly used in Brazilian Portuguese. 

Pronouns for “You” in Portuguese

These can be a little confusing, especially for those transitioning from other Romance languages to Brazilian Portuguese. Today in Brazil, você and vocês are by far the most commonly used pronouns to say “you.” Vós is almost never used, and tu is used only in certain areas such as the Northeast (nordeste) and the Brazilian state Rio Grande do Sul. Thus, virtually all of Brazil does NOT use the verb endings for tu and vós (i.e. no 2nd person verbs), making it much easier to learn just the 1st and 3rd person.

However, most Brazilians do use the informal reflexive pronoun te (based on tu and the same word as Spanish and French).

Since this eliminates much of the grammar-based formality, when you need to be formal (for example, when you are talking to an elder) replace você with “o senhor” for a man, and “a senhora” for a woman.

Grammar Lessons: Nouns & Gender: The Gender of Countries and Cities

Unlike most other Romance languages, Brazilian Portuguese genderizes the names of many countries of the world, and also some cities, for example, Rio de Janeiro is masculine – o Rio. To say “Rio de janeio is a beautiful city”- “O Rio de Janeiro (or O Rio) e uma cidade linda” (not to get confused, the adjective linda is feminine because it is agreeing with the feminine word cidade.) Surprisingly, the country Portugal has no gender, along with some of the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa. O Brasil is masculine.

Dropping the Plural in Brazilian Portuguese

Informal speech in Brazil may avoid the plural altogether by using “a gente” – for we, and “todo mundo” – the entire world/everyone,  for they. Both forms use 3rd person singular.

It is also becoming common in colloquial or slang Portuguese to hear people dropping the final –s on plural nouns as it happens in French. For example: as casas – the houses, becomes “as casa.” This way of speaking is not at all considered to be good grammar, however it is becoming more and more common, especially I have found, in Rio de Janeiro. In very poor areas, favelas, you will hardly hear any pluralized nouns, only the prefixes “as” or “os” give away that the word is supposed to be plural.

Portuguese Grammar Lessons – Prepositions – “Por” Vs. “Para”

If you’re like me you’ve probably found yourself stuck when speaking Portuguese trying to work out if the correct preposition is ´por´ or ´para´. The problem is, especially with por, that there are no single English equivalents. But, before we get to annoyed, we’d do well to remember that English prepositions are even more bountiful and confusing. (for example: the subtle differences between – good at, good with, good to, good for).

In terms of choosing which preposition to use – ‘por’ or ‘para’ – there are some guidelines that work most of the time, but you’ll still encounter the occasional blip or anomaly that doesn’t seem to make sense… you’ll just have to accept language is like that sometimes.

It is important to remember from the outset that por forms a contraction with the indefinite article in front of it. por + a = “pela”, por + o = “pelo”. VERY OFTEN, para is shortened to either para + a = pra, or para + o = pro.

Uses of por:
“On behalf of…”, “on account of…”:
“eu pago a conta por você” – “i’ll pay the bill for you.”
“pela amor de Deus!” – “for the love of God!”

“In exchange for…”:
“troco este casaco pelo seu chapéu” – “i’ll give you this coat for your hat”

In expressions of time for duration, frequency and as a marker:
“eles vieram por duas semanas” – they came for two weeks.”
“ele vai a Paris duas vezes por semana” – “he goes to Paris twice a week/two times per week.”
“pela primeira vez, vi que ela era bonita.” – “for the first time, I noticed she was pretty.”

Meaning by, through, along, via, over:
“vou pela praia.” – “i’m going along the beach”
“está por ai?” – “is it over there/around there?”
“viajo a Portugal por França” – “i travel to Portugal through/via France.”

Uses of para:
Destination:
“eu vou pra casa” – “i’m going home.”
“parabens pra você!” – “congratulations to you!” (this is the first line of the Brazilian “Happy Birthday” song.)
“ele vai pra onde?” – “where’s he going?”

Viewpoint:
“esse trabalho e muito dificil para me.” – this work is very difficult for me.”

Conclusion
To conclude, generally para is more direct and grounded in real things. Por is more indirect and often refers to concepts. Other common examples to illustrate the difference between por and para are:

“escrito por ele” – “written by him” versus “escrito para ele” – “written for him”.
“eu vou orar para Deus por vocês” – “i will pray to God for you.”

As Snoopy says in the cartoon above…
“por outro lado” – “on the other hand,” versus “vá pro outro lado” – “go to the other side.”

*Sources

http://brazilianportuguese.wordpress.com

Grammar Lessons: Portuguese Prepositions: The Meaning of “Até”

Até is a handy word. Most English speakers learn it as meaning “until” in English, but it also covers “even” and “up to” as well. The problem for Brazilians learning English is having to distinguish between the different meanings of the three words in English.

até – until
“eu vou ficar ali até o fim” – “i will stay there until the end.”

até – up to/to
“o onibus foi até João Pessoa.” – the bus went to João Pessoa.”
“o menino foi até a janela.” – “the boy went up to the window.”

até – even
”todo mundo ganhou uma vez, até Johnny!” – “everyone won once, even Johnny!”

Até DOES NOT mean – even if
In Portuguese “even if” in English is covered by the phrase “mesmo que” or “ainda que.”

*Sources:

http://brazilianportuguese.wordpress.com