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

Basic Portuguese Computer Terms

Brazil has become famous for its computer hackers and tech obsession. Although tech gadgets are much more expensive in Brazil than they are in the states (next time you go, try bringing a few iphones to sell and see the crazy profits you can make), that does not mean that people obsess over the newest technology any less. Here’s a Portuguese vocab list for all of you wondering about basic computer and tech terminology.

tecnologia – technology

eletrônico – electronic

armazenamento – storage

o computador – the computer

a memória – the memory

o botão – the button

“ligar/ desligar o computador” – to turn on / off the computer

clicar – to click

o arquivo, or a pasta – file

selecionar – to select

salvar – to save

apagar (or deletar) – to delete

copiar – to copy

colar – to paste

editar – to edit

imprimir – to print

baixar – to download (or you can say: “dar download”)

a tela – the screen

a impressora – the printer

o teclado – the keyboard

as caixas de som – speakers

gravador de DVD – DVD burner

processador – processor

o documento – the document

sem-fio – wireless

janela – window

vírus – virus

vídeo – video

atualizar – to update

planilha – spreadsheet

uma programa – a program, software

configurações– settings

o servidor – server

enviar – to send (to)

a segurança – security

receber – to receive

o projetor – projector

o programador – programmer

a senha – password

notebook – laptop

o jogo de computador – computer game

o engenheiro – engineer

cartão de memória – memory card

ajuda – help

gráficos – graphics

formatar – to format

fonte – font

um erro – an error

os dados – data

a copiadora – copier

o código – code

a calculadora – calculator

o cabo – cable

inteligência artificial – artificial intelligence

um fio – a (computer) wire, cable

aplicação – application

algoritmo – algorithm

acessórios – accessories

o disco rígido – hard drive

o pen driver – a USB flash drive

botar – to put (up), as in to upload a file

digitar – to type

rascunho – draft

anexar um arquivo – to attach a file

denunciar spam – to report spam

lixeira – trash  

assunto – subject 

navegador – browser

assinatura – signature 

aba – tab

banda larga – broadband

cadastrar-se – sign up/create an account

fazer login/entrar – to login

sair – to log out

 

“eu botei as fotos no meu Orkut.” – “i put the pictures up on my Orkut.” (*Orkut was for a long time like the Brazilian Facebook, everyone had an Orkut page. but these days Facebook is becoming about equal in popularity.)

“João, salva o documento nessa janela e desliga o computador para mim, por favor.” – “John, save the document in this window and turn the computer off for me, please.”

*”mouse,” “ipod,” “website” (or “site”), “software,” “hardware,” “modem,” “joystick,” “fax,” “demo,” and “monitor” are all the same words in Portuguese, just pronounced with their accent