Portuguese Telephone Vocab & How to Leave a Voicemail Message in Portuguese

this is what public pay phones look like in brazil

Portuguese Telephone / Phone Call Vocab

o telefone, fone – telephone, phone

extensão – extension

diretório – directory

celular – cellular

secretária eletrônica (or just “secretária “) – voicemail box

o gancho – the hook, hanger (for the phone)

carregador – charger

carregar – to charge

ligar – to call, make a phone call (the Portuguese word “chamar” also means to call, but it is used more for calling out to someone, not through the phone)

uma chamada, uma ligação – a call

identificador de chamadas – caller ID

“atender o telefone” – to answer the phone

bloquear chamadas – to block calls

gravar – to record

um recado, uma  mensagem – a (phone) message

discar – to dial

“alô?” – “hello?” – this is how most people answer the phone in Brazil

conversar – to have a conversation

bate papo – to chat

bater o telefone na cara de alguém – to hang up on someone *colloquial

Examples of Voicemail Messages in Portuguese

“Sugestões de Recados para Secretária Eletrônica”

“por favor deixe uma mensagem e eu retornarei a sua chamada” – “please leave a message and i will return your call”

“voce ligou para o numero certo, a pessoa certa, o lugar certo, mas na hora errada. deixe uma mensagem apos o bip.” – “you called the right number, the right person, the right place, but at the wrong time. leave a message after the beep.”

GETTING A CELL PHONE IN BRAZIL

There are multiple carriers that you can choose from when you are thinking about buying a cell phone in Brazil. Basically you purchase a sim card, put money on it and then purchase a cell phone. Some of the popular carriers include “Oi” and “Vivo.”