100 Essential Portuguese Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Portuguese	Type
hello	olá	interjection
goodbye	tchau	interjection
yes	sim	interjection
no	não	interjection
please	por favor	interjection
thank you	obrigado	interjection
sorry	desculpe	interjection
and	e	conjunction
but	mas	conjunction
or	ou	conjunction
because	porque	conjunction
here	aqui	adverb
there	lá	adverb
always	sempre	adverb
never	nunca	adverb
together	junto	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Portuguese	Type
man	homem	noun
woman	mulher	noun
boy	rapaz	noun
girl	menina	noun
friend	amigo	noun
mother	mãe	noun
father	pai	noun
brother	irmão	noun
sister	irmã	noun
son	filho	noun
daughter	filha	noun
child	criança	noun
husband	marido	noun
wife	esposa	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Portuguese	Type
to be	ser	verb
to have	ter	verb
to do	fazer	verb
to go	ir	verb
to come	vir	verb
to eat	comer	verb
to drink	beber	verb
to want	querer	verb
to need	precisar	verb
to know	saber	verb
to speak	falar	verb
to read	ler	verb
to write	escrever	verb
to listen	ouvir	verb
to work	trabalhar	verb
to buy	comprar	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Portuguese	Type
good	bom	adjective
bad	mau	adjective
new	novo	adjective
old	velho	adjective
young	jovem	adjective
tall	alto	adjective
short	baixo	adjective
nice	simpático	adjective
kind	gentil	adjective
shy	tímido	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Portuguese	Type
red	vermelho	adjective
blue	azul	adjective
green	verde	adjective
yellow	amarelo	adjective
black	preto	adjective
white	branco	adjective
orange	laranja	adjective
purple	roxo	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Portuguese	Type
one	um	number
two	dois	number
three	três	number
four	quatro	number
five	cinco	number
six	seis	number
seven	sete	number
eight	oito	number
nine	nove	number
ten	dez	number
zero	zero	number
twenty	vinte	number

Time

10 words

English	Portuguese	Type
today	hoje	adverb
tomorrow	amanhã	adverb
yesterday	ontem	adverb
morning	manhã	noun
afternoon	tarde	noun
evening	noite	noun
day	dia	noun
week	semana	noun
month	mês	noun
year	ano	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Portuguese	Type
water	água	noun
coffee	café	noun
tea	chá	noun
milk	leite	noun
bread	pão	noun
cheese	queijo	noun
fruit	fruta	noun
apple	maçã	noun
egg	ovo	noun
rice	arroz	noun

Home

4 words

English	Portuguese	Type
house	casa	noun
door	porta	noun
window	janela	noun
bed	cama	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Portuguese words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Portuguese words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Portuguese

Portuguese vocabulary testFind your level How long does Portuguese take to learn?A realistic plan

Portuguese for beginners questions

What are the first Portuguese words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Portuguese that means words like olá (hello), obrigado (thank you), água (water) and comer (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Portuguese written?

Portuguese uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 18 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Portuguese?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Portuguese words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.