Let’s start with the basics! One of the simplest Portuguese greetings is Olá!Hi! and one of the simplest ways to say goodbye is Tchau!Bye! , or the slightly more formal Adeus!Goodbye! . However, it’s also very common to say hello or goodbye with a more specific greeting based on what time of day it is.
Portuguese Greetings Throughout the Day
These are the distinct Portuguese greetings for each time of day:
- Morning: Bom diaGood morning
- Afternoon: Boa tardeGood afternoon
- Evening / Night: Boa noiteGood evening, Goodnight)
The exact boundary between a manhãthe morning , a tardethe afternoon , and a noitethe night is rather inconsistent. A rough way to think of it is Bom dia (before 12), Boa tarde (after 12), and Boa noite (when it gets dark).
In English it would be strange to use Good night as a “hello”, or Good afternoon as a “goodbye”, but in Portuguese, these greetings can actually be used in both contexts! For example, let’s say you just bought something in a store during the day. Before leaving, you could say to the cashier:
Obrigado e boa tarde!Thank you and (have a) good afternoon! (male speaker)
Obrigada e boa tarde!Thank you and (have a) good afternoon! (female speaker)
>>>For a closer look at how to greet people in Portugal, check out our blog post on Kissing Etiquette in Portugal.
Now let’s practice these basic greetings in the next lesson!
Muito claro obrigada
Here in the Azores, everyone tells me that you use Boa tarde from noon to when it is dark, and only boa noite once it is dark. It this just an azorean thing or is there more flexibility in the usage than you suggest above? I was expecting to have an expression for good evening to cover the time after work until it is bed-time.
The line between “boa tarde” and “boa noite” is indeed flexible. Maybe it wasn’t clearly stated in this Learning Note, but this line hints to it: “Although the transition from a manhã to a tarde is always clearly 12:00/noon, the rest of the terms are used a lot more loosely in conversation”. So, yes, for many people, “boa noite” is only used once it’s dark, which might be after 5pm during winter or only after 9pm in the summer. For many others, after 6-7pm, regardless of how sunny it still is, “boa noite” becomes the norm. “Boa noite” makes no distinction between “evening” and “night”, though – it’s all lumped together. There’s no expression just for “evening”.
Quite easy now after 3 months over here! lol
Put your rule to the test in Caldas da Rainha today at 1240pm greeted 4 different people with boa tarde and each time they responded with bom dia. It seems here it depends if you have eaten lunch!
Haha, yes, some people choose their greetings based on their lunch time (which isn’t very logical). If you don’t have lunch at all, maybe your day, or morning at least, never ends!
Where I live boa tarde is only after your lunch and boa noite once it’s dark. I like the after lunch part, if its past 1pm and someone says bom dia you tell them to go eat their lunch!
We, Spaniards follow the same rule. The morning ends when we have lunch (that means late!) and Good night is only used once it is dark (which may be around 10PM in summer in the South!)
Joseph’s reply is great, and I just wanted to add that here in Madeira, people seem to do the same thing regarding boa tarde/boa noite. The “boa noite” usually doesn’t come out until after it gets dark which can be pretty late in the summer months.
An excellent way to practice Portuguese: Obrigado!
Great unit!
Boa tarde – I was in Portugal recently and speaking to a Portuguese friend who taught me a less formal way to greet when meeting someone again after a while which was “Prazer a ver-te”. This translates as “nice to see you” I think?
Olá, Ben! That’s correct, “Prazer em ver-te” means “Nice to see you” and isn’t so formal as the alternative “Prazer em vê-lo” or “Prazer em vê-la” (for a man or woman, respectively) 🙂
Just starting. In your example of Prezer em ve-lo there is male and female version. As a woman will I apply the female version even if I am greeting a male? Get confused but understand Obrigada is always the term I must use as I am a female.
Great question! In this case, it depends on who you are speaking to. If you’re greeting a male, you use the version ending in -lo, and if you’re greeting a woman, you use the version ending in -la.
This is because you are basically saying “Pleasure to see you“, and you refers to whoever you are speaking to. Obrigada is different because you are referring to yourself with that word. Even though you’re saying “thank you“, grammatically it’s more like you are saying “I’m obliged“.
Thank you for the explanation. Makes total sense.
It is great way to start the learning process!
I remember seeing in one of the shorties the expression “Que bom ver-te por aqui” also used. Slowly connecting the dots, very slowly, haha
Yes, that would mean “Nice to see you (around) here” 🙂
During the pandemic, I am paying a friend to make me lunch during the week. It’s usually ready at 1pm and she sends me a message “bom dia. almoço pronto”. Seems lunchtime is it here in the Açores.
“Good morning/Good day. Lunch is ready”. Something we all like to hear, I guess!
I started today after wasting (?) many hours with D.L. . It seems to be the right way to leap a rather difficult language.
Well done, muito obrigado
Started today as well and totally agree! Muito obrigada!!
This Portugese language platform is really interesting ❤️
Very clear and simple
Not sure if this is a “Time of Day” Question or a “Preposition” Question but….. I noticed in the Lesson 1 phrases that they are all (I think) “de” for the dawn/morning and “à” for afternoon / evening /night. Maybe it’s just the examples or is this a quasi rule in common usage ?
e.g. “Eu bebo café de manhã” & “Eu bebo café de madrugada” vs. “Eu bebo café à tarde” & “Eu bebo café à noite”
Obrigado !
Olá, Peter. Well spotted! We can use “de” with any time of day, but “à” is only used with “tarde” and “noite”. So, we have:
– De manhã
– De tarde / à tarde (both are fine)
– De noite / à noite (both are fine)
– De madrugada
With “manhã”, the avoidance of “à” might have to do with the fact that “à manhã” is indistinguishable from “amanhã” (tomorrow). That doesn’t explain why we don’t say “à madrugada” – it’s just how the language has evolved over time 🙂
Olá Joseph –
Muito Claro – Obrigado !
Olá,
I was told:
‘de Manhã’ means ‘in the mornings’, any morning. ‘Da manhã = de a manhã’ means ‘in the morning’, a specific morning. Was it correct?
Well… not exactly! If you say “Vou ao ginásio amanhã de manhã” you’re saying that you’re going to the gym tomorrow morning, in the morning, in that specific morning. Also, you could say “Vou ao ginásio todos os dias às 8 da manhã”, meaning that you go to the gym everyday at 8:00 am, in the morning, every morning, any morning.
Saying just “Vou ao ginásio de manhã” you could be referring to every morning (any morning) or just the next morning (a specific morning).
After watching some of your YouTube vids, I realized that you guys have a real understanding of the language. I found your website and signed up for one year. I am very excited to learn. And, I get to practice what I learned this May, when I travel to Portugal for the first time. Thanks again.
I just love this site and your lessons and explanations. Thank you. I do have a quick grammar question. In the Dias, horas e minutos section there is a sentence “Ela precisa de um segundo”. Can I ask why it isn’t “Ela precisa dum segundo”, thereby contracting de and um. Perhaps it is because it is precisar de but I am a bit confused. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much! 🙂
About your question, ‘dum’ is an optional contraction. So, we can opt by using it or just keeping the two words separated: ‘de um’. Both are correct and commonly heard 🙂
Still new to these things,but I am sure I will get used to this
Hi, curious as to why ‘a noite’ and ‘a tarde’ become ‘boa noite ‘and ‘boa tarde’ for greetings in the night and afternoon, but ‘a manha’ becomes ‘bom dia’ – why not bom manha….?
Olá Liz!
That’s actually a good question from a literal point of view. But there’s no better way to explain it than just “it’s just how it is”. We just say “Bom dia” for good morning! Seriously, since Bom dia it’s said in the morning, maybe it started as a greeting for the whole day, since the beginning of the day. That’s the only serious explanation I can find.
Let me give you my own example: Sometimes I say “Bom dia” at any time of the day. When people correct me “Boa tarde!” I reply “The day has 24 hours!”. Which isn’t incorrect! 🙂
I got a bit lost in the lesson as I couldn’t figure out when to use a or á or de. I can’t see where this is covered. I’m guessing de translates to ‘in the’?
This learning note appears in a few different units, but I think you’re likely referring to the lessons in the “Periods of Time” unit, right?
If so, the prepositions “a” and “de” are covered a couple units back in the Prepositions 1 unit: https://www.practiceportuguese.com/units/main/prepositions-1/ Prepositions are tricky, though, so it’s a good question.
Keep in mind that prepositions do not typically have a consistent translation. It’s much more based on context / what role that preposition is playing in the sentence. In general, a could translate to to, at, on, etc, and de could translate to of, from, by, about, etc. Sometimes they don’t translate to anything, as there are many instances in which Portuguese uses a preposition, but English does not, and vice versa (e.g. Gosto de café – I like coffee). There are some general guidelines, but for the most part, you just have to get used to how Portuguese employs different prepositions over time.
In the context of time, a often translates to at and de often translates to in. When you see à or às, that is a contraction of the preposition a with the definite article a or as. Similarly, de often contracts with definite articles to form do, da, dos, das.
Here are a few examples:
de manha – in the morning
à noite – at night
à uma da tarde – at 1 in the afternoon
os meses do ano – the months of the year
Muito obrigada!
De nada
Thanks Molly! I also read the reply to Peter’s comment above which helped as well.
Very good
Obrigada!
Estou super entusiasmada! Muito obrigada🙏🏼
Wow wow wow wow
Hi, today I heard something like a-por-da-meia, and I was wondering what time is this ?
Well… You may have misheard it, because that doesn’t mean anything. If possible, try to figure out what that person actually said. Now I’m curious! 🙂
Doesn’t the accented i (í) in períodos mean, that the stress is on that i? The recording seems to have the stress on the following “o”.
You’re absolutely right! The stress should be on the “í” as the accent indicates. However, this is one of those language mysteries where general pronunciation is deviant from the rule. I’d say that the correct way is to stress the “i”, but you’ll hear the stress on the “o” everywhere… It is a mystery!
super
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Thank you!
I have started learning BP on Duolingo. As German, I find EP is so much easier to pronounce. 😉👍
Great
It all makes sense except bom. Why not boa dia? Why bom for dia but not tarde and noite?
It’s all about gender agreement. Even though it ends with A, “dia” is a masculine noun, so it asks for “bom”. “Tarde” and “noite” are feminine nouns, so they take “boa” 🙂