You learned how to say hello and goodbye in the Greetings unit, along with a few polite phrases, but what about after that initial greeting? You probably want to have a little more conversation when you meet someone new! In this Learning Note, we’ll cover the basics of how to introduce yourself in Portuguese.
How Are You?
It’s common to begin a conversation by greeting the other person and asking if they are doing well:
Tudo bem?Is everything (going) well?
This question is used similarly to the English expressions How are you? or How’s it going? More literally, Tudo bem? translates to All well?
To respond to this question, you can simply repeat the same words as a statement. Here are some options:
Tudo bemEverything's fine
Tudo bem, e contigo?Everything's fine, and (with) you? (sing.,inf.)
Tudo bem, e consigo?Everything's fine, and (with) you? (sing.,formal)
Sim, e contigo?Yes, and (with) you? (sing.,inf.)
Note: We’ll discuss formality in more depth in a later unit, but for now we’ll continue to mark the informal and formal phrases so you know which is which.
As an alternative, you may also hear one of the following questions:
Como estás?How are you? (sing.,inf.)
Como está?How are you? (sing.,formal)
You can respond to this question by saying:
Estou bem, e tu?I'm well, and you? (sing.,inf.)
Estou bem, e você?I'm well, and you? (sing.,formal)
Again, the first (with tu) is more informal and the second (with você) is more formal.
Note: You may also hear Como é que está? or Como é que estás? This é que bit is very common in Portuguese questions. We’ll learn more about it in the Questions unit.
Who Are You?
Next, someone may ask for your nomename by saying:
Como te chamas?What is your name? (sing.,inf.)
Como se chama?What is your name? (sing.,formal)
These questions translate more literally to What do you call yourself? There are a few ways you can respond:
Chamo-me JoelMy name is Joel
O meu nome é JoelMy name is Joel
Eu sou o JoãoI am João
Eu sou a MariaI am Maria
Notice in the last 2 examples how a definite article (o or a) is included, depending on whether you are a male or female. It’s as if you are saying I am the João or I am the Maria. This may sound unusual in English, but it’s perfectly normal in Portuguese.
Nice to Meet You!
To tell someone it’s a pleasure to meet you in Portuguese, you can simply say one of these phrases:
Muito prazer!Very nice to meet you!
Prazer!Pleasure!
These are shortened versions of the following:
- Prazer em conhecer-teNice to meet you (sing.,inf.)
- Prazer em conhecê-loNice to meet you (sing.,formal,speaking to male)
- Prazer em conhecê-laNice to meet you (sing.,formal,speaking to female)
(We’ll dive into the grammar of these much later in the Clitic Pronouns unit.)
Where Are You From?
Another part of introducing yourself in Portuguese may include talking about where you are from. You could ask:
És de onde?Where are you from? (sing.,inf.)
É de onde?Where are you from? (sing.,formal)
Note: The word order is flexible here, so you could also say: De onde és? or De onde é?
If you know the person’s name, you could be a little more polite and friendly by saying:
O Rui é de onde?Where are you (Rui) from?
If you are asking more than one person at once:
De onde são?Where are you(pl.) from?
To respond to questions like this, you could say something like:
Eu sou de FrançaI am from France
Nós somos da AlemanhaWe are from Germany
Alternatively, you could use an adjective like this:
Nós somos polacosWe're Polish
Eu sou americanoI'm American (masc.)
Let’s break this down a little bit:
- Notice that the verb ser is used when talking about where someone is from, as this is a more permanent characteristic.
- De is a preposition that means of or from. Sometimes de comes before the name of the country and other times it’s da or do. This is because a definite article is required for some countries (de + a = da, de + o = do), but not for others. If you want to look up your country, we discuss it more in this learning note. Luckily it’s a small detail, so you’ll be understood either way. 🙂
Practice Introducing Yourself in Portuguese!
In the next few lessons, members can practice phrases for asking and answering these questions to introduce yourself in Portuguese.
Hi there
Some expressions have not been provided audio especially at the start of the lecture i.e. ‘Tudo bem, e contigo?’ . Could you please provide the prononciation?
Cheers
Hi there! Don’t worry, these are on the list to record. We record in batches, so often we go ahead and publish an article and then add audio to the written examples later. Sorry for the delay!
No worries Molly, thanks for the update.
A huge thank you, from this beginner to you, for this fantastic site. I wish I had found it sooner!
Thank you so much for your comment, Jen! Never too late 🙂
I only signed up yesterday and just gave it all a try – love your approach and have the impression that I finally found THE ideal learning studio for me! Great work!
Early in the article, it responds to “Como esta?” with “Estou bem, e voce?”
I was under the impression in European Portuguese that you really avoid the word voce most of the time and either have it implied (without actually saying the subject) or use “o senhor/a senhora” instead of saying the voce. I know that can vary a bit in different regions, but is it strange and/or rude to say “Estou bem, e voce?”
Olá, Derek. Some people with a more traditional/conservative education do find it a bit blunt to be treated directly as “você”, which is most of the reason why we err on the side of caution and suggest avoiding it. Another part of the reason is that it quiiiickly gets repetitive and there’s no need for that! We often omit all pronouns.
Either way, it’s usually fine to use it here and there (including courtesy questions like this one), especially in informal contexts between people in the same age group and no hierarchy. If in doubt, you can always flip it to “Estou bem. E o senhor/a senhora?” 🙂
How would you say Pleased to meet you to a mixed couple? Prazer em conhecê-vocês?
For any pair or group of people, regardless of gender, we say Prazer em conhecer-vos 🙂
Can you invert the verb in – É de onde? – ie De onde é? De onde é em Portugâl? I feel more comfortable with that construction as it corresponds to the spanish construction (although the spellings are different) I learned spanish before I started studying portuguêse.
Olá, David. Yes, you can! É de onde? = De onde é?
To say “Nice to meet you again” can you say “Prazer em conhece-lo de novo” ou “Prazer em conhece-lo outra vez”?
Both translations are correct and technically possible, but since in theory, you can only meet someone (for the first time) once, it wouldn’t make sense to say any of this. However, you could say “Prazer em vê-lo de novo/outra vez/novamente” (Nice to see you again) or “Prazer em encontrá-lo de novo/outra vez/novamente” (Nice to meet you again*).
*Conhecer for when you first meet/get to know someone (doesn’t have to be in person), encontrar for when you meet anyone you’ve already met before (presumably in person, but Zoom probably has something to say about that).
1) Eu sou da o de Espanha?
2) Nos somos Espanholes o Spanhoes?
What’s the right way to say it?
I’m Spanish!
Obrigada!
Olá, Ofelia! Both “da Espanha” and “de Espanha” are fine to use, but I think “de Espanha” is more common (and my personal preference). E vocês são espanhóis (masculino) e espanholas (feminino)!
How could I say “I am Latvian, I am from Latvia”? What’s the difference between the male and female version of the term Latvian? And finally – how can I say LatvianS in Portuguese?
Thank you so much in advance for your answer. I have been looking for a satisfactory answer in some online dictionaries, but I haven’t found a clear one yet. Muito obrigada!
Olá! 🙂 Here’s the translation:
– Male version: Eu sou letão. Eu sou da Letónia.
– Female version: Eu sou letã. Eu sou da Letónia.
– Plural version (male or mixed gender group): Nós somos letões. Nós somos da Letónia.
– Plural version (female-only group): Nós somos letãs. Nós somos da Letónia.
I’m very grateful for the approach you take. I feel like I was getting no where fast on some other sites. I especially appreciate the pronunciation work.
OMG THANK YOU for the de+A = da and de+O= do! You should see my flashcards! De Do De Da … it’s been driving me zippideeee do da crazy!
If you are checking in at a hotel or being served in a shop should you use the formal or informal reply when asked “como está?”
Olá, Scott. In most cases, it would be more appropriate to reply formally 🙂
Thanks. And as there is no audio clip how do you pronounce the end of “você” without the s as in “Estou bem, e você?”
This Learning Note has the pronunciation for você under “The Different Forms of You”. (These phrases are on the list to be recorded soon.) 😊
Hi! Why do you say “Prazer em conhecer-te”, but “Prazer em conhecê-la/lo”? Is there a reason why you use conhecer with the tu-form but conhecê with the você form?
By the way: I am really enjoying this course!
Olá, Josina, e obrigado!
In both cases, we start from “conhecer”. But the você form needs to be modified because of the third-person clitic pronoun (o/a). We have this rule that if the verb form ends in a consonant (conheceR), that consonant is dropped before the clitic pronouns o/a. We also add an L to the clitic. So we end up with “conhece-lo”. Finally, we have to add the circumflex to keep the stress on the final syllable, just like in “conhecer”. This is how we arrive at “conhecê-lo”.
When I first read this I was confused because I was not familiar with the use of the word “clitic” but then realized they refer to direct or indirect objects. After reviewing the lessons on clitic pronouns to learn the clitic for for each pronoun, the explanation makes sense and is very helpful. Obrigado
I’m curious, why do we say : Eu sou A Jenny, but not Chamo-me a Jenny / O meu nome é a Jenny.
Why is there an article in one case, but not in the others? Is the article more linked to the use of ser than to the name?
Obrigada desde já
Indeed, when we’re directly naming something and using the verb “chamar”, we don’t use definite articles. Maybe because the verb ‘chamar’ is focused on the name as if it were an object in itself:
– Eu chamo-me João.
– Este objeto chama-se mesa.
– O livro chama-se “Fogo”.
This also happens when we say “O meu nome é Jenny” -> we’re using the verb ‘ser’, but not adding any definite articles before the person’s name in this case.
That’s really interesting! I hadn’t thought of it that way.
Muito obrigada
So, just for fun, if I wanted to use the (U.S. Southern) phrase “Where are all y’al from?l”, I might say ‘São de onde são? Perhaps silly, but I am curious.
Fellow American here 🤠. The vocês form would be the closest thing to “y’all”. So you could say De onde são? It means the same thing, except that using “y’all” tends to have a more informal/friendly tone, whereas the Portuguese version could be used in any context.
Both informal and formal forma are provided. Great! Is it customary to “attempt” to answer in the same level of familiarity as that provided by the inquisitor?
Well… This is a tricky question. If the inquisitor is a much older person or a teacher or someone at work in a higher position, you should address them in a formal way even if they address you by “tu”.
However, if someone you don’t know that well addresses you in an informal way, that may make you feel uncomfortable, you could either do the same to them so they realize that’s not appropriate or you could keep address them in a formal way. This will show them what you find more appropriate.
Hey, love this so far! I think it would be great to have a progression bar at the bottom so you can see how far you’ve come along per level (eg A1)
It will encourage people to keep going I think! Just a thought!
What part of the speech is “conhecer-te” in “Prazer em conhecer-te”: is it a substantive or a verb? If it is a verb, what is the reason about the difference “conhecer-te, conhecê-lo” (in both cases, I know you, so I am the subject)? If we conjugate the verb, it should be conheco, shouldn’t it? Is it right to say “Conheco te/ conheco lo”?
Conheço-te = I know you (sing.informal)
Conheço-lo is grammatically wrong. It turns into Conheço-o = I know him
Conhecer-te (conhecer + tu) = To know you (sing.inf.)
Conhecê-lo (conhecer + ele/você) = To know him OR YOU (sing.FORMAL TREATMENT, masculine)
So:
Prazer em conhecer-te = Pleasure in meeting you = Pleasure to meet you (sing.informal)
Prazer em conhecê-lo = Pleasure in meeting you = Pleasure to meet you (sing.formal, masculine) OR Pleasure to meet him. (even though this sentence would only make sense in the context of “you”)
In “Prazer em …, , why is it conhecer (infinitive) with “te” and conhecê ( I gather 3rd person singular ?) with “lo” or “la”?
Thank you for your help.
Just found the answer from Joseph on August 7th, 2021. Sorry for asking!
No problem at all! If you have any additional questions, we’ll be here 🙂
The pronunciation of “de” seems to change in the recordings of “É de onde” (and other sentences) but I don’t know if that’s me just being knew to Portuguese pronunciation.
In the slow versions, it sounds like what I’ve learned so far: de = almost just the “d” pronounced.
However in the fast versions, to my ears it sounds like “de” become a “di” sound. (Rhyming with English “see”)
Is this my ears playing tricks on me? Or is there a phonological rule I’m not aware of.
Any guidance would be much appreciated!
Olá! Let me reassure you that your ears are working quite well 🙂 You’re picking up on certain pronunciation variations that tend to come up more the faster we speak. Here’s a detailed Learning Note covering those variations, including the one you mentioned: Pronunciation Variations | Practice Portuguese
Thank you so much for all of your help! Have a good day>
If i get asked ”Como é que é” what should I reply?
This is a relatively common – and very informal – way of asking “How’s it going?”. Actually, this is usually immediately followed by a “Tudo bem?”: “Como é que é, tudo bem?”. Even if it’s just a short “Como é que é?” you should simply reply: “Está tudo bem, obrigada!” (All good, thank you!). 🙂
I got to learn more about how to coversate in portugues while introducing
Olá – If I were to say “Chamo-me David” in Portugal, would I normally use my American pronunciation of David or try to make sound it Portuguese? I’d be fine with either but wouldn’t want to complicate things for the people I’m speaking with.
Olá. That’s up for each individual to decide. My personal opinion is that you should generally introduce yourself using the original pronunciation of your name, rather than trying to proactively adapt it to the local flavor (even if people fail to pronounce it correctly) 🙂
When speaking to an elder, such as one’s parent or grandparent would you say Como está s or Como está?
When addressing an elder in a respectful manner, you would typically use the formal “Como está?” This shows politeness and respect! 🙂
I was taught previously by a Portuguese teacher it was De onde e? and not ‘e de onde?’, does it make a difference?
No difference! As explained in the Learning Note, the word order is flexible and both alternatives are fine to use 🙂
I’m a bit confused on when to use voce vs consigo when asking how someone is doing in the second person formal. What’s the difference? In the smart review both “e consigo” and “e voce” are used for “…and you?”
Olá. If we translate each one literally, “e você?” corresponds to “and you?”, while “e consigo?” corresponds to “and with you?”. We use one or the other depending on the underlying question. Some examples:
1)
Person A: Boa tarde. Como vai? (Good afternoon. How are you doing?)
Person B: Vou bem, e você? (I’m doing well, and you?)
2)
Person A: Boa tarde. Tudo bem? (Good afternoon. Is everything going well [with you]?)
Person B: Sim, e consigo? (Yes, and with you?)
Hope this helps 🙂
Excellent explanation, muito obrigado.