You have been learning to speak and write proper Portuguese, but not every Portuguese person speaks perfectly 100% of the time. Depending on the context, we might prefer using simpler terms to save time, explain something in a different way, joke around, or even fit in with a group. That’s where gíria popular – or just gíriaslang – comes in. Let’s take a look at some of the most common European Portuguese slang words.
Ya
Ya, eu vou ter convoscoYeah, I'll meet you guys
Ya – also found written as iá – is often, but not exclusively, used by young people. It simply means SimYes , but can also replace, or be replaced by, ClaroOf course , CertoRight , or even Uh-huh.
Pá
Eu não sei, pá!I don't know, man!
Pá is one of the slang trademarks of the European Portuguese dialect. It can be used at the end of sentences to emphasize what’s being said, as in the example above. It can also be used in place of “uhh…”, the sound you make when you’re thinking.
Pá... não sei o que te digaWell... I don't know what to tell you
It’s so common, though, that some people end every sentence with it, even when speaking normally, which makes it sort of like a spoken comma. Epá and Opá are alternate versions, usually appearing in the beginning of a sentence or as interjections. Pá also means shovel, but they rarely appear together, so there won’t be any confusion.
Meu
Não sei, meuI don't know, man
The pronoun meu , which means mine, can also be used to say man or dude and appears in most of the same contexts as pá. Since it’s masculine, it’s used when speaking to a male.
Tipo
Sabes, tipo, quando fomos ao cinema na segunda?Do you know, like, when we went to the movies on Monday?
When speaking informally, we often make use of filler words. In English there’s like; in Portuguese there’s tipo . As is the case with its English equivalent, this one is also extensively, but not exclusively, used by teenagers. Tipo can also be used to say that guy, with the female form, tipa , meaning that gal. Tipo is also the word for type. Mixing it up with other slang:
Tipo ya... foi isso que eu lhe disseLike yeah... that's what I told him
Fixe
Another popular term is fixe which means cool, but also nice and good. It can be used in a variety of ways and contexts, such as:
Ele é um tipo fixeHe's a cool guy
A viagem foi muito fixe, adoreiThe trip was really nice, I loved it
Tens uma casa muito fixe!You have a pretty cool house!
Other Common European Portuguese Slang Terms
There are far too many slang terms in Portuguese to discuss them all here, but we’ve compiled some of the most popular below:
- a imperial20cl draft beer (in the South) o fino20cl draft beer (in the North)
- buéa lot
- muitavery (a variation of the adverb 'muito')
- PáMan, dude, well, um meuman, dude (interjection)
- fixecool, awesome barilcool, awesome
- porreirocool, awesome (masc) porreiracool, awesome (fem)
- bacanocool, awesome (masc) bacanacool, awesome (fem)
- o gajoguy, fella o tipoguy, fella
- o fulanoguy, fella o bacanoguy, fella
- a tipagal, chick (woman) a fulanagal, chick (woman)
- a bacanagal, chick (woman) a gajagal, chick (warning: offensive!)
- népianope
- a cenathing, stuff, scene (literal)
- o guitomoney a massamoney (literal: mass, or pasta) o carcanholmoney
- a bebedeiradrunkenness a bezanadrunkenness a bubadrunkenness
- brutalawesome (literal: brutal) altamenteawesome
- uma becaa bit
- a laricamunchies a fomecamunchies
- boralet's go bora lálet's go
- a maltagroup of people or friends o pessoalgroup of people or friends
- a boleiaride
- foleirolame chungalame rascalame
- canjaa piece of cake, i.e. very easy (literal: chicken soup)
- o briolcold (literal: nautical buntline) o grizocold
Slang Usage of Verbs
‘Tar
European Portuguese slang isn’t just made up of nouns and adjectives; there are also verbs. One of the most used is ‘tar, which is a shortened version of estarto be(temporary) .
Eu (es) tou me a sentir bemI'm feeling good
Eu (es) tive em casa deleI was at his place
Notice that the clipped version of estar is the same as the verb terto have in the simple past tense, but the context lets us know which one is being used. We can also mix it with other slang and get:
Ya, o filme (es) tá fixeYeah, the film is good
Curtir
Some verbs present in gíria popular can take on a very different meaning from their literal one. For example, as slang, curtirto tan(leather) , to like(slang) means gostarto like , but its literal meaning is to tan, as in treating animal hide and turning it into leather.
Curti bastante o filmeI liked the movie a lot
While the verb gostar is usually followed by the preposition de, curtir can be followed by just o/a/os/as. Another version is:
Curtir com alguémTo make out with someone (slang)
Other popular verbs used as slang
| Verb | Examples |
| gozarto make fun of, to kid | Eu gozei com eleI made fun of him Gozaram comigoThey made fun of me |
| bazarto leave | Tenho de bazarI have to leave Bazei da festaI left the party |
| lixarto screw off | Estás lixadoYou're screwed Vai-te lixarScrew off |
| gamarto steal | Fui gamadoI was robbed Gamei estas bolachasI stole these cookies |
| sacarto take, download | Ele sacou-lhe o dinheiroHe took his money Saquei o filmeI downloaded the movie |
Of course there are many more slang terms, as well as many ruder words that weren’t mentioned here but that are a part of our daily conversations. Some of those will appear in a future Learning Note. 😉
Olá Rui & Joel,
I was really looking for something like this, thank you for sharing it!
Ahhhhh! And I thought ‘Ta’ was a specific word!!! I have been using it, as I hear it spoken, so now I know! Very useful, thankyou.
Canja – A piece o cake. In the uk we have a saying “It’s a piece of cake”, meaning I’ts really easy. Does Canja have the same connotation – É muito façil, or is it really Uma fatia de bolo?
Thanks for asking – I see that that wasn’t clear before 🙂 This is definitely “canja” as in “very easy” -> “Oh, isto é canja!” (Oh, this is really easy!).
The actual word “canja” is for a type of soup, not cake!
Canja is a very simple to make chicken rice soup, in Portuguese. “” Isso e’ canja” could be translated by a very different recipe, in American English: “As easy as pie!”. The last one is not to be served as soup, I hope.
I am in my second year of living in the rural north of Portugal. Finding this section on ‘Gíria’ will help me immensely. I will now be able to better understand my neighbours. Having studied Portuguese for some time now I thought they were speaking a different language!!
Hi there, it seems to me that in Algarve, estou lixado means i’m exhausted.
Hi, Laurent! “Lixado” is one of those rainbow words with lots of different possible colours depending on the context – and that’s true for any part of the country 🙂 You can use it to mean that you’re exhausted, that you’re screwed, that you’re a badass, etc.
Excellent summation PP.
The most important for me was to learn that “uma imperial” is mainly southern. I therefore committed two sins when I was in Braga. I asked for “uma imperial” ………of Sagres!!
Do you know if there are other more extensive pages on learning Portuguese slang? I’m trying to translate some songs but it seems there’s a lot of words I’m not getting. I could only assume it’s because of slang haha
Hmm, I don’t know of any, but I will let you know if I come across something. If you’re a member, you could try asking in our forum: https://forum.practiceportuguese.com/ as that’s usually a good place to get recommendations on things like this. We also have a unit that lets you practice these slang terms. Let me know if there are particular words/phrases you’re looking for and we could work on adding more to our content.
Is there a tendency in Portuguese to over use “tipo” as it is in English?
Definitely, yes! (not everyone, of course)
Thank you for letting me know. I thought so but I think it’s probably ok to throw it in some slang expression now and then. We just shouldn’t over do it!
We have used a particular local handyman for some time and he regularly says Epá, and I have often wondered what it meant – now I now!!
Thanks for this – very helpful! I’ve heard “”ta bem” said numerous times without realising it comes from estar! Also “ta cá” which I couldn’t work out at all, now I gather it means “you’re here”?
I had a text from our neighbour in Portugal when I complained about the travel restrictions “O pá paciencia” ..?
“Ó pá” is meaningless, just a filler. But we do use it a lot. Your neighbour is basically shrugging in words, saying that we just have to deal with it 🙂
Thank you Joseph, one last one on slang. The village we visit near Santarem, any words or verbs ending in the letter “r” seem to attract an “e” on the end? So the town of Tomar for example, becomes Tomare with a soft “uh” on the end. Is this regional or just our neighbours would you know?
You’re welcome! The ‘re’ thing wouldn’t be slang, just an accent variation, which seems to be regional, yes. However, I don’t think it’s exclusive to the region where Santárem is (Ribatejo), because I’ve heard it from people in other parts of the country 🙂
It would be great if the literal as well as figurative meaning for each word or phrase were given. A lot of work, I realize, but misuse of slang is one best way for one to look like a real cheechako.
Thanks for the comment, Albert. Most of these terms don’t really have any other uses. The few exceptions include “massa” and “canja”. We’ve updated the Learning Note 🙂
What does “briol” mean literally? I can’t seem to find anything. Thanks!
It seems to have a restricted use in the nautical world as a term that describes a type of cable. It can also refer to cheap wine. Personally, I only ever hear people using it to say that it’s cold 🙂
I should’ve guessed it was nautical Thanks so much for the quick reply!
Sure, you’re welcome!
I assume that you are bowdlerizing this as Screw off as Portuguese keyboards do not have a Kappa ?
“Vai-te lixar” is not as strong as the English expression I think you’re thinking about; that’s why we went with “Screw off” 🙂
In 25 years of trying to learn Portuguese, that was the most useful section yet.
Obrigado
Oi
Loved this post! European Portuguese slang is so interesting and fun to learn. I’m definitely going to practice these phrases and incorporate them into my daily conversations. Thanks for sharing! 😊
Re -Pa nǎo sei o que te diga – is this the subjunctive and why? Thanks
Yes, ‘diga’ is the present subjunctive, which is suitable here to add to the feeling of uncertainty in the sentence. The sentence could also work well in the infinitive: Não sei o que te dizer.
Loved this post! The slang examples were super relatable and really helped me understand the casual side of European Portuguese. Can’t wait to practice these phrases in conversation!
This post is fantastic! I’ve always wanted to learn some slang to sound more like a local. The examples you provided really help to contextualize the phrases. I can’t wait to try them out in conversation!