50 Common Portuguese Words Every Beginner Should Know

Portuguese is spoken by around 260 million people worldwide, primarily across Portugal, Brazil, and several African nations — one of the most widely spoken languages globally, and genuinely useful across multiple continents.

Greetings and courtesy

Olá (hello), obrigado/obrigada (thank you, gendered by the speaker), por favor (please), tchau (bye, casual), desculpe (excuse me/sorry) — the essential opening phrases for any conversation.

Numbers

Um (one), dois (two), três (three) through dez (ten) — a genuinely approachable starting point for a Romance language.

Family

Mãe (mother), pai (father), irmão (brother), irmã (sister), amigo/amiga (friend, gendered).

Everyday life

Água (water), pão (bread), casa (house), trabalho (work), escola (school).

Grammatical gender: essential from day one

Like Spanish, French, and Italian, every Portuguese noun carries grammatical gender — masculine or feminine — affecting the article and any describing adjectives. Learning each noun's gender alongside its meaning from the start is the most efficient habit.

Why nasal vowels matter for pronunciation

Portuguese includes nasal vowel sounds — represented by a tilde (ã, õ) or certain letter combinations — genuinely distinctive from Spanish and other Romance languages, and worth deliberate listening and pronunciation practice, since they don't have a direct English equivalent.

A simple way to build from this list

1. Pick five to eight words a day, always noting the noun's gender.
2. Practice pronunciation out loud, paying particular attention to nasal vowel sounds.
3. Use each word in a short sentence of your own.
4. Review yesterday's words before adding today's.

Look up any Portuguese word instantly, with gender shown, offline — English Portuguese Dictionary →