Welcome to your very first Brazilian Portuguese lesson! Today you'll learn the greetings you'll use every single day in Brazil. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say hello, ask how someone is, and say goodbye — the foundation of every social interaction. Brazilians are warm and expressive, so these greetings carry a lot of personality. Let's dive in!
Learning tips
- Don't stress about perfect pronunciation yet — Brazilians love when foreigners try, even with an accent.
- Notice how 'bom dia', 'boa tarde', and 'boa noite' shift with the time of day — this is a core habit to build.
- The Brazilian final '-l' in 'mal' and 'Brasil' sounds like a soft 'w' — say 'maw' and 'Bra-ziw' rather than a clear 'l'.
- Listen for 'e aí' (pronounced 'ih-ah-ee') — a super common super-informal Brazilian greeting among friends.
Warm-up & Active Recall
Dialog
Follow Beatriz (or 'Bia' to friends) and Thiago through two moments in a day in Rio de Janeiro. In the morning they meet at a café in Ipanema, and in the afternoon they run into each other at the university. Pay attention to how the greeting changes with the time of day — and to the fact that 'tudo bem' and 'tudo bom' are basically interchangeable ways to say 'how's it going?' in Brazilian Portuguese.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| oi | /ˈoj/ | hi | The universal informal greeting — works any time of day |
| olá | /oˈla/ | hello | Slightly more formal than 'oi', but still casual |
| bom dia | /bõ ˈdʒi.ɐ/ | good morning | Used from sunrise until about noon |
| boa tarde | /ˈbo.ɐ ˈtaʁ.dʒi/ | good afternoon | Used from about noon until 6 PM |
| boa noite | /ˈbo.ɐ ˈnoj.tʃi/ | good evening / good night | Used after 6 PM — both as a greeting and a farewell |
| tchau | /ˈtʃaw/ | bye | The universal informal farewell — very friendly |
| tudo bem | /ˈtu.du ˈbẽj̃/ | how are you? (all good?) | Literally 'all well?' — the standard way to ask how someone is |
| tudo bom | /ˈtu.du ˈbõ/ | how's it going? (all good?) | Interchangeable with 'tudo bem' — slightly more casual |
| bem | /ˈbẽj̃/ | well, good | The positive answer to 'tudo bem?' |
| mal | /ˈmaw/ | badly, not well | Pronounced /maw/ — the final -l becomes a w in BR |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| mais ou menos | /ˈma.jz ow ˈme.nus/ | more or less, so-so | When things are only okay |
| e você? | /i voˈse/ | and you? | Returning the greeting |
| até logo | /aˈtɛ ˈlɔ.ɡu/ | see you later | Common friendly farewell |
| até amanhã | /aˈtɛ a.maˈɲɐ̃/ | see you tomorrow | For when you'll meet again the next day |
| beleza | /beˈle.zɐ/ | cool, alright | Extremely common Brazilian filler — means 'okay' or 'cool' |
| e aí | /i aˈi/ | hey, what's up? | Very informal — among friends |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| tudo bem? | how are you? (literally 'all well?') |
| tudo bom? | how are you? (literally 'all good?') |
Grammar: Time-of-day greetings and basic farewell forms in Brazilian Portuguese
| Hora do dia | Saudação |
|---|---|
| Manhã (até 12h) | Bom dia |
| Tarde (12h – 18h) | Boa tarde |
| Noite (após 18h) | Boa noite (também ao dormir) |
| Saudação informal (qualquer hora) | Oi / E aí |
| Despedida informal | Tchau |
| Despedida mais formal | Até logo / Até mais |
Brazilian Portuguese greetings change with the time of day, unlike English where 'hi' works anytime.
Bom dia is used in the morning, until about noon. Boa tarde covers the afternoon, until roughly 6 PM (when it starts getting dark). Boa noite is used from evening onward — and unlike English, it works as both a greeting ('good evening') and a farewell ('good night'). So you say 'Boa noite!' when you arrive at a dinner party AND when you leave to go to bed.
Notice that 'bom' is masculine (matching 'dia' — 'the day' is masculine in Portuguese) while 'boa' is feminine (matching 'tarde' and 'noite'). This is your first encounter with grammatical gender — every noun in Portuguese has a gender, and adjectives must agree.
Oi is the all-purpose informal greeting that works any time, similar to 'hi' in English. You can combine them: 'Oi! Bom dia.'
When someone asks 'Tudo bem?' or 'Tudo bom?', the expected answer is 'Tudo bem!' or just 'Bem, obrigado(a)'. If things aren't great, you can say 'Mais ou menos' (so-so) or 'Mal' (bad) — but 'mal' is strong and usually prompts follow-up questions.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the missing word.
- , Thiago! Tudo bem?(a universal informal greeting)
- Tudo , obrigada!(the positive answer — good)
- , Bia. Boa noite!(an informal farewell)
- Hoje estou ...(the negative answer — bad)
- , Bia! Boa tarde!(informal hi)
Grammar Application
Choose the right greeting for each situation.
- São 9h da manhã. Qual saudação? → (morning greeting)
- São 20h. Qual saudação? → (evening/night greeting)
- Você vai embora. Diga tchau de modo informal → (informal farewell)
- Alguém pergunta 'Tudo bem?' e você está bem → (positive response — include 'thanks')
- Você vai dormir e se despede → (greeting when going to sleep)
Translation (English → Portuguese)
Translate each sentence into Brazilian Portuguese.
- Hi! How are you?
- Well, thanks.
- Good night! Bye!
- How are you? — Bad.
- Hi! Good night!
Creative Construction
Write a short greeting exchange (2-3 lines) using words from this lesson. Imagine meeting someone at different times of day in Rio.
Takeaway
Brazilian greetings change with the time of day: 'bom dia' (morning), 'boa tarde' (afternoon), 'boa noite' (evening/night) — and 'oi' works anytime. 'Tudo bem?' and 'Tudo bom?' are interchangeable ways to ask 'how are you?'