How to say “Hello” and “Goodbye”
You probably already know that “Hello” in Portuguese is “Olá”, right?
But European Portuguese greeting don’t stop there. Just like in English, there are many ways to say “Hi”, “How are you?” and “Goodbye”.
How to say “hello”
Let’s start with the ABC of greeting. There’s a good change that you’ve already learned theses, but let’s refresh memories:
Olá! — Hello!
Oi — Hi!
Bom dia — Good morning
Boa tarde — Good afternoon
Boa noite — Good evening / Good night
* Note: European Portuguese greetings have “Boa noite” for Good evening and Good night.
How to say “how are you?”
Just like in English, it’s nice to get an answer when you ask “How are you?”.However, if you are initiating a request from a service provider by phone or in person you shouldn’t expect to get an answer.
Como estás? — How are you? (informal)
Como está? — How are you? (formal)
For casual, everyday conversations you can pick from a panoply of expressions. “How are you?”, “What’s up?”, “How are you doing”, “How is it going” are equivalent to various sentences which are dependable of the environment you are, who you are talking to and your own personal preferences.
Tudo bem? — Everything alright? (informal)
Está bem? / Tá bem? — Are you well? (formal)
Como vai?/ Como vais?— How do you do? (formal)
Tens passado bem? — Have you been well? (informal)
Têm passado bem? — Have you been well? (formal)
How to say “good, thanks”!
Yup, just like you do in English, if someone asks you “How are you?” you will say “Good, thanks”. Although depending of the setting you follow up with another question “And you?”.
Bem, obrigado/ a. E tu? — Good, thanks, and you? (informal)
Bem, obrigado/ a. E você? — Good, thanks, and you? (informal)
If you are feeling more uplifting than “good” you can use them ones instead:
Tudo bem — Everything's good
Muito bem — Very good
Ótimo/ a — Great
If you are feeling a bit so-so, you can use one of these:
Mais ao menos — More or less
Cá andamos — “I'm hanging in there”
*Note: Even when you feeling terrible it wouldn’t be recommend to be so strait forward like “Estou mal”, in English “I’m bad”.
How to say "Goodbye"
When it’s time for farewells, again, you can choose from many options depending of the setting, your relationship with the other person and the next time you are planning to see each other again.
These can be casual or polite terms.
Adeus — Goodbye
Tchau — Bye
Até logo — See you later
Até já — See you in a moment
Até breve — See you soon
Até amanhã — See you tomorrow
Até para a semana — See you next week
Até para a próxima segunda/ Até segunda — See you on Monday
Até à próxima — Until next time
Note: It’s good keeping in mind that natives usually shorten the weekdays when speaking. For example, instead of “Segunda-feira” it’s normal to hear “Segunda” for Monday.
Muito obrigada,
- Jessica Sintra 😊