Useful Portuguese Phrases

[tmlsholt]

Hello fellow pilgrims! I will be walking the Coastal Route with some friends beginning mid-April. Reading through these posts it seems apparent that it is the "path less traveled" compared to some other routes, and I'm guessing it would be useful to have some Portuguese phrases handy for the end of day search for accommodation or other basic resources. I would prefer not to travel with technology (love leaving the iPhone at home!) but would probably take along a cheat sheet of the most useful translations of questions or words that would come in handy should there be little access to people who use English in the towns where we may stay overnight.

Any suggestions? And thanks in advance!

 

[Anniesantiago]

Well, I'll start a list and others can add to it:

Bom Dia! Good Morning!
Boa Noite! Good Night!

Por favor - please

Obrigado! (to a man) Thank you!
Obrigado! (to a woman) Thank you!

Onde é o banheiro? - Where is the bathroom?
Posso usar o banheiro, por favor? - Can I use the toilet please?

Quanto custa um quarto? - How much is a bedroom?
Quanto custa uma cama? - How much is a bed?

In Portugal, unlike in Spain, the bread and wine are usually NOT included.
So you can ask,

É o pão incluído? - Is the bread included?
É o vinho incluído? - Is the wine included?

Many people do speak English in Portugal. And many more do understand Spanish if you know that language.
If you ask, they will say no, but they will often understand you.
Sometimes, if you ask a person here, "Do you speak Spanish?" they will answer no, even though they've had a year or two in school.
It's the same there.

Eat lots of bacalhau!

 

[Diogo92]

Well, I'll start a list and others can add to it:

Bom Dia! Good Morning!
Boa Noite! Good Night!

Por favor - please

Obrigado! (to a man) Thank you!
Obrigado! (to a woman) Thank you!

Onde é o banheiro? - Where is the bathroom?
Posso usar o banheiro, por favor? - Can I use the toilet please?

Quanto custa um quarto? - How much is a bedroom?
Quanto custa uma cama? - How much is a bed?

In Portugal, unlike in Spain, the bread and wine are usually NOT included.
So you can ask,

É o pão incluído? - Is the bread included?
É o vinho incluído? - Is the wine included?

Many people do speak English in Portugal. And many more do understand Spanish if you know that language.
If you ask, they will say no, but they will often understand you.
Sometimes, if you ask a person here, "Do you speak Spanish?" they will answer no, even though they've had a year or two in school.
It's the same there.

Eat lots of bacalhau!

Banheiro it's not very common to use in Portugal. It’s more used in Brazil. Say "casa de banho" or "WC” that people will understand it better. And Spanish was never a school language. The thing about the language rivalry comes from centuries ago.

I will also add:

Bom Dia > Good Morning
Boa Tarde > Good Afternoon (starting 12:00pm)
Boa Noite > Good Evening/Night (starting 18:00pm)
Um copo de água por favor > A glass of water please.
Onde fica... > Where it's located...
Procuro... > I'm searchig for...

Best Regards
Diogo

 

[tmlsholt]

Thanks for all of the inputs...these are fun and will be a helpful starter set!

Taya

 

[CanPete]

Que tal "uma cerveja se faz favor " ?

 

[Leaningforward]

I just spent four days walking to Santiago with a group of 200 Portuguese students, professors, and parents -- one of whom translated Portuguese readings and hymns for me into English. While Portuguese reads similar to Spanish, the pronunciation can be markedly different. To my ear, I first mistook it for an Eastern European language. Unless you have a phonetic cheat sheet, you might not be understood, despite your best effort. I found Google translate on my iPhone indispensable on my camino, which will continue to Finisterre tomorrow, then on to Portugal.

My advise, download Google translate and the Portuguese module to your iPhone, and use it in Airplane mode -- until of course you need to book a hotel or flight or walk your way out of being lost.

 

[Pelegrin]

Good questions before June are:

Vai ganhar Portugal o Mundial? (Is Portugal going to win the World Cup)

Quen vai ganhar? Espanha outra vez? What team is going to win? Spain again?

 

[mikevasey]

I dont know if its useful, but heres one I learnt off the two portuguese pilgrims who we met and walked to Fatima with, usually said at around 10.30am at our first stop ' Un Vinho Branco pequena refresco, por favor'. The temp. was knocking on the door of the lower 40,s at the time, so anything refresco seemed a good idea.

 

[donnercruiser]

Shure, if you try and know about some basics it is good. But most important is how you treat the people. There is one language spoken all over the world "hand and feet" combined with a smile will open heart for you. So i had this absolutely nice experiance on my camino in the last two weeks.

 

[elephantsaluter]

Everyone ask for a "franchesinha" at the restaurants!

 

[MichaelSG]

Vai ganhar Portugal o Mundial? (Is Portugal going to win the World Cup)

Quen vai ganhar? Espanha outra vez? What team is going to win? Spain again?

No and No. But thanks everyone for the other useful phrases.