European vs Brazilian Portuguese: 10 differences that matter

It's the same language, and people from both countries understand each other. But if you're going to live in Portugal, these ten differences decide whether you sound local or like you learned from Brazilian TV.

Sounds

1. Swallowed vowels. In Portugal, unstressed vowels are reduced or almost disappear: telefone sounds close to “tl-fón”. Brazilian Portuguese keeps them open and clear, which is why it often sounds slower and easier at first.

2. The “sh” sound. An s at the end of a syllable sounds like “sh” in Portugal: escola is “shcola”, mais is “maish”. In most of Brazil it's an s (Rio de Janeiro is the best-known exception).

Grammar

3. Tu. In Portugal you use tu with its own verb form for friends and family: tu falas. In most of Brazil, você fala is the everyday form.

4. Estar a + infinitive. Portugal says estou a falar; Brazil says estou falando. More in “Estou a falar”: how Portugal says what's happening now.

5. Pronouns after the verb. Portugal says chamo-me Ana and vi-o ontem; Brazil says me chamo Ana and, informally, vi ele ontem.

6. Articles with names. In Portugal people usually say o João and a Marta, even when talking about friends.

Words and manners

7. Everyday vocabulary. Train is comboio (BR trem), bus is autocarro (ônibus), mobile is telemóvel (celular), breakfast is pequeno-almoço (café da manhã), juice is sumo (suco), fridge is frigorífico (geladeira).

8. Você is not neutral. In Portugal, saying você directly to someone can sound distant or even rude. With strangers, people use o senhor / a senhora or simply leave the pronoun out. See Tu, você or o senhor?

9. Spelling. Since the 1990 spelling agreement most words are written the same, but some still differ: Portugal writes facto (a fact) and receção, Brazil fato and recepção. In Portugal, fato means a suit!

10. Numbers. 16, 17 and 19 are dezasseis, dezassete, dezanove in Portugal and dezesseis, dezessete, dezenove in Brazil.