You have conquered the sometimes scary first steps of learning a new language. Your ears are used to the different rhythms of Portuguese, you can make all of those unique R sounds, and you can even write sentences about familiar topics in the language. Awesome! You’ve now reached the intermediate Portuguese level, and a whole new world is opening up!

Being an intermediate learner in a foreign language comes with dores e delícias (“pain and joy”). On the one hand, you have already conquered many of the initial stumbling blocks and you can consume some Brazilian media with ease. But on the other hand, there is a real possibility of getting stuck and reaching a plateau in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and self-expression.

Alongside a good dose of motivation and a smart study program, this article will help you with the common issues that intermediate Portuguese students face. How? It brings together 300+ words that you can add to your vocabulary. If you’re not familiar with some of them or don’t understand how to use them in sentences, this is a good indicator of your next steps! By tackling the different word categories and learning how to use the majority of the words presented, I guarantee you won’t get stuck in the intermediate limbo!

So roll up your sleeves, open your notebook, and warm up your vocal cords. It’s time to get familiar with the most important intermediate Portuguese nouns, verbs, adjectives, numbers, pronouns, and more!

Showcase your intermediate Portuguese skills when chatting with your friends!

Table of Contents

1. Useful Pronouns
2. Connect the Dots: Conjunctions
3. Fill in the Blanks: Prepositions
4. Making Sense of Numbers
5. Call it by its Name: Nouns
6. Make it Happen: Verbs
7. Qualifiers: Adjectives
8. Modify Verbs: Adverbs
9. Sound Like a Local
10. Continue Learning with PortuguesePod101!

1. Useful Pronouns

You’re already familiar with the essential pronouns that accompany or replace nouns. That’s great! Now, let’s go a step further. Here are some more of these handy words to add to your Portuguese arsenal. 

1 – Tonic Pronouns

At an intermediate Portuguese level, you can use tonic pronouns. These pronouns act as a complement to terms, and they need to be preceded by a preposition. The most common prepositions used in these cases are:

• Por (“For”)
• Para (“For” / “To”)
• Até (“Until” / “Up to”)

If you want to, you can jump to the third section of this article to learn more about intermediate-level Portuguese prepositions. 

Person	Portuguese pronoun	English
1st person sg.	mim	me
2nd person sg.	ti	you
3rd person sg.	ele / ela	he / she
1st person pl.	nós	we
2nd person pl.	vós	you (plural)
3rd person pl.	eles / elas	they (masculine / feminine)

Examples: 

• Ela esperou por ti. (“She waited for you.”)
• Eu vou enviar um e-mail para a professora. (“I will send an email to the [female] teacher.”)
• Nós fomos até ele. (“We went to him.”)
• Vocês guardaram bolo para mim? (“Did you [plural] save cake for me?”)

When the preposition is com (“with”), the pronouns change a bit:

Person	Portuguese pronoun	English
1st person sg.	comigo	with me
2nd person sg.	contigo	with you
3rd person sg.	com ele / com ela	with him / with her
1st person pl.	conosco	with us
2nd person pl.	convosco	with you (plural)
3rd person pl.	com eles / com elas	with them (masculine / feminine)

Examples:

• Vem dançar comigo! (“Come dance with me!”)
• Eles não quiseram vir conosco. (“They didn’t want to come with us.”)
• Nós vamos viajar com eles. (“We will travel with them.”)
• Quero assistir um filme com você. (“I want to watch a movie with you.”)

Note: Você is an informal Portuguese pronoun and refers to the 2nd person singular, meaning it can be used instead of tu. However, você is a special case and agrees with the 3rd person singular in terms of verb conjugation.

2 – Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to identify the owner of a noun. 

Remember that these pronouns should agree with the noun in gender and number. In the table below, they’ll appear in the following order: singular masculine, plural masculine, singular feminine, plural feminine.

Person	Portuguese pronoun	English
1st person sg.	meu, meus, minha, minhas	my
2nd person sg.	teu, teus, tua, tuas	your
3rd person sg.	seu, seus, sua, suas	his / her
1st person pl.	nosso, nossos, nossa, nossas	our
2nd person pl.	vosso, vossos, vossa, vossas	your (plural)
3rd person pl.	seu, seus, sua, suas	their

It’s common in Brazil to use the 3rd person singular pronoun with você (“you”).

Examples:

• Meus livros são novos. (“My books are new.”)
• Os seus vestidos são lindos. (“Her dresses are beautiful.”)
• A sua apresentação foi um sucesso! (“Your presentation was a success!”)

/! Brazilians also use the contraction of the preposition and the 3rd person personal pronouns to indicate the owner of a noun. De + ele = dele (“his”) De + eles = deles (“theirs,” masculine) De + ela = dela (“her”) De + elas = delas (“theirs,” feminine) Example: Os vestidos dela são lindos. (“Her dresses are beautiful.”)

2. Connect the Dots: Conjunctions

As a beginner, you studied the most important simple conjunctions and learned that they are invariable words that connect clauses. 

As an intermediate Portuguese speaker, you can also use conjunctive phrases, which are two or more words that behave as a conjunction.

Não só…mas também	Not only…but also
Ou…ou	Either…or
Nem…nem	Neither…nor
Quer…quer	Whether…or
Quanto mais…mais	The more…the more
Desde que	As long as
A não ser que	Unless
Mesmo que	Even if / Although
Já que	Since
Uma vez que	Once / Since

→ Learn how and when to use conjunctions and conjunctive phrases in Portuguese with this article by PortuguesePod101.

Uma vez que eu termine, eu vou dormir. (“Once I finish, I’ll sleep.”)

3. Fill in the Blanks: Prepositions

In order to create more complex sentences, you should also know how to use prepositions. Just like conjunctions, prepositions are invariable words with a connective function. But they go a step beyond, also explaining or completing the meaning of the terms being connected. Becoming familiar with how to use these words is a great way to improve your Portuguese and begin sounding more like a native speaker. 

1 – Essential Prepositions

A	To / On
Após	After
Até	Until / To
Com	With
Contra	Against
De	From / Of
Desde	From / Since
Em	In / On / At
Entre	Between
Para	For / To
Por	For
Sem	Without
Sob	Under
Sobre	About / On
Trás	Behind

2 – Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases are two or more words that, together, act as a preposition. The following are just some of the most common Portuguese prepositional phrases.

Apesar de	Despite
De acordo com	According to
Por causa de	Because of
Por baixo de	Below
Embaixo de	Under / Underneath
Além de	Besides / Beyond
Antes de	Before
Em cima de	On top of
Ao lado de	Next to / Beside
Em frente a	In front of
Em vez de	Instead of
Perto de	Near / Close to
Por trás de	Behind
Depois de	After
Antes de	Before / Ahead of

O cachorro está perto do menino. (“The dog is close to the boy.”)

4. Making Sense of Numbers

Now that you’re ready to engage in more complex conversations—and even go shopping—in Portuguese, knowing how to deal with bigger numbers is a must! 

Thankfully, numbers in Portuguese follow a standard structure with very few surprises. 

1 – From 11 to 20

11	Onze
12	Doze
13	Treze
14	Quatorze
15	Quinze
16	Dezesseis
17	Dezessete
18	Dezoito
19	Dezenove
20	Vinte

If you want to hear how these numbers sound, watch this lesson on PortuguesePod101.com.

2 – Tens

21	Vinte e um
22	Vinte e dois
23	Vinte e três
24	Vinte e quatro
25	Vinte e cinco
26	Vinte e seis
27	Vinte e sete
28	Vinte e oito
29	Vinte e nove

This structure will repeat for the other numbers, up to a hundred.

30	Trinta
40	Quarenta
50	Cinquenta
60	Sessenta
70	Setenta
80	Oitenta
90	Noventa
100	Cem

3 – Hundreds

100	Cem
101	Cento e um
102	Cento e dois
103	Cento e três
200	Duzentos
300	Trezentos
400	Quatrocentos
500	Quinhentos
600	Seiscentos
700	Setecentos
800	Oitocentos
900	Novecentos

4 – A Thousand and Over

1,000	Mil
2,000	Dois mil
10,000	Dez mil
100,000	Cem mil
110,000	Cento e dez mil
1,000,000	Um milhão
1,000,000,000	Um bilhão
1,000,000,000,000	Um trilhão

It’s easy to continue from this point, simply combining the numbers you already know.

Examples:

• 152 – Cento e cinquenta e dois
• 3,587 – Três mil quinhentos e oitenta e sete
• 102,999 – Cento e dois mil novecentos e noventa e nove
• 2,851,100 – Dois milhões oitocentos e cinquenta e um mil e cem

5. Call it by its Name: Nouns

As an intermediate Portuguese learner, it’s normal to feel limited by your vocabulary. But don’t despair! As you advance in your language learning journey, add these nouns to your portfolio of words to strengthen your speaking and reading abilities. 

Since Portuguese nouns have grammatical gender, the following list includes the corresponding indefinite articles. 

1 – Places

Uma lagoa	Lagoon
Uma cachoeira	Waterfall
Um rio	River
Uma ilha	Island
Uma paisagem	Landscape  Scenery
Um espaço	Space  Gap
Uma esquina	Corner
Um estado	State
Um continente	Continent

2 – Time

Um amanhecer	Dawn
Um entardecer	Evening  Sunset
Um anoitecer	Dusk  Nightfall
Um século	Century
Um trimestre	Quarter  Trimester
Um semestre	Semester

3 – People

Uma pessoa	Person
Uma multidão	Crowd
Gente	People
Um bebê	Baby
Uma criança	Child Kid
Um adolescente	Teenager
Um moço, uma moça	Young man  Young woman
Um senhor, uma senhora	Old man Old woman
Sobrenome	Last name Surname
Apelido	Nickname

4 – House and Household Items

Um jardim	Garden
Um quintal	Backyard
Uma varanda	Balcony
Um sótão	Attic
Um porão	Basement
Um terraço	Terrace  Gazebo
Um microondas	Microwave oven
Um fogão	Stove  Cooker
Um forno	Oven
Uma geladeira	Fridge
Um refrigerador	Cooler
Uma lavadora de roupa  Uma máquina de lavar roupa	Washing machine
Uma pia	Sink
Um chuveiro	Shower
Uma banheira	Bathtub

5 – Meals and Food

Uma refeição	Meal
Uma sobremesa	Dessert
Um acompanhamento	Side dish
Um vegetal	Vegetable
Um garfo	Fork
Uma faca	Knife
Uma colher	Spoon
Um porco	Pork
Um bife	Beef
Um frango	Chicken
Um peixe	Fish
Uma soja	Soy

6 – Body

Uma cintura	Waist
Um tornozelo	Ankle
Um calcanhar	Heel
Um joelho	Knee
Um cotovelo	Elbow
Um ombro	Shoulder
Um pulso	Wrist
Uma sobrancelha	Eyebrow
Um dente	Tooth

7 – Business and Bureaucracy

Um formulário	Form
Uma taxa	Fee  Rate
Um imposto	Tax
Uma inscrição	Subscription
Um comprovante	Receipt
Um documento	Document
Uns dados	Data
Um sistema	System
Uma certidão	Certificate
Uma licença	License
Um cliente	Client
Um pagamento	Payment
Uma senha	Password
Um cartão	Card
Um cheque	Check
Um troco	Change
Uma carteira	Wallet
Um pagamento	Payment

8 – Units

Um quilograma	Kilogram
Um grama	Gram
Uma tonelada	Ton
Um litro	Liter
Um metro	Meter

9 – Miscellaneous

Uma foto	Photo
Um vídeo	Video
Uma câmera Uma câmera fotográfica	Photo camera
Um filme	Movie
Uma série	TV show
Uma história	Story
Uma canção	Song
Uma lenda	Legend
Uma novidade	News  Novelty
Uma notícia	News
Um bilhete	Note  Ticket
Um recado	Message  Errand
Um presente	Gift
Uma surpresa	Surprise
Uma verdade	Truth
Uma mentira	Lie
Uma vontade	Will  Desire
Um desejo	Desire
Uma necessidade	Need
Um sonho	Dream
Um pedido	Request  Demand

Uma foto dos amigos (“A photo of the friends”)

6. Make it Happen: Verbs

After mastering the most important auxiliary verbs in Portuguese (in particular, ser, estar, and ir), it’s time to expand your vocabulary with more verbs. They’ll definitely help you understand a greater variety of stories and conversations in Portuguese!

→ Need a refresher on Portuguese verb conjugation? All the information you need is in this conjugation guide by PortuguesePod101!

Terminar	To finish
Despistar	To mislead To sidetrack
Aparecer	To appear To show up
Parecer	To seem To look like
Dispor	To dispose To afford
Encontrar	To find
Ajudar	To help
Receber	To receive
Tapar	To close To plug
Tampar	To cover
Lançar	To throw To launch
Nadar	To swim
Afogar	To drown
Navegar	To navigate To browse
Dançar	To dance
Atrair	To attract
Namorar	To date To flirt
Casar	To marry
Trair	To betray
Mudar	To change To move
Trocar	To exchange To swap To change
Viajar	To travel
Passear	To wander To walk
Correr	To run
Pular	To jump
Voar	To fly
Escalar	To climb To scale
Subir	To rise To climb
Descer	To go down To descend
Abaixar	To lower
Levantar	To rise To lift
Sentar	To sit
Tropeçar	To stumble
Preferir	To prefer To choose
Perceber	To perceive To realize
Explicar	To explain
Responder	To answer To reply
Deixar	To leave To allow
Usar	To use To put on
Arrumar	To arrange To straighten
Limpar	To clean
Organizar	To organize
Bagunçar	To mess up
Cozinhar	To cook
Preparar	To prepare To make
Congelar	To freeze
Descongelar	To defrost To unfreeze
Temperar	To season
Queimar	To burn
Assar	To bake To roast
Lavar	To wash
Entregar	To deliver To give
Desmaiar	To faint To pass out
Refazer	To remake To redo
Facilitar	To facilitate To ease
Complicar	To complicate
Aceitar	To accept
Negar	To deny To negate
Atender	To meet To serve To answer
Demorar	To delay To linger
Reunir	To get together To gather To collect
Atrasar	To delay
Adiantar	To anticipate To advance
Depositar	To deposit To place
Agir	To act To behave
Manusear	To handle
Consertar	To fix To repair To mend
Quebrar	To break To crack
Resolver	To resolve
Solucionar	To solve To figure out
Pesquisar	To search To research
Assinar	To sign
Emprestar	To lend To loan
Melhorar	To improve
Piorar	To worsen
Perdoar	To forgive To pardon

The following verbs are reflexive.

Desculpar-se / Se desculpar	To apologize
Queixar-se / Se queixar	To complain
Machucar-se / Se machucar	To get hurt
Maquiar-se / Se maquiar	To put makeup on
Pentear-se / Se pentear	To comb

Quem me dera saber dançar balé. (“I wish I knew how to dance ballet.”)

7. Qualifiers: Adjectives

Add details and make your sentences richer by using adjectives. 

As you probably remember, Portuguese adjectives need to agree with the noun in both gender and number. In the list below (where applicable), we have listed the singular masculine form first, followed by the singular feminine form.

Agradável	Nice  Pleasant
Divertido Divertida	Fun
Estranho Estranha	Weird
Educado Educada	Educated / Polite
Fofo Fofa	Cute
Gentil	Kind / Nice
Maravilhoso Maravilhosa	Wonderful
Paciente	Patient
Simpático Simpática	Friendly / Likeable / Pleasant
Responsável	Responsible / Accountable
Vaidoso Vaidosa	Vain
Sujo Suja	Dirty
Limpo Limpa	Clean
Organizado Organizada	Organized
Arrumado Arrumada	Tidy
Bagunçado Bagunçada	Messy
Confortável	Comfortable
Vazio Vazia	Empty
Cheio Cheia	Full
Lotado Lotada	Crowded
Áspero Áspera	Rough
Duro Dura	Hard / Tough
Macio Macia	Soft / Tender
Liso Lisa	Smooth / Flat
Mole	Soft / Limp
Roxo Roxa	Purple
Lilás	Light purple
Laranja	Orange
Rosa	Pink
Marrom	Brown
Cinza	Gray
Azedo Azeda	Sour
Amargo Amarga	Bitter
Queimado Queimada	Burnt
Assado Assada	Roasted / Baked
Frito Frita	Fried
Cozido Cozida	Cooked / Boiled
Cru	Raw
Maduro Madura	Ripe
Ator Atriz	Actor  Actress
Cantor Cantora	Singer
Dançarino Dançarina	Dancer
Enfermeiro Enfermeira	Nurse
Babá	Babysitter

8. Modify Verbs: Adverbs

There are countless Portuguese adverbs you can use to modify verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. Since you’ve already mastered the most commonly used adverbs, you can now introduce more complex ones to your sentences. 

→ Learn 100+ Portuguese adverbs you can use to dominate the language with this article by PortuguesePod101.

1 – Manner

Assim	This way  Thus
Felizmente	Fortunately
Infelizmente	Unfortunately
Rapidamente	Quickly
Calmamente	Calmly
Igualmente	Equally
Depressa	Quickly
Devagar	Slowly
À toa	Idly
Às pressas	In a rush
À vontade	At ease

2 – Time

Agora	Now
Ainda	Still
À tarde	In the afternoon
À noite	In the evening
De manhã	In the morning
De repente	Suddenly
Imediatamente	Immediately

3 – Place

Ali	There
Acima	Above
Abaixo	Below
Atrás	Behind
À direita	On the right
À esquerda	On the left
Em volta	Around

4 – Intensity

Bastante	Quite Enough
Demais	Too much
Tão	So As
Tanto	So much
Quase	Almost

O trem se move rapidamente. (“The train moves quickly.”)

9. Sound Like a Local

Now that you’re at an intermediate Portuguese level, it’s a good idea to also learn some local slang terms. Keep in mind that these are all informal words and expressions to be used with friends and close family. Avoid them in job interviews and other formal situations.

While we’re at it, let’s take a look at common Brazilian interjections you can use in daily life. After all, you’re bound to bite your lip or be surprised at some point…and when that happens, there’s nothing better than to express your feelings the Brazilian way! 

1 – Commonly Used Slang Terms

CaraManoMeuVelho	DudeBroMate
Depending on the region of Brazil, different words are used to refer to friends. For example, cara is more common in Rio de Janeiro, while mano can be heard in São Paulo.

Sem graça

BoringPlain

Cara de pau	To have the nerve toBrazen-faced
Ele teve a cara de pau de mentir para mim. (“He had the nerve to lie to me.”) Ela é uma cara de pau! (“She has nerve!”)

Show

Cool

Valeu

Thanks

Gringo	Foreigner
This one is used to refer to foreigners, especially English speakers or Europeans. Don’t worry—in Portuguese, gringo isn’t pejorative!

Grana

MoneyCash

Tipo	Like
It literally translates to “type,” but it’s used just as “like” in English. It’s the most commonly used Brazilian filler word.

2 – Interjections

Poxa!	Gosh!  Oh no!
Puxa!	Gee!
Meu Deus!	My God!
Oba!	Uhul!  Yay!
Cuidado!	Watch out!
Ei!	Hey!
Bravo!	Congratulations!  Well done!
Ai!	Ouch!
Droga!	Damn!
Nossa!  Minha nossa!	Oh my!
Eita!	Used to express surprise
Uau!	Wow!
Ufa!	Used to express relief
Credo!	Good grief!  Heavens!  Good heavens!
Vamos!	Let’s go!
Força!	Stay strong!
Chega!	Enough!
Socorro!	Help!

Tô cheia de grana. (“I have a lot of money,” informal, female speaker)

10. Continue Learning with PortuguesePod101!

This was quite the list, with more than 300 words that intermediate Portuguese learners should master. The different categories we presented are all important for constructing coherent sentences. With these words, you’ll be able to join conversations online and in person, read and hear a variety of Portuguese content, and continue advancing in your language learning journey!

Remember that you can always come back to this guide to refresh your memory and check how your vocabulary and grammar are moving along. On this note, let us know if you enjoyed this article! Do you think it is a good resource for intermediate learners? Did we miss any word category you would have liked to see here? Feel free to drop us a comment with any questions you might have, and we’ll gladly get back to you. 

And now, it’s time to put it all into practice. To start, you can check out our tips for remembering words better. Or, go ahead and browse through our vocabulary lists and other free resources on PortuguesePod101.com. 

If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence.

Happy Portuguese learning!