How to Use Basic Greetings

Learn how to use basic greetings

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Portuguese by PortuguesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use basic greetings in Portuguese.

For example, "Good afternoon" is

Boa tarde.

Lilian Lopes is the Santos family's Portuguese teacher.

Her schedule for the day is:

Susana Santos at 9:00 a.m.

Sabrina Santos at 12:00 p.m.

Sergio Santos at 6:00 p.m.

Before you listen to the greeting exchange between the three pairs, let's preview some of its key components.

Bom dia.

"good morning"

Bom dia.

Boa tarde.

"good afternoon"

Boa tarde.

Boa noite.

"good evening"

Boa noite.

Listen to their conversations, and pay attention to the time of day.

Lilian Lopes has a morning class with Susana Santos at 9 a.m.

Bom dia, senhora Lopes.

Bom dia, senhora Santos.

Later, Lilian Lopes has an afternoon class with Sabrina Santos at 12 p.m.

Boa tarde.

At the end of the day, Lilian Lopes has an evening class with Sergio Santos at 6 p.m.

Boa noite, professora.

Boa noite, Sérgio.

Once more with the English translation.

Bom dia, senhora Lopes.

"Good morning, Ms. Lopes."

Bom dia, senhora Santos.

"Good morning, Ms. Santos."

Boa tarde.

"Good afternoon."

Boa tarde.

"Good afternoon."

Boa noite, professora.

"Good evening, teacher."

Boa noite, Sérgio.

"Good evening, Sergio."

Let’s take a closer look at each of these expressions.

In the first conversation, do you remember how Susana says,

"Good morning, Ms. Lopes."

Bom dia, senhora Lopes.

Let’s start with dia, "day." Dia. Dia.

In Portuguese, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Dia is masculine and singular — a fact that will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before this is bom, "good." Bom. Bom.

Bom is masculine and singular to agree with dia.

Together, Bom dia literally means "good day," but it translates as "good morning" in this context. Bom dia.

This is the standard greeting during the morning. Bom dia.

Next is senhora, "Ms.". Senhora. Senhora. This is an honorific used to address a woman.

Finally, the teacher’s family name, Lopes. Lopes. Lopes.

Together, senhora Lopes. "Ms. Lopes." Senhora Lopes.

All together, Bom dia, senhora Lopes. "Good morning, Ms. Lopes."

Bom dia, senhora Lopes.

When including a person’s name in a greeting, it’s more common to say the person’s name after the greeting.

Note: using a person’s family name in a greeting may come across as more formal.

Do you remember the teacher’s response?

"Good morning, Ms. Santos."

Bom dia, senhora Santos.

First is Bom dia. "Good morning." Bom dia.

Next is senhora, "Ms.". Senhora. Senhora. This is an honorific used to address a woman.

Finally, Susana’s family name, Santos, pronounced in Portuguese. Santos. Santos. "Santos."

All together, it’s Bom dia, senhora Santos. "Good morning, Ms. Santos."

Bom dia, senhora Santos.

Note, this exchange is formal.

In the second conversation, which takes place at 1 pm, do you remember how Sabrina says,

"Good afternoon."

Boa tarde.

Note that Sabrina’s greeting is slightly less formal, as she doesn’t say the teacher’s name.

Let’s start with tarde, "afternoon." Tarde. Tarde.

Tarde is feminine and singular — a fact that will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before this is boa, "good." Boa. Boa.

Boa is feminine and singular to agree with, tarde.

All together, it's Boa tarde, "Good afternoon."

Boa tarde.

The teacher 's response is the same,

Boa tarde.

Boa tarde is a common way to greet people in the afternoon. You can use it in formal and less formal situations.

In the third conversation, which takes place in the evening at 8pm, do you remember how Sergio says,

"Good evening, teacher."

Boa noite, professora.

Let’s start with noite, "night." Noite. Noite.

Noite is feminine and singular — a fact that will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before this is boa, "good." Boa.

Boa is feminine and singular to agree with noite.

Together, Boa noite, literally means "Good night," but it translates as "good evening," in this context.

Note: Boa noite is a common way to greet people during the evening and at night, in both formal and less formal situations.

Next is professora, meaning "teacher." This title increases the formality of the greeting. Professora. Professora.

Professora is feminine singular.

All together it’s Boa noite, professora. "Good evening, teacher."

Boa noite, professora.

Do you remember the teacher's response,

"Good evening, Sergio."

Boa noite, Sérgio.

Boa noite. "Good evening." Boa noite.

Next is Sergio’s name pronounced in Portuguese. Sérgio. Sérgio. Sérgio.

Together, it's Boa noite, Sérgio.. "Good evening, Sergio."

Boa noite, Sérgio.

Note that the teacher addresses Sergio by his first name, as he’s younger. This makes the greeting sound more informal.

Boa noite, Sérgio.

In Brazil, it's common to inquire about someone’s well being after a greeting — either "good morning," "good afternoon," or "good evening." The most common way to inquire is "How are you?" Tudo bem? Tudo bem?

For example: Boa tarde, Ana, tudo bem?, literally "Good afternoon, Ana! Is everything fine," but translating as, "Good afternoon, Ana! How are you?"

Let’s look at the greetings once more.

Listen and repeat, or speak along.

Bom dia.

"Good morning."

Bom dia.

Boa tarde.

"Good afternoon."

Boa tarde.

Boa noite.

"Good evening."

Boa noite.

Boa noite, professora.

"Good evening, teacher."

Boa noite, professora.

Oi, Sérgio.

"Hi, Sergio."

Oi, Sérgio.

Did you notice the last greeting?

Oi, Sérgio.

"Hi, Sergio."

Oi. Hi. Oi. Oi.

In informal situations, you can just use the greeting, oi, "hi," at any time of the day.

Oi is a very common greeting in Portuguese. However, it’s only suitable for informal situations, such as when greeting friends or relatives. It translates as "hi," or "hello."

You may also come into contact with another similar greeting, "Olá," which literally means "hello."

Oi is more common in Brazil, but you will also hear "Olá."

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how Susana says,

"Good morning."

Bom dia.

And how Sabrina says,

"Good afternoon."

Boa tarde.

Do you remember how to say,

"Good evening."

Boa noite.

Do you remember how Susana addresses Ms. Lopes?"

Senhora Lopes.

And how Sergio addresses Ms. Lopes?"

Professora.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Sergio Santos and you're attending your morning class.

Respond by saying "Good morning, teacher."

Ready?

Bom dia, Sérgio.

Bom dia, professora.

Listen again and repeat.

Bom dia, professora.

Let’s try another.

Imagine you're Samuel Santos and you're attending your afternoon class.

Respond by saying "Good afternoon."

Ready?

Boa tarde.

Listen again and repeat.

Boa tarde.

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Susana Santos , and you meet your neighbor in the evening.

Respond by saying, "Good evening."

Ready?

Boa noite.

Listen again and repeat.

Boa noite.

Boa noite in Portuguese can also be understood as "good night," when you don’t plan on seeing someone again that night and often when someone is about to go to bed. In this case, it’s like saying "have a Good night's sleep."

This is the end of this lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to use basic greetings in Portuguese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of using basic greetings.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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