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First 50 Portuguese Words Every Beginner Should Learn

Lalo Team·Updated April 17, 2026·3 min read

Start your Portuguese journey with the 50 most essential high-frequency words. These cover roughly 40% of everyday conversation.

These 50 words cover ~40% of everyday Portuguese

Pronouns(8)

ele

he, him

/ˈeli/

seu

his, her, your, its

/sew/

sua

his, her, your, its (feminine)

/ˈsuɐ/

nos

us, in the (plural)

/nus/

eu

I

/ew/

me

me, myself

/mi/

essa

that (feminine)

/ˈesɐ/

ela

she, her

/ˈɛlɐ/

Articles(6)

a

the (feminine); to

/a/

o

the (masculine)

/u/

um

a, an, one (masculine)

/ũ/

uma

a, an, one (feminine)

/ˈumɐ/

os

the (masculine plural)

/us/

as

the (feminine plural)

/ɐs/

Core Verbs(6)

é

is

/ɛ/

foi

was, went

/foj/

ser

to be

/seɾ/

there is, there are, ago

/a/

está

is (temporary state)

/isˈta/

era

was (imperfect)

/ˈɛɾɐ/

Adverbs(9)

não

no, not

/nɐ̃w̃/

mais

more, most, plus

/majs/

como

as, like, how

/ˈkomu/

quando

when

/ˈkwɐ̃du/

muito

very, much, a lot

/ˈmũjtu/

already, now

/ʒa/

também

also, too

/tɐ̃ˈbẽj/

only, just, alone

/sɔ/

depois

after, later

/deˈpojs/

Prepositions(6)

de

of, from

/dʒi/

em

in, on, at

/ẽj/

para

for, to, in order to

/ˈpaɾɐ/

com

with

/kõ/

por

by, for, through

/poɾ/

entre

between, among

/ˈẽtɾi/

Connectors(5)

que

that, which, what

/ki/

e

and

/i/

se

if; oneself

/si/

mas

but

/mas/

ou

or

/ow/

Contractions(10)

do

of the (masculine)

/du/

da

of the (feminine)

/da/

no

in the, on the (masculine)

/nu/

na

in the, on the (feminine)

/na/

dos

of the (masculine plural)

/dus/

ao

to the (masculine)

/aw/

das

of the (feminine plural)

/das/

pelo

by the, through the (masculine)

/ˈpelu/

num

in a (masculine)

/nũ/

aos

to the (masculine plural)

/aws/

Start learning Portuguese now

Start learning Portuguese now