I don’t intent to start a discussion; simply to lay out the differences. I want you to be able to recognize one or the other sort of Portuguese when out and about. I’m sure it will come in handy!


Comparing is “so school”, but at The Language Unschool we like to play games too.


You have 5 seconds per section to spot the differences on: sentence structure; verb choice; vocabulary; pronunciation (yes, even that!). Ready? Go!


(He told you “I’m reading?”)

Ele disse-te “estou a ler”? /el dees-t shtou a ler?/

Ele te falou “estou lendo”? /elee tchee falou eestou ldu?/


(to have breakfast)

Tomar o pequeno-almoço /tumar u pken-almos/

Tomar o café da manhã /tomah u kafeh da manhã/


(Do you know where I went yesterday?)

Sabes onde é que eu fui ontem? /sahbsh õdehk ew fuee õt?/

Sabe onde eu fui ontem? /sahbee õdgee ew fuee õt/


(Let’s meet at the usual place)

Bora àquele sítio do costume? /bohra ahkel sitiw du kushtum?/

Vamo naquele lugar de sempre? /vamu nahkelee lugah dgee spree?/


(I’m on my way to France)

Estou a caminho de França. /shtou a kaminh d frãsa./

Estou à caminho da França. /eestou ah kahminhu dah frãsa.


(He went to war)

Ele partiu para a guerra. /el partiw pah gehrra./

Ele foi para a guerra. /elee foi prah gehrra./

How did it go?


If you have enjoyed this quick lesson and would like to learn more Portuguese outside of the box, then please contact Catarina from The Language Unschool - catarina@thelanguageunschool.com