Portuguese is a romance language, originating in Portugal, and one of the first to spread outside europe. It is spoken by approximately 250 million speakers, the majority in Brazil. There are two main dialects European and Brazilian.
Test yourself on the Portuguese Colours.
Test yourself on the Fruit and vegetables.
Test yourself on the Numbers 1 to 10.
Test yourself on the Numbers 11 to 20.
Test yourself on the Months.
Portuguese is a Romance language therefore it is rooted in Latin. English also acquired many Romance words as it drew directly and indirectly upon Latin sources, and, like Portuguese, added continuously to its vocabulary from classical sources and neighbouring languages.
There is therefore a huge supply of Portuguese words that are immediately recognisable to the English speaker, words such as problema, area, figura, delicioso, especial and generoso. The list of similar words increases as soon as you realize that the ending –dade is equivalent to –ity, as in electricidade, and -izar is equivalent to –ize, as in nacionalizar, ‘to nationalize’, while, less obviously, –ção is equivalent to –tion.
See the Lords prayer in Galician for a comparison with Galician, Corsican and Italian.
Pai Nosso que estais nos céus,
santificado é o Vosso nome,
venha a nós o Vosso reino,
seja feita a Vossa vontade,
assim na terra como no céu.
O pão nosso de cada dia nos dai hoje,
perdoai-nos as nossas ofensas,
assim como nós perdoamos a quem nos tem ofendido.
E não nos deixeis cair em tentação,
mas livrai-nos do mal.
Amén.
This version of Pai Nosso came from Mary's rosaries.
A few first words. 1, A few first words. 2, Buying things. General phrases, Colours, Communication problems, Conversation. Introductions, Conversation. Small talk, Conversation. Small talk. The weather, Countries and nationality, Days of the week, Directions. 1, Directions. 2, Eating phrases. , Emergencies, Family, Food and drink. At the bar or café. 1, Food and drink. At the bar or café. 2, Food and drink. At the bar or café. 3, Fruit and vegetables, Getting around. 1, Getting around. 2, Health, Months of the year, Numbers. 1 to 10, Numbers. 11 to 20, Numbers. 20 to 100, Parts of the body, Sightseeing, Somewhere to stay, Telling the time, Words to do with food. General, Words to do with food. Meat.
Portguese (Portugal) phrases ordered by topic.
An English/Portuguese dictionary www.wordreference.com
Free online Portuguese lessons with the BBC
The origins of Portuguese A History of the Portuguese Language