How do you say "How are you?" in Portuguese – and how do you reply? This free lesson gives you some useful words and phrases to pack in your Portuguese language survival kit. You’ll learn the formal and informal Portuguese for asking people how they are – important stuff if you want to make the right first impression. And just in case you need to apologize, you’ll learn how to say sorry in Portuguese as well!
After you greet someone, you’ll want to ask how they are. Here are some common questions that follow a greeting.
Resources for further reading:
For friends or family:
Rocket Record lets you perfect your Portuguese pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!
Tudo bem?
How are you? / Everything well? (formal)
For strangers or more senior people:
Como vai? / Como está?
How are you?
What do you say if someone asks you how you are?
Bem, obrigado / Bem, obrigada
Well, thanks (male/female)
Muito bem
Very well
Na mesma
As always
Tudo na mesma
Everything is as always
Um pouco cansado / Um pouco cansada
A little tired (male/female)
Estou doente
I'm sick
Mais ou menos
So-so
Nada mal
Not bad
Mal
Bad
Tudo bem
All good
Vai tudo bem
Everything is going well
Beleza
Great
A common follow-up question is, "And you?", "E você?":
E você?
And you?
If someone tells you that he or she is not feeling well you could reply with the following…
Sinto muito
I'm sorry
Que pena!
What a shame!
If someone is feeling great, you can respond with the following…
Que bom!
That's good!
É bom saber!
Nice to know!
The above words are extremely important. From experience, I think that the most important thing to know in any language is how to say you’re sorry! Others disagree. They say that there are THREE important phrases that you absolutely must know. They are:
Sinto muito
I'm sorry
Eu te amo
I love you
Preciso de ajuda
I need help
Hmm, I can’t think of a situation in which I’d need to use all three, but I’ll leave that to your imagination! That’s it for today’s lesson.
Find out about asking Portuguese questions in this series of lessons. Make sure you listen to the audio and practice your Portuguese pronunciation. And do the Portuguese tests at the end of each lesson to reinforce your knowledge of Portuguese questions!
Até mais!
Tereza Pereira: Rocket Portuguese
Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!