13 Common Mistakes in Brazilian Portuguese (Speaking and Writing)

Most common mistakes in Portuguese come from the same place: translating word for word from the language you already speak. English and Portuguese share a lot of structures, so it's tempting to turn "on Friday" into "em sexta" or "I'm in love with you" into "estou apaixonado com você". Here in Brazil, those common Portuguese mistakes sound off right away, and some of them even change the meaning of the sentence.

Below I walk you through 13 common mistakes in Brazilian Portuguese, both speaking and writing, taken from the questions and comments I get from students. For each one I show you how to say it in Portuguese the right way, with practical examples and the way we actually say it in Brazil.

If you want to learn Portuguese fast, fixing these mistakes early saves you months of bad habits, and if you also speak Spanish, it keeps you away from portuñol. When you're done, take a look at these Portuguese false friends, another classic trap for learners.

Video: Common mistakes when learning Portuguese

In this video I go over the common mistakes in Portuguese I see most often in my channel's comments, how they sound to someone from Brazil and the correct way to say each phrase. Watch it first and then use the list below to practice.

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How to say it in Portuguese

The correct way to say these phrases in Portuguese is almost never the literal translation: prepositions change, verbs change and sometimes even the word we use in Brazil is a different one. Here's each mistake with usage examples and, if you also speak Spanish and want the big picture, check out these Spanish vs Portuguese differences.

IN FEBRUARY

With months in Portuguese we use "em", just like "in" in English: we say "em fevereiro" or "em março". The trap is days of the week: "on Friday" isn't "em sexta" but "na sexta" (em + a). Here's the full list of the days of the week in Portuguese.

• Acho que vou tirar minhas férias em fevereiro.
• Você quer viajar comigo na sexta que vem?

15 expressions with the verb TIRAR in Portuguese

NEXT FRIDAY

To say "next Friday" in Portuguese you have two equally correct options: "na próxima sexta-feira" or "sexta-feira que vem", and the second one is the most common in conversation. Both usually go with the "ir" future, as in "vou viajar" (pretty much like "I'm going to travel"); here's how to use the future tense in Portuguese.

• Acho que vou viajar na próxima sexta-feira.
• Acho que sexta-feira que vem vou viajar.

LET'S GO PARTY

If you translate "let's go party" word for word, you'll end up with something nobody in Brazil really says. For a night out we use "balada" (a club or a party at night) and "farra" (partying hard with your friends). If you like these words, check out more Brazilian Portuguese slang you'll hear all the time.

• A gente vai pra balada hoje.
• Vamos pra farra.

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I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU

In Portuguese you're not in love "with" someone: you say "apaixonado por você", so the preposition changes from "with" to "por". It's one of the most common Portuguese mistakes, so if you're about to confess your feelings, also check how to say I love you in Portuguese.

• Estou apaixonado por você.

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I WAS WATCHING YOUR VIDEOS

To say "your videos" in Portuguese you can use "seus" (with você) or "teus" (with tu), depending on how you address the person. On top of that, in everyday speech "estava" gets shortened to "tava". I explain when to use each form in this post about you in Portuguese: tu or você.

• Ela tava vendo seus vídeos ontem. / Eu tava escutando suas ideias ontem.
• Me fala mais sobre teu vídeo. / Gostei das tuas ideias pra festa.

I'M GOING TO TAKE A TEST

In Portuguese you don't "take" a test, you do it: we say "fazer uma prova", "fazer um teste" or "fazer um exame". Translating "take" as "tomar" here sounds strange in Brazil, a typical case of the literal translations and false cognates that trip up so many learners.

• Vou fazer uma prova.
• Vou fazer um teste.
• Vou fazer uma avaliação.
• Vou fazer um exame.

I WOULD HAVE LIKED

To talk about something you would have liked to do, in Portuguese we use "gostaria de ter" or, more casually, "queria ter", followed by the past participle. Translating "I would have liked" word for word ("eu teria gostado") sounds stiff in conversation, and the same thing happens with these Portuguese verb conjugations that don't work in Spanish.

• Eu gostaria de ter ficado mais tempo no Brasil.
• Eu queria ter ficado mais tempo no Brasil.

I HAVE DONE / I HAVE BEEN

Here in Brazil we barely use the English-style present perfect: for finished actions we say "já fiz", and to talk about how long you've been doing something we use "já faz" + time. Heads up, "fazer" is irregular; you'll find it in this list of irregular verbs in Portuguese.

• Já fiz várias provas desse tipo e nunca fui aprovado.
• Já faz uns 2 anos que trabalho nessa empresa.

I ONLY JUST FOUND YOUR VIDEOS

To say you only just found something, in Brazil we say "só agora que" or "só... agora". Don't reach for "até hoje": it means "to this day" or "still", so it can't express that something happened just now. Also check how to say now in Portuguese.

• Só agora que encontrei teus vídeos.
• Só encontrei seus vídeos agora.

I HAD JUST ARRIVED

To say "I had just arrived" in Portuguese we use "tinha acabado de" + infinitive: "eu tinha acabado de chegar". Careful, because if you translate "just" as "apenas" or "só", you get "I had only arrived", which changes the whole meaning of the sentence.

• Eu tinha acabado de chegar no país quando conheci a sua mãe.

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HOW TO SAY "HOPEFULLY"

The most common way to say "hopefully" or "I hope" in Portuguese is "tomara que", followed by the verb in the subjunctive: "tomara que você consiga". "Oxalá" also exists, but those of us from Brazil hardly ever use it in everyday conversation.

• Tomara que você consiga resolver essa situação.

Extra

As a bonus, here's another way of expressing wishes that confuses a lot of Portuguese learners: the difference between "tomara" and "quem dera", which in English work roughly like "I hope" and "I wish".

TOMARA - QUEM DERA

We use "tomara" for wishes that can actually happen ("tomara que não chova amanhã") and "quem dera" for almost impossible wishes or regrets ("quem dera eu fosse rico"). I explain it with more practical examples in this post:

Hopefully in Portuguese: how to use "tomara" and "quem dera"

How to avoid speaking "Portuñol"

If you also speak Spanish, something very common while learning Portuguese is slipping into "portuñol", a mix of Portuguese and Spanish.

Portuñol examples and how to avoid them