How to Say I Love You in Portuguese Like a Real Brazilian

Want to know how to say I love you in Portuguese? Good news: it's just te amo. The catch is that here in Brazil we say it way more often than you'd expect, it sounds a little different from how it looks, and it comes with a couple of traps no translation app will warn you about. Trust me, as a Brazilian I've seen plenty of people try to say something sweet to their partner and end up saying something a lot spicier than they meant.

For example, did you know that te quero doesn't mean "I love you"? Or that calling your partner by their actual name makes it sound like you're mad at them? And that our Valentine's Day in Brazil isn't on February 14, but on a date tied to a saint that a lot of grandmas turn upside down to find a boyfriend?

In this guide I'll show you how to say I love you in Portuguese naturally, the Portuguese love phrases we really send on WhatsApp and on special dates, the terms of endearment in Portuguese like mozão and meu bem, plus Brazilian movies, songs and gift delivery ideas to surprise your Brazilian partner from wherever you are. As we say in Brazil: bora!

How to say "I love you" in Portuguese

"I love you" in Portuguese is te amo. What changes is how we use it and how it sounds. In most of Brazil the te sounds like "chee", so what you actually hear is something like "chee AH-moo". If you want to polish that detail, here's a guide to Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation.

Another cultural detail: those of us from Brazil say te amo much more easily than people do in the US or the UK. We say it to our partner, to our mom and even to our best friend (te amo, amiga!). And notice that in everyday speech we mix the pronoun te with the você form without any problem.

• Eu te amo, e quero que você saiba disso todos os dias. (I love you, and I want you to know it every single day.)
• - Te amo, amor! - Também te amo! - Te amo mais!

"Te quero" vs. "gosto de você": the most common mistake

If you know some Spanish, you might assume that "te quiero" in Portuguese is te quero. It isn't. In Brazil, te quero expresses desire, almost always with a physical or passionate tone, much closer to "I want you" in English. The sweet, caring "I really like you" or "you mean a lot to me" is said with gosto de você, gosto muito de você or te adoro.

• Eu gosto muito de você, sabia? (I really like you, you know?)
• Acho que tô apaixonado por você. (I think I'm falling in love with you.)

How to say "I like you" in Portuguese

"I like you" in Portuguese is eu gosto de você, but be careful: this phrase works both for someone you simply get along with and for someone you're into, and the context decides the meaning. If you want to make it clear that you want "something more", those of us from Brazil use other expressions.

How to say "someone likes me" in Portuguese

To say that someone else likes you, the structure flips and you use de mim (of me). It's really easy:

• Ela gosta de mim. (She likes me.)
• Eu acho que ele gosta de mim. (I think he likes me.)
• Eu acho que ela tá a fim de mim. (I think she's into me.)
• Ele tem uma queda por mim. (He has a crush on me.)

Video: the stages of a relationship in Brazil

Before the phrases, it's worth knowing what stage your relationship is in, because in Brazil ficar isn't the same as namorar. In this video I walk you through each stage, from solteiro to casamento.

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Terms of endearment in Portuguese for your partner

Terms of endearment in Portuguese are the pet names we use to call our partner instead of their name. In Brazil almost nobody calls their partner by name in private: if you do, it sounds like you're mad at them! These are the Brazilian pet names you'll hear the most.

• Bom dia, mozão! Dormiu bem?
• Meu bem, bora fazer um chamego no sofá hoje?
• Te ligo quando sair do trabalho, vida.

Portuguese love phrases for every moment

Portuguese love phrases change depending on the stage of the relationship and the channel: you don't text someone you just met the same thing you'd write to your partner of five years. Here they are, organized by moment.

• Você mexeu comigo desde o primeiro dia. (You got to me from day one.)
• Não paro de pensar em você. (I can't stop thinking about you.)
• A gente combina demais, né? (We're a perfect match, right?)
• Adoro o jeito que você me olha. (I love the way you look at me.)
• Adorei bater um papo com você ontem. (I loved chatting with you yesterday.)
• Seu sorriso é lindo demais. (Your smile is just too beautiful.)
• Bora sair qualquer dia desses? (Want to go out one of these days?)
• Tô doido pra te ver logo. (I can't wait to see you soon.)

For everyday texting and WhatsApp

In daily chats we use short phrases, contractions and emojis. This is where the famous saudade comes in, that deep longing that is our way of saying I miss you in Portuguese.

• Tô morrendo de saudade de você. (I miss you so much.)
• Ainda lembro do nosso primeiro beijo. (I still remember our first kiss.)
• Chega logo, que eu já tô com saudade. (Hurry up and get here, I already miss you.)
• Bom dia, amor! Dormiu bem? (Good morning, love! Did you sleep well?)
• Já almoçou? Não vai ficar sem comer, hein! (Have you had lunch yet? Don't you dare skip a meal!)
• Tô pensando em você agora mesmo. (I'm thinking about you right now.)
• Me avisa quando chegar em casa, tá? (Text me when you get home, okay?)
• Bora jantar fora na sexta? (Want to go out for dinner on Friday?)
• Boa noite, meu bem. Sonha comigo! (Good night, sweetheart. Dream of me!)

To text like a real Brazilian, check out Brazilian Portuguese texting slang with the abbreviations we use on WhatsApp.

For declarations and special dates

For anniversaries, love letters or proposals, romantic phrases in Portuguese can get more intense and poetic.

• Você é tudo pra mim. (You're everything to me.)
• Você é o sonho que eu nem sabia que tinha. (You're the dream I didn't even know I had.)
• Desde que a gente se conheceu, minha vida ficou mais leve. (Since we met, my life feels lighter.)
• Quero passar o resto da minha vida com você. (I want to spend the rest of my life with you.)
• A cada dia que passa, eu te amo mais. (With every day that goes by, I love you more.)
• Você virou o meu lugar favorito no mundo. (You've become my favorite place in the world.)
• Com você, eu aprendi o que é amar de verdade. (With you, I learned what it means to truly love someone.)
• Feliz aniversário de namoro, meu amor! Dois anos ao seu lado e parece que foi ontem. (Happy anniversary, my love! Two years by your side and it feels like yesterday.)
• Você aceita casar comigo? (Will you marry me?)

If you want even more inspiration, the website Pensador collects thousands of love quotes and sweet messages in Portuguese, many of them by Brazilian authors.

Dia dos Namorados in Brazil: why it's not on February 14

Dia dos Namorados, our version of Valentine's Day in Brazil, is celebrated on June 12, not on February 14 like in the US and most other countries. The date falls right on the eve of Santo Antônio's day (June 13), the saint known as the santo casamenteiro, the matchmaker saint who helps people find a partner.

The origin is more commercial than romantic: the ad man João Doria (father of the former governor of São Paulo) was hired by a store to boost sales in June, a slow month for retail, and he came up with the idea of creating the date. On top of that, February 14 usually falls very close to Carnival, and nobody is thinking about romantic dinners then. The idea worked, and today it's one of the biggest dates for Brazilian retail.

Santo Antônio, Brazil's matchmaker saint

Santo Antônio (Saint Anthony) is known in Brazil as the santo casamenteiro, the saint people ask for help to find a partner or get married. His feast day is June 13, the date of his death, and that matchmaker reputation is what connects two very Brazilian traditions: Dia dos Namorados and one of the funniest superstitions in the country.

The other tradition is a well-known simpatia (a folk ritual): whoever is looking for love turns a small statue of Santo Antônio upside down, sometimes inside a glass of water or facing the wall, and takes the baby Jesus out of his arms. It's a kind of playful "blackmail": the saint only gets back to his normal position, and gets the baby back, once the boyfriend shows up. The Church doesn't support these superstitions, but the tradition is still alive, especially during the festas juninas.

It's not the only custom that surprises foreigners: we greet each other with up to three kisses, we say goodbye with a beijo even at the end of a phone call, and on Réveillon everyone dresses in white. Check out these and other Brazilian culture curiosities that surprise foreigners.

• Santo Antônio, me arruma um namorado, por favor! (Saint Anthony, find me a boyfriend, please!)
• Coloquei o santo de cabeça para baixo e até agora nada de namorado! (I turned the saint upside down and still no boyfriend!)
• Minha avó sempre faz simpatia pra Santo Antônio em junho. (My grandma always does a ritual for Saint Anthony in June.)

• Feliz Dia dos Namorados, meu amor!
• O que você vai dar de presente de Dia dos Namorados?
• O que você vai me dar de presente de Dia dos Namorados?

Article in Portuguese: Dia dos Namorados: 12 dicas de presentes para agradar o mozão

Namorar in Portuguese also means kissing and cuddling

Besides "to date", namorar has a second meaning that's very common in Brazil: the moment when a couple is together, hugging, kissing and cuddling. That's why you'll hear namorar even between married couples.

• Cadê o Carlos? Ele tá namorando lá na varanda com a Michele. (Where's Carlos? He's out on the balcony getting cozy with Michele.)
• Casados há 30 anos e ainda namoram no sofá como dois adolescentes. (Married for 30 years and they still cuddle on the couch like two teenagers.)

Namorado, namorada and namorar: how to say boyfriend in Portuguese

"Boyfriend" in Portuguese is namorado, and "girlfriend" is namorada. One of the most common mistakes I hear from my students is meu enamorado: people will understand you, but nobody in Brazil talks about their partner that way. The natural way is meu namorado or minha namorada.

And for the relationship itself we use the verb namorar. What you'd call "dating" or "going out" in English is namorar or estar namorando in Brazil.

• Essa é a Ana, minha namorada. (This is Ana, my girlfriend.)
• A gente tá namorando faz dois anos. (We've been dating for two years.)

Watch out for this trap! Noivo looks like it should mean boyfriend (and in Spanish, "novio" does), but in Brazil it means fiancé, someone you're already planning to marry. If you introduce your boyfriend as meu noivo, everyone will ask about the wedding date. It's one of those Portuguese false friends that can embarrass you.

How to use TER and HAVER in Portuguese

Partner in Portuguese: casal, parceiro and trisal

"Partner" or "couple" in Portuguese has two translations depending on the meaning. When you're talking about the two of you together, we say casal. When you're talking about the person, you can say parceiro or parceira, but that word leaves room for doubt: just like "partner" in English, it can also mean a business partner. If you want to be precise, just say meu namorado, meu noivo, meu marido, and so on for each stage.

• Eles formam um casal lindo. (They make a beautiful couple.)
• Ela é minha parceira... de negócios ou de vida? (She's my partner... in business or in life?)

Romantic Brazilian movies to watch as a couple

Watching romantic Brazilian movies together is one of the easiest ways to learn love expressions in context, with real intonation. These are some of my favorites:

Want to keep the movie night going? Here are more movies in Portuguese, the best Brazilian TV series and the most famous Brazilian telenovelas.

Love songs in Portuguese to dedicate

Love songs in Portuguese are the cheapest and most effective gift: sending the right link at the right moment is worth more than a thousand words. This list mixes classics with songs every Brazilian knows by heart.

If you want to learn with lyrics and vocabulary explained, check out my selection of Brazilian music in Portuguese.

A few more romantic songs in Portuguese

How to write a love letter or card in Portuguese

A love letter in Portuguese, or cartinha, follows a simple structure: a sweet greeting, a special memory, what you feel and a sign-off. It doesn't need to be perfect; a handwritten grammar mistake is more touching than a flawless text copied from the internet.

If you prefer something digital, on Canva you'll find card templates you can edit with your Portuguese phrases and send on WhatsApp. But if your partner is getting a gift delivered, add a card written by you: for us Brazilians, that little detail is worth more than any design.

Gift delivery in Brazil: flowers, chocolates and more

To send flowers, chocolates or a surprise dinner with delivery in Brazil, the easiest way is to order from the same websites we Brazilians use for Dia dos Namorados and birthdays. Here are my favorites and what each one offers, so you nail the gift even if you don't know Brazilian online stores.

If your partner is in Brazil and you're in the US, the UK or anywhere else, you can send them a gift with delivery from Brazilian websites. The can't-miss classic is the cesta de café da manhã: a breakfast basket delivered to the door early in the morning, a very typical surprise for Dia dos Namorados or a birthday.

A practical tip: always check whether the website delivers to your partner's city and until what time, because on June 12 orders go through the roof. What if you cook instead? A homemade brigadeiro wins over any Brazilian; get ideas from this guide to typical Brazilian food.

What if your Brazilian partner doesn't speak Portuguese with you?

Having a Brazilian partner doesn't guarantee you'll practice Portuguese every day. Many of my students go through this: the language of the relationship was already set in English or Spanish, and changing it is hard. I explain why it happens and what to do in why my partner doesn't speak Portuguese with me. And if you're still not sure whether you're already namorados or just ficando, go over the stages of relationships in Brazil.

How to flirt in Portuguese: dar em cima, paquerar and xavecar

"Hitting on someone" in Portuguese is dar em cima de alguém, and it means flirting with someone in a direct way to win them over. In Brazil we also use paquerar, flertar and the very colloquial xavecar.

• Ele passou a festa inteira dando em cima da minha amiga. (He spent the whole party hitting on my friend.)
• Para de jogar charme e chama ela pra sair logo! (Stop playing hard to get and just ask her out already!)
• Que cantada ruim, hein? (What a terrible pickup line!)

Want more examples of cantadas and xavecadas to practice? Here I explain everything about how to flirt in Portuguese.

More words you'll hear when dating someone from Brazil

These words come up all the time in Brazilian relationships. Do you know what each one means?

• Ficar
• Dar mole
• Papo
• Jeito
• Sacanagem
• Cuca
• Sarrar

And for when you two are really comfortable with each other, here are some spicy questions in Portuguese to ask as a couple.