Learn European Portuguese
European Portuguese — Portuguese (Portugal), pt-PT — is the variety spoken in Portugal, with its own rhythm, sounds, and everyday words. This course walks English speakers from pronunciation and nasal vowels through grammar to real phrases for travel, cafés, and transport across Portugal.
Start here
Your recommended route through the course.
- START European Portuguese for English speakers — where to begin Begin with the big picture — what European Portuguese is, and how it differs from Brazilian Portuguese.
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STEP 1 Pronunciation basics How European Portuguese sounds — reduced vowels, special letters, stress.
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STEP 2 Nasal vowels and stress ão, ãe, õe, and the accent marks that tell you where stress falls.
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STEP 3 Basic grammar How Portuguese sentences are built — word order, ser vs estar, por vs para.
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STEP 4 Articles and gender o, a, os, as, um, uma — and the gender of every noun.
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STEP 5 Pronouns and formality tu, você, vocês — how Portugal actually addresses people.
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STEP 6 Present tense Regular verbs, the key irregulars, and estar a + infinitive.
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STEP 7 Past and future The simple past and the easy ir + infinitive future.
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STEP 8 Negation and questions Saying no, and asking onde, quanto, quando, como.
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STEP 9 Vocabulary Basic words
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STEP 10 Conversation Basic phrases
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STEP 11 Numbers Numbers, money and time
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STEP 12 Travel Travel and restaurants
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STEP 13 Transport Metro, trains, buses, taxis
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START
What is European Portuguese?
Pronunciation
Pronunciation basics, nasal vowels, and stress.
- European Portuguese pronunciation for beginners Reduced unstressed vowels, the special letters (lh, nh, ç, ch), s becoming sh, open vs closed vowels, and why European Portuguese sounds compressed.
- Nasal vowels and stress marks in European Portuguese ão, ã, õ, ãe, õe, em, en, am — how Portuguese nasal vowels work, plus the accent marks (acute, circumflex, tilde, grave) that mark stress.
Grammar
Sentence structure, articles & gender, pronouns & formality.
- Basic Portuguese grammar for English speakers Portuguese word order, ser vs estar at a glance, por vs para for beginners, plurals, and the sentence patterns you'll use every day.
- Portuguese articles and gender: o, a, um, uma Definite and indefinite articles in European Portuguese, how masculine and feminine gender works, and the common irregulars to memorise.
- Portuguese pronouns and formality in Portugal eu, tu, ele, ela, nós, vocês, eles, elas — plus the context-sensitive status of você in Portugal, and how politeness actually works.
Verbs
Present tense, progressive, past and future.
- Portuguese present tense and the European progressive Regular -ar/-er/-ir verbs, the essential irregulars (ser, estar, ter, ir, querer, poder, fazer), and estar a + infinitive — the Portuguese way to say 'I am doing'.
- Portuguese past and future for beginners The pretérito perfeito (fui, comi, falei, vi) for talking about the past, and the easy ir + infinitive future (Vou viajar, Vamos comer).
Sentences
Negation and questions.
Words, conversation & numbers
Core vocabulary, greetings, numbers, money, and time.
- 100+ essential European Portuguese words The core Portugal vocabulary: people, time, food, places, transport, verbs, adjectives, and question words — with article + noun pairs to learn gender for free.
- 80+ essential Portuguese phrases for Portugal Greetings, introductions, thanks, apologies, understanding, shopping, directions, restaurants, hotels and emergencies — the everyday European Portuguese you'll actually say.
- Portuguese numbers, money and time Numbers 0–1000, euros and cêntimos, telling the time (Que horas são?), days, dates, and the 24-hour clock in Portugal.
Travel & transport
Travel, restaurants, and getting around Portugal.
- Travel and restaurant Portuguese for Portugal Airport, hotel, passport, reservations, Wi-Fi, bathrooms, directions, tickets, pharmacy and emergencies — plus restaurant and café phrases for Portugal.
- Getting around Portugal: metro, trains, buses, taxis Portugal transport vocabulary — metro, autocarro, comboio, elétrico, táxi — stations, stops, tickets (ida, ida e volta), and the phrases to use them.