Brazilian Portuguese Expressions
Idioms from Q to V

Welcome to Brazilian Portuguese Expressions. Here you will learn how to dot your i’s and cross your t’s!

By practicing them a while, you will soon speak Portuguese backwards and forwards...

A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V

Brazilian Portuguese Expressions - Q

qual o quê	not at all, of course not
quando do seu regresso	upon his return
quanto a	as for
quanto antes melhor	the sooner the better
quanto antes, o	as soon as possible
quanto mais... (tanto) mais	the more... the more
Quanto tempo?	How long? (time)
Que nada!	Nonsense, not at all
que nem	just like (colloquial)
Que tal...	How about...
Que tal?	What do you think of that?
quebrar o galho	to get a job done or do a favor
queima-roupa, à	at close range, point blank
queira + infinitive	please
quem quer que	whoever, whomever
querer bem a	to love (someone)
querer dizer	to mean, to mean to say
querer mal a	to have ill will for someone
quinze dias	two weeks

Brazilian Portuguese Expressions - R

raspar à máquina	to use the clippers (cutting hair)
repetir tudo tim-tim por tim-tim	to repeat everything exactly
reprovado num exame, ser	to fail an examination
responder certo	to answer correctly

Brazilian Portuguese Expressions - S

saber de cór e salteado	to know by heart
saber lidar com uma pessoa	know how to handle a person
sair bem ou mal	to come out well or poorly
saltar de	to get off (a taxi, bus)
são horas de	it is time to
se bem que	although
seja como for	come what way
sem mais tardar	right now
sem querer	by accident, unintentionally
sem um vintém	penniless
semana que vem	next week (month...)
sentir calor	to be warm (a person)
sentir falta (saudades) de	to miss, be homesick for
ser dono de si mesmo	to be one’s own boss
Será?	Are you sure about that?
servir (para)	to be good, useful (for)
só prestar para o fogo	not be worth two cents
sob medida	made to order, tailor-made

Brazilian Portuguese Expressions - T

Tá na mesa, pessoal!	Dinner is on!
tal pai, tal filho	like father, like son
tanto quanto	as much as
tão cedo	so soon
tão como (or quanto)	as... as
Tenho que...	I must...
ter cuidado	to be careful
ter de + infinitive	to have to (ter que)
ter do bom e do melhor	to have nothing but the best
ter juízo	to be prudent, sensible
ter medo	to be afraid
ter notícias de	to hear from
ter pena de	to feel sorry for
ter queda para	to have a bent, inclination for
ter receio de	to be afraid, to be suspicious
ter saudades de	to be homesick for, to miss
ter vontade de	to feel like doing something
ter... anos	to be ... years old
tirar a sorte grande	to hit the jackpot, win the first prize
tirar a sorte	to flip a coin
tirar conclusões	to draw conclusions
tirar cópias	to make copies
tirar desforra de	to get even with
tirar um retrato	to take a picture
tirar uma soneca	to take a nap, snooze
tocar piano	to play the piano
todas as vezes que	whenever, as often as
todo o mundo	everybody
todo prosa	very proud
todos os dias	every day
tomar banho de mar	to go swimming
tomar conta de	to take care of, to take charge of
tomar coragem	take courage
tomar providências	take the steps to do something
tornar a + infinitive	to... again
tratar de + infinitive	to take care of, to try to
tratar-se de	to be about, to be a question of

Brazilian Portuguese Expressions - U

uma vez que

seeing that, once (that), since

Brazilian Portuguese Expressions - V

valer à pena	to be worthwhile (worth the trouble)
valer-se de	to make use of
Vamos... + infinitive	Let’s...
vez por outra	now and then, once in a while
virar de cabeça pra baixo	to turn upside down
virar pelo avesso	to turn inside out
visto que	seeing that, since
voltar a + infinitive	to ... again
vou ver (se)	I will see (whether)

A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V

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