How do you say "do you speak English?" in Portuguese?
Say Você fala inglês? to anyone; with an older person, O senhor (to a man) or A senhora (to a woman) instead of você is more polite.
| Portuguese | Meaning | In CiaoSpeak |
|---|---|---|
| Você fala inglês? | Do you speak English? | Unit 2 |
| O senhor fala inglês? | Do you speak English? (polite, to a man) | Not in the course |
| A senhora fala inglês? | Do you speak English? (polite, to a woman) | Not in the course |
| inglês / inglesa | English (a man / a woman); inglês is also the language | Unit 2 |
How do you say you speak a little Portuguese?
Say Falo um pouco de português ("I speak a little Portuguese"), or just Falo um pouco when someone asks. People usually slow down and help.
| Portuguese | Meaning | In CiaoSpeak |
|---|---|---|
| Falo um pouco de português. | I speak a little Portuguese. | Unit 2 |
| Falo inglês e um pouco de português. | I speak English and a little Portuguese. | Speak: Job interview |
| Mais devagar, por favor. | Slower, please. | Unit 2 |
What will people ask you back?
People may ask Você fala português? ("Do you speak Portuguese?"), and Falo um pouco ("I speak a little") is the easy answer. Rodrigo, the ride-app driver in CiaoSpeak's Speak tab, asks you exactly this:
Ride-app car, Rio de Janeiro
Você fala português?
Do you speak Portuguese?
Falo um pouco.
I speak a little.
What mistakes do English speakers make with this question?
The common mistakes are writing Inglês with a capital letter and asking in English first.
- Você fala Inglês?. Languages take a small letter in Portuguese: inglês, português.
- Asking in English. Asking in Portuguese, even with an accent, gets a much warmer answer.
- Using tu. In most of Brazil, você is the everyday "you".
How can you practice saying it out loud?
Say it to someone who answers. In CiaoSpeak's Brazilian Portuguese course, the lessons teach Você fala inglês? and Falo um pouco with a recording in a Brazilian accent, and in the Speak tab a character in a real scene (a São Paulo baker, a Rio ride-app driver, your language-exchange partner Ana) talks to you and you answer out loud. The app tells you whether a Brazilian would understand you, with one gentle fix if not. Lessons are free; in the Speak tab, today's questions (up to five a day) are free too, and CiaoSpeak+ adds practice in any scene whenever you like. More phrases: how to say everyday things in Portuguese.