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Speak Portuguese: Talking About Your Family


Talking about your family is a great way of striking up a conversation or getting to know someone. It’s also a great way to learn to speak Portuguese, because there’s a limited amount of vocabulary to learn, so it’s one of the quicker subjects to master. If you spend time learning with a tutor, you’ll be able to learn how to speak Portuguese about your family quite quickly.


In this post, we’ll cover the vocabulary, and some of the phrases you’ll need to talk about your family in Portuguese.


Vocabulary


Family

Família


Father

Pai


Mother

Mãe


Brother

Irmão


Sister

Irmã


Husband

Marido


Wife

Esposa


Grandfather

Avô


Grandmother

Avó


Grandson

Neto


Granddaughter

Neta


Uncle

Tio


Aunt

Tia


Nephew

Sobrinho


Niece

Sobrinha


Cousin (male)

Primo


Cousin (female)

Prima


Stepfather

Padrasto


Stepmother

Madrasta


Stepbrother / Half-brother

Meio-irmão


Stepsister / Half-sister

Meia-irmã


Father-in-law

Sogro


Mother-in-law

Sogra


Brother-in-law

Cunhado


Sister-in-law

Cunhada


Adopted

Adotado/adotada


Phrases

Now we’ve learned the basic vocabulary to speak Portuguese about your family, we’ll take a look at some basic sentences.


I have one brother and two sisters.

Eu tenho um irmão e duas irmãs.


My brother is younger than me.

Meu irmão é mais novo que eu.


I have six cousins.

Eu tenho seis primos.


My cousin is older than me.

Meu primo / minha prima é mais velho/velha que eu.


My father is sixty-four years old.

Meu pai tem sessenta e quatro anos.


My family is very close.

Minha família é muito próxima.


I have a big family.

Eu tenho uma família grande.


My uncle is divorced.

Meu tio é divorciado.


My parents have been married for thirty-one years.

Meus pais estão casados há trinta e um anos.


My stepbrother is adopted.

Meu meio-irmão é adotado.


How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Quantos irmãos você tem?


How old is your niece?

Sua sobrinha tem quantos anos?


Do you have any cousins?

Você tem primos?


Are you close with your family?

Você é próximo/próxima da sua família?


How long have your parents been married?

Há quanto tempo seus pais estão casados?


The next step is to practice talking about your family in Portuguese so that you can internalize the vocabulary and gain mastery of this area. The best way to do this is to practice with an expert tutor, who can help you with your pronunciation and fluency, and teach you vocabulary that hasn’t been covered in this post.

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