Your global company is moving into Portuguese-speaking markets. Brazil and Portugal are the largest markets that speak the language… but what are the differences between the two variants of Portuguese?
What do you need to know to translate your company's content effectively into the Portuguese language?
If you just find a translator that can translate "into Portuguese," you might struggle to create content that performs well in your target market. It helps when you understand what makes these two markets unique, both culturally and in how they use the language.
Let's explore the differences between the variants of Portuguese in these two significant markets…
Are Brazilian and Portuguese the same?
Companies sometimes make the mistake of translating their content into a generic Portuguese. This is represented by the ISO 639 language code "pt."
It's true that residents of both Brazil and Portugal both speak Portuguese. It is also the official language of several other nations.
Although they use the same language, you usually need to treat your Portuguese-speaking markets differently to create effective global content. After all, there are 12 different variants of Portuguese used around the world.
There are various notable differences between the way people use the language in each market, which we outline below. There are also differences between the cultures that affect how people use the language and consume online content.
Brazil vs Portugal: What global companies need to know
Before we explore the linguistic differences between the languages in Brazil and Portugal, let's look at the differences between the markets themselves.
Geographically, Brazil is 92 times bigger than Portugal. This means that there is a much bigger spread of people, with bigger cultural differences within the country. There are also 20 times more people in Brazil.
The vast size and diversity of Brazil will affect the opportunity for a global company like yours.
Notable differences between the Brazilian and Portuguese markets are:
- People in Portugal are 25.1% more likely to have internet access than those in Brazil.
- Residents of Portugal make 95% more money than residents of Brazil, but it is also 81.6% more expensive to live there.
- Brazilians tend to be more likely to indulge their desires than those Portuguese people.
- Brazilians tend to think more long term than Portuguese people and have a higher tolerance for uncertainty.
These differences will affect how people buy products and services in Brazil and Portugal.
When you are translating your company's content for these markets, such cultural differences often make much more impact than the linguistic differences.
Can you translate directly from one to the other?
You might wonder if it's possible to speed up translation by converting from one variant of Portuguese to another.
This is certainly possible!
We do this for some of our clients. For example, for one manufacturing client, we translate their product manuals and engineering content from English (en-US) to Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br). Then, we convert the translations into European Portuguese (pt-pt) using a glossary and post-editing.
This process is more time-consuming than doing a similar conversion between European Spanish (es-es) and Standard Latin American Spanish (es-Ln). It wouldn't be suitable for all content but it works for engineering content.
4 differences between the language in Brazil and Portugal
Even though the cultural differences between the markets of Brazil and Portugal are probably more important for your company, there are also some clear linguistic differences.
Here are 4 ways that people in the two markets use the Portuguese language differently:
1. Pronunciation
If you were to listen to people from each market speaking, you would immediately notice the differences, even if you don't speak Portuguese.
People sometimes describe the Brazilian accent as "lilting and open." It has a musical quality to it. In Portugal, the accent has a more closed sound and people tend to speak faster.
This will be very relevant if you are creating spoken video or audio content. In general, people from Portugal can understand Brazilian speakers easily. Brazilians tend to have more trouble understanding speakers from Portugal.
2. Spelling
While the written language is very similar, there are some minor spelling differences between the two Portuguese variants. If you are trying to create a "universal" Portuguese translation for both markets, this can be a problem.
For example, the words "receção" (reception) and "facto" (fact or reality) would be completely normal for a reader in Portugal. But for a Brazilian they would seem jarring where the words are written "recepção" and "fato."
3. Vocabulary
The two markets also have some completely different vocabulary. Just as in US English, the term "pants" means outer legwear while in British English it means "underwear", some words have completely different meaning in the Portuguese variants.
For example, in Portugal, the word "propina" is used to mean the fees a student pays at university. In Brazil, the word doesn't have this meaning, and it only means "bribe."
You and your translators need to be aware of such differences or your Portuguese content could be confusing.
4. Grammar
Finally, there are some core grammatical differences in how the different markets use the language.
One of the clearest differences is the formality of the language. In Brazil, most people use the formal pronouns (such as "você" for "you"). In Portugal, and some southern regions of Brazil, they more often use the informal pronouns ("tu" for "you").
Another grammatical difference is that object pronouns come after the verb in Portugal but before the verb in Brazil. Such differences can affect entire pieces of your content.
Examples of Portuguese phrases that make little sense in the other market
There are also plenty of idioms and phrases that just don't translate between the different markets. If your translator uses such phrases, you may end up with translations that don't make sense if you use them in the other market.
Here are some examples of phrases that your customers in one market should understand but your customers in the other market probably wouldn't:
- "Um abiscoitado" (literal meaning similar to "like a biscuit") — In Portugal, this expression means "an irresponsible person." In Brazil, you would have to use the term "alguem de moleque" ("a spoiled brat") or "alguem juvenil" (someone juvenile).
- "estar só o pó" (literally "be just the dust") — In Brazil, this phrase means someone who is very tired. In European Portuguese, the phrase used for this is "nao aguentar nas canetas" (literally something like "can't even hold up their pen")
- "Ter a cara de pau" (literally "to have a wooden face") — In Brazil, this means to have courage or daring. In European Portuguese, an equivalent phrase is "ter lata" (literally "to have can", as in tin or canister).
These are example of idioms that you can't translate literally between the two markets.
Usually, it is a bad idea to translate idioms in any business content as they rarely translate across cultures. However, even technical words are used differently in Brazil and Portugal.
| Brazilian Portuguese | European Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| bonde | elétrico | tram |
| celular | telemóvel | mobile phone |
| geladeira | frigorífico | refrigerator |
| grampeador | agrafadora | stapler |
| mouse | rato | computer mouse |
| sorvete | gelado | ice cream |
| tela | ecrã | screen |
Where to start with your Portuguese translation
Here, we have shown just some of the cultural and linguistic differences between Brazil and Portugal.
How can you ensure you get the right Portuguese translations for your business?
Start by identifying some specific content or application that you want to translate to move to your new markets.
Then, get in contact with a good translation provider that will look strategically at your Portuguese language content. They will help you to make the right decisions upfront so that you don't make any costly mistakes.