Interjections are words with an emotive function. They are used to express emotions, sensations, and moods. They can be just simple vowel sounds, like Ah! and Oh! , but most are either a free word or a phrase, in which case we call them locuções interjetivas .
The same interjeiçãointerjection can have different meanings depending on the context in which it appears, its purpose, and the speaker’s attitude. Even with simple vowel sounds, sometimes changing the tone and extending the sound will give it another meaning.
Ai! Bati com o joelho na mesa.Ah! I hit the table with my knee.
Ai! Já me estou a passar contigo.Ah! You're getting on my nerves.
Interjections can be used as a standalone reply / affirmation, or they can be followed by a sentence.
Basta!Enough!
Irra! Vocês não conseguem mesmo estar calados, pois não?Geez! You really can't keep quiet, can you?
There’s practically an unlimited number of interjeiçõesinterjections , but below you will find the most common grouped by meaning/context.
Happy / Compliments
Boa!Nice! Bem bom!Very good! Espetacular!Spectacular! Sim senhor!Well done! Maravilha!Wonderful! Que bomThat's great, How nice Ainda bem!I'm glad! Muito bem!Well done! Adoro!I love it! Iupi!Yippee!
Cheering
Vamos!Let's go! Força!Go for it!, Stay strong! Vai!Go! Bora!Let's go! Siga!Go! Coragem!Courage! Anda!Come on! Boa!Nice! Bem!Good! Apoiado!I support you! Bravo!Congratulations! Parabéns!Congratulations! Continua!Go on! Dá-lhe!
Desires / Wishes
Tomara!Hope so! Oxalá!Hopefully! Quem me dera!I wish! Deus queira!God willing! Se Deus quiser!God willing! Espero bem!I hope so! Espero que sim!I hope so!
Surprised
Ah! Ih! Elá! Ui! Ena! Caramba! Não pode!It can't be! Não posso!I can't! Não acredito!I don't believe it! Ai, o quê?What? Macacos me mordam!I'll be a monkey's uncle!
Impatience / Frustration
Ai! Oh! Epá! Opá! Mau! Irra!Geez! Bolas!Geez! Poxa!Gosh! Sinceramente!Oh, honestly! Francamente!Oh, honestly! Enfim!Finally!, Anyway!
Anger
Porra!Damn! Chiça!Geez! Irra!Geez! Raios partam!Damnit! Mau!
Commands
Shiu!Shh! Caluda!Shut up! Silêncio!Silence! Chega!Enough! Basta!Enough! Acabou!It's over! Parou!Stop it! Alto!Hold it! Fora!Out! Rua!Out! Chô!Shoo!
Calling
Ó! Ei!Hey! Psiu!Psst! Olha!Look! Ajuda!Help! Socorro!Help!
Agreeing
Claro!Of course! Certo!Right! Perfeito!Perfect! Sem dúvida!No doubt! Ora!Well! Isso mesmo!That's right! Sim!Yes!
Apologizing
Ups!Oops! Desculpa!Sorry! Foi sem querer!It was an accident! Perdão!Forgive me!
Greetings / Saying goodbye
Olá!Hi! Boas!Hello! Viva!Howdy! Tchau!Bye! Xau!Bye! Adeus!Goodbye! Boa noite!Goodnight! Até amanhã!See you tomorrow! Até sempre!So long!
Horror / Fear
Ai! Credo!Heavens! Céus!Heavens! Meu Deus!My God! Jesus! Que medo!How scary! Que horror!How awful!
Relief
Ufa! Graças a Deus!Thank God! Aleluia!Hallelujah Finalmente!Finally! Até que enfim!Finally!
Doubts / Questions
Hã!?Huh!? Quê!?What!? Como assim!?How come!?
Warnings
Alerta!Warning! Cuidado!Careful! Atenção!Watch out! Toma atenção!Pay attention! Olha!Look!
Pain / Sadness
Ai!Ouch! Ah! Au!Ouch! Oh! Coitado de mim!Poor me! Que dor!Such pain!
Using Portuguese Interjections
Many of the expressions shown above can be combined with each other, often following the simple vowel sounds + a free word structure.
- Ai, credo!Oh God! Oh, desculpa!Oh, I'm sorry! Epá, porra!Goddamnit!
Another way to use interjeições is to combine them with other words such as adverbs and pronouns.
- Força nisso!Have at it!, Go for it! Alto aí!Hold it right there!
Also, you may have noticed that some expressions already have pronouns, like Quem me dera!I wish! for example. You can change the pronoun to te or nos and have the interjection reference other people, as in Quem te dera!You wish!
Really useful. Thank you
Para mim o melhor é “macacos me mordem”.
Eu adoro com de costume e sou muito triste que não existe em francês
Continuam Bravo muito Obrigada para Tudos os shorties
Valerie
This is a really useful list. Thank you for putting it together. There are a couple of minor issues. The English translation of Força nisso doesn’t make any sense (at least in British English). I wonder if you meant ‘Hard at it’.
It’s no big deal but for your information, the recordings for Não Posso are the wrong way round. The tortoise is normal speech whereas the speaker icon is the slowed down versionl
Thanks for the feedback! Yes I think “Have at it!” must be an American phrase. What about “Go for it!”, would you say that in British English? I think “hard at it” is similar, but you wouldn’t say that on its own directed toward someone, like “Hard at it!”, right? You would just say something like “Wow, you are hard at it!” And thanks for noticing the audio switch – I’ve made a note for that to be corrected.
Thanks for the prompt reply. I have never come across this Americanism so I presumed it was a typo, hence suggesting hard at it. You are of course quite right, ‘hard at it’ cannot stand alone except possibly as a question. So am I correct in thinking that ‘Força nisso’ carries the same sense as just ‘Força!’ but just more emphatic or is there a difference in meaning here?
You are correct 🙂 As interjections, “Força nisso” and “Força” mean the same.
The nuts and bolts of everyday conversation. Thanks!
Thanks for your comment, Jay!
THESE ARE FUN TO READ OUT LOUD
Olá a todos, gosto muita dos interjeições 😊. Obrigada
Hello I am trying to figure out if “Valor” or anything similar in spelling is a Portuguese word. It’s a borrowed word in my native language and I am trying to figure this out. For context, this is generally used to appreciate or give props when someone does something major or outside their wheelhouse. Thanks!
Olá! Yes, we have the word “valor” in Portuguese, meaning value or amount 🙂
Klasse!!!
I really love this part.
Very useful
Oi, galera! Obrigado pelas classes de palavras. Muito util. Very useful, thanks.
I knew some of the basic ones. Some new ones to learn to impress my online Brazilian friends at Language Salad.
I especially liked Viva! I used to live in Colorado, where “howdy” is very popular.
Two more you might add: Foi mal (my bad) and Crendeuspai! (used in Minas, and basically means “oh my goodness/gosh”)
Valeu,
Jiminho
Maynard, MA USA
Por que dizemos “Macacos me mordam!” e não “Macacos mordam-me!”?
Ah, good question! That is because the sentence is formed in the present subjunctive and the implied longer sentence is something like “Que os macacos me mordam” (May the monkeys bite me, in a direct translation). This “que” word attracts the ‘me’ pronoun to a proclitic position (before the verb). This topic is covered in detail in our Learning Notes about clitic object pronouns, e.g. Object Pronouns in Portuguese | Practice Portuguese .