Let’s learn how to say goodbye in Portuguese! There are many options, depending on who you are talking to, the time of day, or how long it will be until you see them again. Take a look at the infographic below for a quick guide to the most common phrases for saying goodbye in Portugal:
Here’s the audio for those phrases:
- Até jáSee you (very) soon
- Até logoSee you later
- Até amanhãSee you tomorrow
- Até breveSee you soon
- Até à próximaUntil next time, See you next time
- AdeusGoodbye (formal)
- TchauBye (casual) – also written as xau (informal, common on social media and in text messages) or chau (common variant)
Notice how the word atéuntil appears a lot? We often say “See you ____” in English, but you could also think of the translations as something like “Until later”, “Until tomorrow”, etc. There are also many other variations, such as Até para a semanaSee you next week and Até láSee you then .
If you already read our Learning Note about European Portuguese Greetings, you may also remember how to say goodbye in Portuguese another way. You can greet someone or bid them farewell throughout the day using:
- Bom diaGood morning ,
- Boa tardeGood afternoon , or
- Boa noiteGood night, Good evening
If you want to add extra well wishes, you could also say things like:
- Continuação de um bom dia!Have a good day! – literally “Continuation of a good day”
- Fica bemTake care – literally “Stay well”
Between close friends or family members, you’ll also hear Beijinhos!Kisses!(diminutive) . This is especially common to say at the end of an email or phone call, since you can’t give the beijinhos in real life!
We hope this guide gave you a good introduction on how to say goodbye in Portuguese! Continue to the next lesson where you can practice with a few of these new phrases.
Comments
Eu gosto da explicacão é em portuguêse e inglês.
Well spotted, thank you! The accent should always be there.
“Até lá” (see you then) is not represented on the chart above. Trick question in the exercises! 😉
We just like to keep you all on your toes! Jk. The chart is not meant to be an extensive list – these are just several common examples. Aside from these, there’s also “até lá” (see you then), “até depois” (see you later), “até para a semana” (see you next week)… Lots of choice.
Am I missing something? There is nothing on this page other than the comments and a short intro saying that saying goodbye depends on who it is said to and how long you will be absent.
Steve
Hi Steve, There should be an infographic showing up below the text that provides an overview of when to use phrases such as Até já, Até logo, etc. If that’s not appearing for you, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we’ll see if we can figure out what’s going on!
I believe there is an equivalent phrase in English for “Até Já” which I find helpful in order to distinguish between the rest of the “see you soon” phrases. It’s “see you in a bit”.
English is not my native language so I might be wrong about that, just thought there could be no harm in sharing my thoughts.
Yes Milena, you’re correct. I’m not sure about other English speaking cultures but in America we do often say “see you in a bit” when the time period is expected to be very short, usually within an hour.
I’d go further and say that “see you in a bit”, or “back in a bit”, is what said if you really mean that the period of time is going to be small. Whereas as “see you soon” has an air of politeness and actually means that you feel that you have to say the period of time will be short, but you wouldn’t mind if it was considerably longer. The sort of thing you say when a bunch of relatives leave your house after a visit….
There are even dialect variants using “bit” – for example: tara-a-bit.
My background is English-English.
Is “até mais (tarde)” also common in Portugal for “see you later”? I know my Brazilian friends say it, but I’m not sure about here in the motherland…
Olá, Derek. You could also say it on this side of the ocean, but I believe that “até logo” is much more common 🙂
Just wondering if Bom Dia which translates to good morning is also the same as continuacao de um bom dia. It only translates to have a good day and mentions nothing about morning.
Olá, Raquel. The expression “Bom dia” can be used either for the morning or for most of the day (dia = day). Some people switch to “Boa tarde” and “Boa noite” as the day goes by, while others will use “Bom dia” for as long as the sun is out. “Bom dia” can be used both as a greeting and as a farewell, but “Continuação de um bom dia” is strictly for goodbyes and ‘dia’is usually understood in the sense of day, not just morning. So the two expressions are not quite the same in that regard.
Hi! Just wanted to confirm.. then Até pronto! is not correct? Like in See you soon.
I said it to my boyfriend’s grandma some days ago… Now I’m embarrassed hahhahaha.
Thanks!
Haha, no, that’s a mix of Portuguese and Spanish. In Portugal, “pronto” means “ready”, not “soon”. But I’m sure Grandma appreciated the effort 🙂
A bit anecdotical and slightly off-topic, but i peed my pants a bit when i read my portuguese other half writing ‘hugs’ in English to end the friendly mail to his boss.
Apparently ‘abraços’ can be used more broadly in Portuguese than it can in most other languages.
Why does the “m” in most Portuguese words ending in “m” sound like an “n”? Where is the tongue placed to pronounce it properly?
The Portuguese nasal sounds are formed similarly. For English speakers, it helps to think of the “ng” sound (as in “hung” or “ring”) as a reference for how to pronounce them. With “ng” in English, the back of the tongue actually makes contact with the soft palate in the back of the mouth. We don’t necessarily do the same in Portuguese (personally, my tongue rests low in the mouth when I pronounce ending “m”s), but I think the -ng placement would be fine to use anyway, as the resulting sound would be similar. I don’t know if this helps – hope so! 🙂
Obrigada for a perfect explanation. I will remember while learning this beautiful language.
Can fica bem be used in a formal context? If not, what would be a good option? Obrigada
Olá! “Fica bem” is informal, but “Continuação de um bom dia” would be fine to use in a formal context 🙂
Obrigada Joseph !
Thank you, Joseph, for your explanations. They add a lot to the lessons.
Hello!
I’m a new learner and really enjoying your programme. Here is a little comment about your translation of até já in the infographic. Wouldn’t the correct word by word translation rather be « until already », without using the verb to see ? ( being a translator, I’m very interested in the smallest details 🙂 Muito obrigada e boã tarde!
Hi! So glad to hear you’re enjoying the programme and thanks for checking on this! 😊 Yes, you’re right, a literal translation would be “until already”, so we could have used “until” instead of “see you” in the infographic to make it word for word. We have a note in the following paragraph explaining the meaning of até, so I hope that will help. 🙂
Hi Molly!
Thank you for your quick reply! Até à próxima!
Would it be correct to use “Até já” as “I’ll be right back”?
To be very accurate, a “Volto já” would be more correct. However, by saying “Até já” it can be assumed that you’ll be back very soon.
🫶🏻
I asked someone in a store and they told me I can say “Tenha um bom dia” for ‘Have a good day’. Is that okay or a bit strange for the Portuguese? Thanks for all your great information here, guys!
It’s not strange at all! You can totally say it. It is, however, somewhat formal. That’s why it’s used “tenha” (singular formal) instead of “tem” (singular informal). “Tenha um bom dia” is much more common to hear than “Tem um bom dia”. 🙂
Practice Portuguesa são boas
Hi, please can you help me understand why ‘see you next week’ shows as ‘para a’ and ‘see you next time’ uses ‘a proxima’. Are ‘para’ and ‘proxima’ interchangeable? Thanks
Olá! ‘Para’ and ‘próxima’ are not interchangeable – that’s an impression given by the similar English translations of “Até à próxima” and “Até para a semana”. From a Portuguese perspective, these two expressions are relatively fixed idioms, independent from each other.
Actually, if we were to find a more direct English/Portuguese correspondence, this is how we should phrase them:
– Até à próxima vez ~ Until next time
– Até à próxima semana ~ Until next week
in English we slang-say: ” til then!” Portuguese equivalent?
It’s very similar: Até lá! 🙂
Is it a local slang to say ‘te já in the Algarve regardless of when you will see the person? Because all my Portuguese friends use this all the time, even when they know we won’t meet the same day.
Olá! I wouldn’t say it’s specifically an Algarve thing, since there seems to be people all over the country using ‘até já’ rather flexibly. It might just depend on the pockets of people you come across, wherever you are 🙂
It’s getting a bit complicated about pronunciation.
Don’t worry, it’s just an opportunity to give it a try and start getting used to the sounds of the language. No need to have perfect pronunciation! That said, if you find yourself wanting to explore pronunciation more in the future, here are some more resources.
Obridado por tudo