Greetings and introductions

What you will practice

• Choose a greeting that fits the time of day.
• Give your name with chamo-me.
• Keep tu and o senhor apart, and treat você as a note only.

Explanation

Time of day

Bom dia is for the morning. Boa tarde is for the afternoon. Boa noite covers the evening and the night, both when you arrive and when you leave. Olá works at any hour. None of these needs a verb. Adeus ends a conversation. Até logo says you expect to meet again.

Names

The informal question is Como te chamas? The answer is Chamo-me Ana. After the names, Muito prazer is the set reply. The hyphen in chamo-me is part of the written form. Me chamo Ana is the Brazilian order. This lesson writes the European order, with the pronoun after the verb.

tu and o senhor

For someone you do not know well, European Portuguese uses o senhor or a senhora: Como se chama? você exists, but in Portugal it can sound abrupt, so it is not the form this lesson asks you to produce. Use tu with friends and o senhor or a senhora when you need distance.

Examples

1. Bom dia.a morning greeting
2. Como te chamas?asking an informal name
3. Chamo-me Ana.giving your name
4. Muito prazer.after an introduction
5. Como se chama?a respectful question

Common mistakes

• Write Chamo-me, not Me chamo. The pronoun follows the verb.
• Do not answer the practice with você. The two forms to use are tu and o senhor.