European Portuguese is the one to learn if your new home is Lisbon or Porto or your family is in Portugal, while many apps and courses teach Brazil's.
The difference you hear first is the vowels.
| Portugal | Brazil | |
|---|---|---|
| People | 11.4 million live in Portugal (2025) | 203 million live in Brazil (2022 census) |
| Vowels | Many vowels that aren't stressed get very short, and some go almost silent at the end of a word | Vowels sound more open, even when they aren't stressed |
| "You" to a friend | tu | você in many places, and tu in some, like Rio Grande do Sul |
| "He saw me" | ele viu-me | ele me viu |
| "We kept on talking" | ficamos a conversar | ficamos conversando |
| "Fact" | facto | fato |
Since the 1990 spelling agreement, both countries follow one set of rules, and each keeps the spelling that matches how it speaks.
A few common things have a different name in each country.
| Meaning | Portugal | Brazil |
|---|---|---|
| Pineapple | ananás | abacaxi |
| Computer mouse | rato | mouse |
One word to watch is propina. It's a school fee in Portugal, but in Brazil it means a bribe. For more of the words you'll hear first in Portugal, see European Portuguese phrases.
| If you want to… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Move to Lisbon or Porto, or study in Portugal | European Portuguese |
| Talk with family in Portugal | European Portuguese |
| Live in Brazil | Brazilian Portuguese |
| Watch Brazilian shows or listen to Brazilian music | Brazilian Portuguese |
European Portuguese: Everyday Greetings
Cumprimentos do dia a dia
Hello! Good morning!
Hello, good morning! How are you?
I am fine, thank you!
All is well.
See you later!
See you later!
Brazilian Portuguese: Basic Greetings
Cumprimentos básicos
Good morning!
Good morning! How are you?
I'm fine, and you?
I'm fine, thanks!
Thanks. Bye!
Both were written by Poppy, your AI tutor in Bubblegum, a language app.
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is the best app for serious learners. You learn from text and audio you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Ask Poppy how a sentence from a Portugal lesson would be said in Brazil, and she explains the difference.
- Portugal's Portuguese and Brazil's are separate journeys, each written in that country's Portuguese and voiced in its accent.
- Regenerative Review™ puts your saved words back into new lessons, and you can export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- A Portuguese book of your own can't be made into a lesson. Poppy can still explain a page of it that you paste into the chat.
- Bubblegum isn't a person, so practice speaking with a tutor or a friend too.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Is Duolingo's Portuguese From Brazil or Portugal?
Duolingo lists one Portuguese course and none for European Portuguese, and reviews say that course teaches Brazil's. To see what teaches Portugal's Portuguese, read is European Portuguese on Duolingo?
Which App Should a Beginner Choose?
If you are serious about learning a language, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. For more choices, see the Portuguese app comparison.
Is Bubblegum Free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Brazilian Portuguese (vowels pronounced more openly than in European Portuguese; você widely used and tu more local, as in Rio Grande do Sul; ele me viu vs ele viu-me; ficamos conversando vs ficamos a conversar)
- Wikipedia, European Portuguese (Portuguese is pluricentric, the same language with several codified standard forms; the dialects of Portugal reduce vowels to a greater extent than others, and word-final vowels are voiceless)
- Wikipedia, Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 (divergent spellings such as facto and fato both legitimate, by the writer's variety)
- Wikipedia, Demographics of Brazil (resident population of 203 million in 2022, according to IBGE)
- Wikipedia, Demographics of Portugal (11,424,031 people in 2025, Statistics Portugal's official estimate)
- Duolingo: course list (read October 24, 2026; one Portuguese course, none for European Portuguese)
- Migaku: Duolingo Portuguese review ("Duolingo teaches Brazilian Portuguese exclusively")
- Wiktionary, ananás (pineapple)
- Wiktionary, abacaxi (Brazil: pineapple)
- Wiktionary, rato (Portugal: computer mouse)
- Wiktionary, mouse (Portuguese, Brazil: computer mouse; Portugal says rato)
- Wiktionary, propina (Portugal: tuition fee; Brazil: bribe)
- Bubblegum
Checked on October 5, 2026 against each app's own pages.
