Idiomatic Expressions in Portuguese

Ejemplo de expresiones idiomáticas brasileiras: Os instrutores estão dando uma mãozinha com a capoeira.

What’s up guys? How are you? Today we are going to study some idiomatic expressions in Portuguese. All languages have their own expressions and the Portuguese language is no different.

Let’s take a look here at some expressions used in the Portuguese language:

Idiomatic Expressions

Eu sempre dou uma mãozinha aos meus amigos quando eles precisam. (Ajudar alguém)
I always help my friends when they are in need. (Help someone)

Você está sempre com a cabeça nas nuvens, Maria. (Estar distraído)
You are always tripping out Maria. (Being distracted)

Ele bateu as botas, foi desta para uma melhor. (Morrer)
He kicked the bucket, he is in a better world now. (Dying)

Nós precisamos arregaçar as mangas para resolver isso. (Tomar uma iniciativa para trabalhar)
We must take action to resolve this problem. (Take an attitude to work)

Acho que vocês têm que abrir o jogo com eles. (Contar a verdade)
I think you must put everything on the table with them. (Tell the truth)

Eles compraram gato por lebre. (Ser enganado)
They bought a pig in a poke. (be cheated)

Ele bebeu muito e pagou mico na festa da empresa. (Passar vergonha)
He drank a lot and made a fool of himself at the company’s party. (Doing embarrassing things)

Comprei 2 produtos pelo preço de um, acertei dois coelhos com uma paulada só. (Tirar vantagem)
I got two products for the price of one. I killed two birds with one stone. (Taking advantage)

Pode tirar o cavalinho da chuva porque eu não vou fazer mais nada pra vocês. (Não conte com isso)
Don’t hold your breath because I am not doing anything else for you anymore. (Don’t count on that)

Todas essas melhorias são falsas! Isso tudo é pra inglês ver. (São coisas falsas)
These improvements are all fake. That’s all to deceive everybody. (Fake things)

Foram momentos complicados. Ele teve que engolir muitos sapos para estar lá. (Aceitar calado)
These were diffcult times. He had to accept everything and remain in silence. (Accept in silence)

Vocês moram muito longe daqui, onde judas perdeu as botas. (Morar muito longe)
You live so far from here, in the back of beyond. (Live far away)

Você só fala e não ajuda em nada. Vá pentear macacos! (Vá embora)
You just talk and don’t help in anything. Go fly a kite! (Get lost)

Ainda temos 20 minutos antes da aula, vamos ficar aqui matando tempo. (Passar o tempo)
We still have 20 minutes before the class, let’s stay here killing time. (To kill time)

Carla está me devendo 100 reais e pediu mais dinheiro, muito cara de pau! (Uma pessoa sem-vergonha)
Carla owes me 100 reais and wants to borrow more money, what a nerve! (A cheeky person)

Preciso sair mais cedo hoje, você pode quebrar um galho e fazer o relatório pra mim? (Ajudar)
I need to leave earlier today, can you help me out and do this report for me? (To help)

Não aguento mais, vou aparecer lá e vou chutar o pau da barraca. (Falar tudo o que precisa)
I can’t take it anymore, I will show up there and shit is gonna hit the fan. (Say everything to them)

Resposta certa! Você acertou na mosca. (Acertar o alvo)
Right answer. You hit the bull’s eye. (To hit the right target)

Essa situação não tem solução. Você está dando murro em ponta de faca. (Insistir em algo inútil)
This situation has no solution you. You are barking up the wrong tree. (Insist on something useless)

Depois que ganhou na loteria, eles só andam com o nariz empinado. (Ser esnobe)
After winning the lottery, they are stuck up all the time. (To be snobbish)

Well, we have had a brief lesson here of some of the many idiomatic expressions that we will study in the future.

Now it’s your turn!

And you? Do you know any of these idiomatic expressions in Portuguese?
Tell us about the ones you know you know… Let’s share them.

And we finish here one more Dica. If you have more doubts, send us a tweet to our Twitter account to have all of them answered.

See you guys!
Hugs from Rio de Janeiro!

Ler esta Dica em Português               Leer esta Dica en Español
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Chutar o balde in Portuguese
Portuguese word caralho
Falar pelos cotovelos in Portuguese
Portuguese informal phrases
Brazilian Portuguese interjections
Popular expressions in Portuguese

This post is also available in: English Português (Portuguese) Español (Spanish)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search for Portuguese Dicas

Tell us which Portuguese lesson you would like to learn

 

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Suscribe to A Dica do Dia.

Get free Portuguese lessons. Subscribe to A Dica do Dia and get short, daily lessons in Portuguese completely free.


EXCELLENT rating
Based on 265 reviews
Rio&Learn is highly recommended by me! As a language teacher myself (I teach English here in Rio), I recognize the method of total immersion in the language and I find it extremely effective. Obviously it's tiring at first, but it's absolutely the best way to learn a language. During my private lessons, I have different teachers. I quite like this as every teacher has their own emphasis, specialty, and interests. All of the teachers are great teachers, though! They are all passionate about their language and culture, friendly, patient: everything a teacher needs to be. The school made me feel at home right away. Perhaps also good to mention: they helped me super quickly and effective with all of the paperwork needed from their side to obtain my student visa. Five stars, without a doubt 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Adrienne Buteijn
Adrienne Buteijn
2023-05-19
Had an incident with a holiday. I selected Monday and Wednesday for my classes, since I can’t attend classes on other days. Due to holiday one of the lessons was scheduled on Friday. I warned about this issue on Tuesday, 3 days before the lesson, but manager answered in a rude way that they can’t do anything and blamed me that this is my fault I didn’t warn earlier. Teacher is asking their students to give good grades to the course on a second lesson. This is not teachers fault. Probably managers ask her to do this. Maybe my grade will change. Only time will show. At the moment as is.
Mykola Kurenkov
Mykola Kurenkov
2023-05-11
Estudar portugués online com a escola Río & learn é muito gratificante pra mim, pois as professoras são amorosas. As aulas são engraçadas, com muita prática falando português brasileiro. Também eu posso conhecer pessoas de outros países e outras culturas. Eu sinto que moro no Brasil quando eu estou em aula!!
YESEA RARU
YESEA RARU
2023-05-10
Raccomando tantissimo! Ho fatto lezioni private e il mio portoghese migliora a vista d'occhio. Fluente in 4 mesi grazie a questa scuola <3
Giulia Benzi
Giulia Benzi
2023-05-10
I took a one week in-person course and had an amazing experience. It was intensive and definitely highly recommended! I appreciate the great, caring and highly professional team : Diogo for your awesome and energetic lectures and dedication. The lessons outside the classroom were very engaging and a useful way to immerse into local life. Thanks Laise, Marta and Dayane for the great support and smooth coordination. I look forward to taking the online sessions next!
Cheryl Loh
Cheryl Loh
2023-05-01
I joined the online classes 1 month ago and I am loving the experience. Shout-out to Professora's Dani & Nathalia,they're amazing! The classes are interesting,focused and the teachers are very patient. They also do extra online activities outside the class schedule to really boost your learning in a fun, engaging environment. My speaking proficiency is improving faster than ever before compared to other classes I tried with other schools. The staff are very organised, communicate well and I think the cost is excellant value for money. Vamos lá!
Natasha Deegan
Natasha Deegan
2023-04-29
Followed one week of group classes in Rio de Janeiro, I had no prior experience with Portuguese. The classes were really good, fun even (we laughed a lot) and the material is very well chosen. The after activities (Rio Live) as well were so fun and the teachers (Diogo) always made you feel comfortable and had a lot of patience. We even went for lunch together to learn about this subject. I really loved this way of teaching. I feel like I have a good base of the language and I can understand so much more now.
Lena
Lena
2023-04-20
I have taken online courses twice now with Rio & Learn. In both group and private lessons the instruction was excellent. Classes were well-planned and the instructors were responsive and engaging. If I ever have the chance I will definitely sign up for their in person classes.
Heather Minielly
Heather Minielly
2023-04-18
Ich war vor 4 Jahren dort und habe dort die Basics in Portugiesisch gelernt. Sehr praxisnaher Unterricht mit vielen Aktivitäten und Spaß. Mir gefällt dieser spielerische Ansatz sehr und ich konnte einiges lernen. Absolute Empfehlung!
Lars Altmar
Lars Altmar
2023-03-29
This is the best language school ever. I spent one month, started with no portguese whatsoever, and now I can hold basic conversations and understand most of what people are saying. My progress was pretty amazing thanks to all the teachers who are AMAZING. I can't stress enough how nice, helpful and fun they are. In addition to classes in the mornings, the school offers different kinds of activities every afternoon outside the school. It's great to practice portuguese outside and also discover some great places in Rio as well as many different kind of fun activities. I made great friends there and had so many good laughs. Often the teachers also take you out of the classroom for the entire class or half of it to make it more entertaining. I truly recommend this school that was way more than a school for me. Thanks to everyone there, especially Diogo, Lais and Guliana for everything.
tessie cranman
tessie cranman
2023-03-27