The 100 most common Brazilian Portuguese words

Start with 100 common Brazilian Portuguese words. Each entry includes an English translation, IPA transcription, an image and Brazilian Portuguese audio. Listen to a word, then see how it appears in the short practice text.

Why the first 100 words are the most valuable

Common words are useful starting points because they appear across different topics. This learning set combines nouns, verbs and adjectives from frequency lists, giving you vocabulary to recognize in new sentences.

Corpus coverage measures word occurrences in a particular collection of texts, not how much of a conversation you understand. Grammar, context and listening practice matter too. We do not promise a comprehension percentage for this set.

How the frequency lists work

Where this list comes from

The source frequency lists inform the selection, with the limits described in our methodology.

• Subtitle frequency. The source lists use the OpenSubtitles Brazilian Portuguese corpus (419 million word occurrences). Film and TV dialogue is a useful reference, but does not represent every everyday setting.
• Every form folded into one entry. Falo, falei, and falando all count toward falar — conjugations, plurals, and other inflected forms are folded into their base word (the lemma), so the ranking reflects the concept you need to know, not each surface form separately.
• Part of speech double-checked. Each word's grammatical category is cross-referenced against the Corpus do Português, and the list keeps only content words — nouns, verbs, adjectives — skipping articles and prepositions like a/o/de/em, which also need practice in sentences and grammar exercises.
• Calibrated to A1–A2. Every word on this list sits at beginner level, so you're not stuck decoding rare vocabulary and advanced grammar at the same time — this is the words-first, worry-about-nuance-later stage.

Test yourself right now

Read the short paragraph below — every highlighted word, in any form, is already in your top-100 list.

All 100 words — with audio and transcription

The order alternates nouns, verbs and adjectives by their rank within each part of speech. It is the order of this learning set, not an overall ranking of every word in Portuguese. Each entry shows the English translation, IPA transcription with the stress marked, and a picture — the same visual anchor you’ll see in the Mnezo trainer, so the word you meet here is the exact one your memory will recognize later.

1. 1
   senhor—sir, mister (polite address)

   [seˈɲoʁ]
   GreetingsA2noun
2. 2
   ser—to be (permanent, inherent)

   [ˈseʁ]
   VerbsA1verb
3. 3
   muito—much, a lot of, many

   [ˈmũj̃tu]
   OtherA1adj.
4. 4
   dia—day

   [ˈdʒiɐ]
   TimeA1noun
5. 5
   estar—to be (temporary state, location)

   [isˈtaʁ]
   VerbsA1verb
6. 6
   todo—whole, all, every

   [ˈtodu]
   OtherA1adj.
7. 7
   coisa—thing

   [ˈkojzɐ]
   General vocabularyA1noun
8. 8
   ir—to go

   [ˈiʁ]
   VerbsA1verb
9. 9
   bom—good

   [ˈbõ]
   AdjectivesA1adj.
10. 10
    tempo—time, weather

    [ˈtẽpu]
    General vocabularyA1noun
11. 11
    parar—to stop; to park (a car)

    [paˈɾaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
12. 12
    certo—correct, right, sure

    [ˈseʁtu]
    General vocabularyA1adj.
13. 13
    casa—house, home

    [ˈkazɐ]
    HomeA1noun
14. 14
    ter—to have

    [ˈteʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
15. 15
    caro—expensive

    [ˈkaɾu]
    ShoppingA1adj.
16. 16
    ano—year

    [ˈɐ̃nu]
    TimeA1noun
17. 17
    poder—can, to be able to

    [poˈdeʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
18. 18
    melhor—best, better

    [meˈʎoʁ]
    OtherA2adj.
19. 19
    pessoa—person

    [peˈsoɐ]
    General vocabularyA1noun
20. 20
    saber—to know

    [saˈbeʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
21. 21
    novo—new

    [ˈnovu]
    ShoppingA1adj.
22. 22
    homem—man

    [ˈõmẽj̃]
    General vocabularyA1noun
23. 23
    fazer—to do, to make

    [faˈzeʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
24. 24
    pouco—little, few

    [ˈpowku]
    OtherA1adj.
25. 25
    noite—night

    [ˈnojtʃi]
    TimeA1noun
26. 26
    dizer—to say, to tell, to mean

    [dʒiˈzeʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
27. 27
    claro—clear, light (color)

    [ˈklaɾu]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
28. 28
    deus—god

    [ˈdews]
    CultureA2noun
29. 29
    querer—to want

    [keˈɾeʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
30. 30
    primeiro—first

    [pɾiˈmejɾu]
    NumbersA1adj.
31. 31
    pai—father

    [ˈpaj]
    FamilyA1noun
32. 32
    achar—to think, to find

    [aˈʃaʁ]
    CommunicationA2verb
33. 33
    grande—big, large

    [ˈgɾɐ̃dʒi]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
34. 34
    mãe—mother

    [ˈmɐ̃j̃]
    FamilyA1noun
35. 35
    ficar—to stay, to become, to be located

    [fiˈkaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
36. 36
    ótimo—great, excellent

    [ˈɔtʃimu]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
37. 37
    vida—life

    [ˈvidɐ]
    General vocabularyA1noun
38. 38
    ver—to see

    [ˈveʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
39. 39
    morto—dead

    [ˈmoʁtu]
    AdjectivesA2adj.
40. 40
    vez—time, occasion

    [ˈves]
    General vocabularyA1noun
41. 41
    vir—to come

    [ˈviʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
42. 42
    feliz—happy

    [feˈlis]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
43. 43
    verdade—truth

    [veʁˈdadʒi]
    OtherA2noun
44. 44
    haver—to exist; there to be

    [aˈveʁ]
    VerbsA2verb
45. 45
    último—last

    [ˈuwtʃimu]
    NumbersA2adj.
46. 46
    lugar—place

    [luˈgaʁ]
    General vocabularyA1noun
47. 47
    dever—to owe, to have to, must

    [deˈveʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
48. 48
    sério—serious

    [ˈsɛɾju]
    PersonalityA2adj.
49. 49
    amigo—friend

    [aˈmigu]
    SocietyA1noun
50. 50
    falar—to speak, to talk

    [faˈlaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb

51. 51
    único—unique, only, sole

    [ˈũniku]
    General vocabularyA2adj.
52. 52
    filho—son

    [ˈfiʎu]
    FamilyA1noun
53. 53
    dar—to give

    [ˈdaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
54. 54
    próximo—next, nearby

    [ˈpɾɔsimu]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
55. 55
    trabalho—work, job

    [tɾaˈbaʎu]
    General vocabularyA1noun
56. 56
    esperar—to wait, to wait for, to hope

    [ispeˈɾaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
57. 57
    velho—old

    [ˈveʎu]
    AppearanceA1adj.
58. 58
    problema—problem

    [pɾoˈblẽmɐ]
    General vocabularyA1noun
59. 59
    precisar—to need

    [pɾesiˈzaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
60. 60
    rápido—fast, quick

    [ˈʁapidu]
    General vocabularyA1adj.
61. 61
    mulher—woman

    [muˈʎeʁ]
    General vocabularyA1noun
62. 62
    deixar—to leave (behind), to let, to allow

    [dejˈʃaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
63. 63
    pequeno—small, little

    [peˈkẽnu]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
64. 64
    mundo—world

    [ˈmũdu]
    General vocabularyA1noun
65. 65
    pensar—to think

    [pẽˈsaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
66. 66
    legal—cool, nice

    [leˈgaw]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
67. 67
    nome—name

    [ˈnõmi]
    General vocabularyA1noun
68. 68
    sentir—to feel

    [sẽˈtʃiʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
69. 69
    difícil—difficult, hard

    [dʒiˈfisiw]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
70. 70
    dinheiro—money

    [dʒiˈɲejɾu]
    General vocabularyA1noun
71. 71
    parecer—to seem

    [paɾeˈseʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
72. 72
    errado—wrong, incorrect

    [eˈʁadu]
    General vocabularyA1adj.
73. 73
    irmão—brother

    [iʁˈmɐ̃w̃]
    FamilyA1noun
74. 74
    acontecer—to happen

    [akõteˈseʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
75. 75
    vivo—alive, living

    [ˈvivu]
    AdjectivesA2adj.
76. 76
    certeza—certainty, assurance

    [seʁˈtezɐ]
    CommunicationA2noun
77. 77
    sair—to leave, to go out

    [saˈiʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
78. 78
    importante—important

    [ĩpoʁˈtɐ̃tʃi]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
79. 79
    hora—hour, o'clock

    [ˈɔɾɐ]
    TimeA1noun
80. 80
    ouvir—to listen, to hear

    [owˈviʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
81. 81
    bonito—beautiful, handsome, pretty

    [boˈnitu]
    AppearanceA1adj.
82. 82
    carro—car

    [ˈkaʁu]
    TransportA1noun
83. 83
    gostar—to like

    [gosˈtaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
84. 84
    diferente—different

    [dʒifeˈɾẽtʃi]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
85. 85
    tipo—type, kind

    [ˈtʃipu]
    General vocabularyA2noun
86. 86
    pegar—to take, to catch, to grab

    [peˈgaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
87. 87
    maior—bigger, biggest, larger

    [maˈjoʁ]
    OtherA2adj.
88. 88
    volta—walk, stroll, turn, lap

    [ˈvowtɐ]
    General vocabularyA2noun
89. 89
    tentar—to try

    [tẽˈtaʁ]
    General vocabularyA2verb
90. 90
    estranho—strange, weird

    [isˈtɾɐ̃ɲu]
    General vocabularyA1adj.
91. 91
    ideia—idea

    [iˈdejɐ]
    General vocabularyA1noun
92. 92
    ajudar—to help

    [aʒuˈdaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
93. 93
    longe—far

    [ˈlõʒi]
    AdjectivesA1adj.
94. 94
    criança—child

    [kɾiˈɐ̃sɐ]
    FamilyA1noun
95. 95
    conseguir—to manage to, to succeed in

    [kõseˈgiʁ]
    General vocabularyA2verb
96. 96
    jovem—young

    [ˈʒɔvẽj̃]
    AppearanceA1adj.
97. 97
    mão—hand

    [ˈmɐ̃w̃]
    BodyA1noun
98. 98
    voltar—to return, to go back

    [vowˈtaʁ]
    VerbsA1verb
99. 99
    ruim—bad

    [ʁuˈĩ]
    General vocabularyA1adj.
100. 100
     minuto—minute

     [miˈnutu]
     TimeA1noun

How to actually learn these 100 words

Spaced repetition does the scheduling for you. Mnezo estimates the next review time from your answers. Successful recall generally lengthens the interval, while mistakes bring a word back sooner. Learning speed varies; regular short sessions help you keep practicing.

Audio from the very first rep. Brazilian Portuguese spelling and sound don't always agree — dinheiro isn't pronounced the way it looks on paper, and neither are dozens of words on this list. Every card plays Brazilian Portuguese audio before you're asked to produce anything, so your ear learns the real word, not a guess built from letters.

A picture anchors sound to meaning. Each card pairs the word with an image, so instead of memorizing an abstract translation you're linking a sound, a picture, and a meaning all at once.