Differences Between European and Brazilian Portuguese

For many, Portuguese is a language spoken in the same way in several countries around the world. But for natives, the differences between what is said in each country are clear.

Accents

Many people consider that Brazilian Portuguese has a sung rhythm, due to a full pronunciation of open vowels, while European Portuguese sounds like a Slavic language.

Vocabulary

Some current words are very different from one country to another, such as: (train) trem (BR) and comboio (PT); (bus) ônibus (BR) and autocarro (PT); (ice cream) sorvete (BR) and gelado (PT); (brown) marrom (BR) and castanho (PT); etc. At the level of technical terminology, the differences are then quite significant.

Grammar and Spelling

Brazilians turn some nouns into verbs, creating words that the Portuguese do not use. For example, in European Portuguese it is said - "to give the congratulations". In Brazilian Portuguese, it is used the verb form “to congratulate”, which doesn’t exist in European Portuguese.

Another interesting fact is the assimilation of foreign words. Media (as in English) is mídia in Brazilian Portuguese and media in Portugal; Brazilian Portuguese uses a word adapted from American English and ignores its Latin root. European Portuguese retains its original spelling.

Formal and Informal Discourse

The use of the 3rd person singular is totally different: in Brasil, it is used "você" in informal contexts - while in Portugal it is used "tu", therefore using "você" in formal contexts.

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