What Brazilian Portuguese phrases make you sound less like a translated textbook?
I’m collecting phrases that are boring but extremely useful.
Not slang-heavy stuff that will make me sound like a foreigner trying too hard.
More like normal Brazilian Portuguese glue.
Things I wish textbooks taught earlier:
“tipo…”
“então…”
“na verdade…”
“quer dizer…”
“depende”
“faz sentido”
“não sei explicar direito”
“o que eu quero dizer é…”
“deixa eu pensar”
“mais ou menos”
“foi mal”
“imagina”
“pois é”
“sei lá”
These phrases are not fancy. That’s the point.
They keep conversation alive while your brain looks for the real sentence.
I’m checking usage with:
Reverso Context
Brazilian YouTube comments
Reddit comments
ISSEN roleplay where I force myself to use 3 of them naturally
What are your favorite “glue phrases” in Brazilian Portuguese?
Especially phrases for:
buying time
soft disagreement
explaining yourself
reacting naturally
saying you don’t know
not sounding like Google Translate wearing shoes