Learning Brazilian Portuguese (or any other language for that matter) isn’t just about words and phrases, conjugations and tenses, pronouns and prepositions. All those things are important of course, but there is something else missing from that list. Body language! Or “non-verbal communication” if you prefer. Whatever you choose to call it, it’s not something you can easily learn from a book.
When Brazilians meet each other they have a whole range of greetings to choose from.
The Many ways to say Hello
- Oi is a very versatile word. As well as being the equivalent of “Hi”, it can also mean “Excuse me” (to catch someone’s attention) and “What?” (as in, I didn’t hear you). Has none of the rude connotations of the English “Oi!”.
- Olá is the equivalent of “Hello” – brief and to the point.
- Bom dia, Boa tarde, Boa noite - Good morning, afternoon and night. Here in Rio you can say this to pretty much anyone you pass on the street. Well, not if it’s a very busy street downtown during lunchtime. But if you are the only person walking down the road and then you pass an old lady, it’s nice to say wish her a good day.
- Como vai? My mother in law likes this one – it means “How is it going?” and can be used in combination with most of the others in this list.
- Tudo bem? – Sounds more like toodoo bayne, this means “All well?”. THis is probably the most common way of saying hello to someone you don’t know well, like at a party.
- Tudo bom? – This mean “All good?” and is pretty much interchangeable with tudo bem. When someone says “Tudo bem” to me, I like to counter with “Tudo bom” (and vice versa). My father in law once told me that Tudo bom is a little bit more familiar, less formal than Tudo bem
- Tudo certo? – This one means “All correct?” and it really confused me the first time someone said it to me. My response was to adopt the expression of a startled (and rather unintelligent) rabbit.
- Tranquilo? / Beleza? - These mean Calm and Beauty respectively and can be used with a questioning intonation as a greeting.
- E aí - This one literally means “And there” and is usually followed by one of the “Tudo” greetings above. This is mostly for cool people when they meet other people they judge to be cool. Strangely, people don’t seem to use this one with me very often…
So there are just a few of the many ways you can say hello to someone – I’m sure I’ve missed loads. But what about all that “non-verbal” greeting I mentioned before? Well take a look at this video I took last weekend (just after I’d gorged on Rabada com Agrião!). At the time, I thought I was filming the Roberto Carlos cover band – it wasn’t until later that I watched the footage again and realised what was far more interesting was the heart-warming little scene going on in the foreground! Keep your eyes on the guy in the centre of the image in the white shirt…
I love the way he goes back for more at the end!
Hello, I'm Tom. I am originally from England, but now live in Rio.
Find out more on the 
17 comments
Skip to comment form ↓
The Gritty Poet
27/12/2012 at 11:23 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Don’t forget the arm stretched out very casually handshake hello with simultaneous excited greeting (Oi!), these keep guys like our friend in the white shirt from coming in, and then coming back for more. The somewhat hyperactive verbal salutation draws attention away from the fact that little physical contact took place.
Will you touch upon goodbyes as well? If so you may want to include one of my most coveted Grittips: the closet and coat rests by all exits scheme. This sets the stage for only one goodbye hence avoiding those seemingly endless rituals where kisses and hugs (oh gawd) are doled out not only when the person has decided he/she is leaving, but also when that same person finally is on the verge of walking out the door. Make sure your guests always leave something at these exit stations (umbrella, purse, etc) or place courtesy bonbons there for all and when they go in for that first goodbye remind them of it so they will move along to retrieve their belonging/s and/or candy whereupon final goodbyes will be exchanged – only once.
tomlemes
28/12/2012 at 7:54 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Ha ha ha! I can see that you haven’t, ahem, embraced the Latin culture of hugs and kisses Gritty!
I have to say though, there are times when I find the whole leaving process a bit drawn out because of all the embracing and kissing. Sometimes I just want to give a cheery wave and then leave! I had a rather severe Scottish great aunt who used to get very annoyed with long, drawn out goodbyes. She would say (in an excellent, if shrill, Scottish accent) “If you’re going… go!”
I can see how some Northern Europeans and Americans must seem a bit cold if you have grown up doing it this way though…
Guy From England
28/12/2012 at 7:54 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
One of my favourites from MG is “tudo jóia?” Which makes little sense really, but sounds great.
tomlemes
28/12/2012 at 7:57 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Ha ha! That’s great! I will try it today when I get to work…
[You realise you could feed me all kinds of made up greetings now don't you? I could end up being labelled as that weird guy at work who comes out with the surreal greetings...
]
Nanda
28/12/2012 at 11:59 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
“Tudo jóia?” is a 70′s slang and as far as i know it was very popular in Rio. I was born in the late 80′s so whenever i hear someone say “tudo jóia?” i’ll immediately think they’re a “tiozão” trying to sound cool.
When my friends want to greet other people in a mocking way they’ll say “joinha?” (while putting both thumbs up in the air).
Guy From England
28/12/2012 at 12:03 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Oh Nanda, you didn’t have to tell him that!
In my defense, people in BH say it completely sincerely!
tomlemes
28/12/2012 at 12:07 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Ha ha! Thank you for saving my blushes Nanda!
As for you GFE… I have put a mark against your name which says troublemaker!
BrazilianSoul
28/12/2012 at 10:21 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
God! The old lady in black is competely possessed by the Devil at 0:03!!!
And I can’t stand “tudo bom”… Since I was a child I would reply “tudo bom” with “tudo bem”. Almost like correcting the other person… All well, not all good!
And you forgot the infamous “oba”, mainly used by (very) old Brazilians, you should try that one at your work as well. Hahaha!
tomlemes
28/12/2012 at 11:14 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
“I can’t stay tudo bom” – Really? Is it actually grammatically incorrect? Or does it just sound bad to you? Very interesting… So many people say it!
Ha ha! I think at that point in the afternoon, the lady in black and our friend doing the greeting were both meia bêbados
BrazilianSoul
28/12/2012 at 12:06 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
I don’t think it’s grammatically incorrect… It just sounds bad to me, like a slang. “Things are going well.” makes more sense than “things are good.” . But that’s my opinion.
I like the “not too bad!” the British say it… It’s kind of funny.
tomlemes
28/12/2012 at 12:33 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Ha ha, yeah! We’re a cheery nation aren’t we?
anna
28/12/2012 at 2:51 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
when something is “good” an american say “thats awesome” brit say “not bad” ….says a lot about the culture too
I love british humour ! but sometimes brits seem a bit pessimist comparing to americans.
tomlemes
28/12/2012 at 2:59 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
It’s true Anna – we prefer understatement to hyperbole. And many of us get a bit embarrassed when asked to be enthusiastic. I remember going white water rafting in New Zealand years ago. There were English people in one boat and Americans in the other. The guides told us we had to scream and make noise every time we went over the big waterfalls. Well, we could hear the Americans whooping and hollering as they went down the river, but we were kind of quiet in the English boat!
I guess they thought we were miserable and boring. We thought they sounded ridiculous!
The Gritty Poet
28/12/2012 at 9:39 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Tom,
Sorry for dropping so many links as of late but since you are new to the neighborhood (at least as a resident) I thought you’d really enjoy this one.
http://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568594-how-terrible-little-known-conflict-continues-shape-and-blight-nation
Ok, not as good as a Grittjoke (what is after all); yet still pretty interesting.
tomlemes
29/12/2012 at 1:24 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Wow, interesting article. I had heard a little of that war, but now I know a lot more! Paraguay does seem like a rather sad country. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Paraguayan though – maybe they would disagree…
Guilherme Lopes
29/12/2012 at 11:52 AM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
The white shirt is the Minas Gerais’ flag! ; )
tomlemes
29/12/2012 at 1:32 PM (UTC -3) Link to this comment
Bons olhos Guilherme!