Portugal · Português

Learn European Portuguese on WhatsApp

A cat from Portugal texts you in Português and answers whatever you write back. Six cats to pick from, each with its own accent and its own opinions about the place.

Free to start · no sign-up, no card · it opens WhatsApp

Vasco 🐈 Portugal · online DEMO
Eu quero aprender português de Portugal
Bom dia! Tudo bem? Como foi o seu dia? 🐈
0:07 the same reply, spoken

A real exchange: the phrases are the ones the cat actually sends.

Five words that change the chat

Type one of these to your cat, any time. Nothing to learn beyond the word itself.

?

Lost. The cat breaks its last message down, word by word.

scale

Sets how much English you get back, from all of it to none.

why

Corrections arrive inside the next reply. This asks for the reason.

vocabulary

The words you've actually used. Say coverage for how far they get you.

switch

Changes cats. Say add to pick up another language alongside.

The six cats of Portugal

Same six characters in every language, with local names and local lives. Pick one to read its story.

informal

Vasco

Nomadic Cat

Vasco learned his first Portuguese from fishermen in Nazaré, who laughed at his accent all summer. Now he teaches beginners, one word at a time.

Apanha o sol num miradouro e diz-me olá, a bica já está a aquecer.

first words & greetingseveryday basicsgrammar foundationsessential vocabulary
Start with Vasco voice sample coming or chat here on the site

The European Portuguese that isn't in the textbook

How people in Portugal actually say it. Your cat uses these without being asked, and explains them if you ask.

A yes/no question is answered by repeating the verb, not with sim/não. A bare 'sim' sounds curt or foreign.

Tens fome? — Tenho.
Are you hungry? — I have.
Já almoçaste? — Já.
Have you had lunch? — Already.
Queres vir? — Quero.
Do you want to come? — I want to.

What to actually say at the counter. 'Um café' is an espresso; the milky ones each have their own name.

uma bica
an espresso — the Lisbon word for it
um galão
milky coffee, in a tall glass
uma meia de leite
half coffee half milk, in a cup
um abatanado
a long black

'Cerveja' is correct everywhere; ordering the small draught by its local name is what marks you as not a tourist.

uma imperial
a small draught beer
um fino
the same glass, said in the north
uma caneca
the big one, about half a litre

Other kinds of Portuguese

Portuguese isn't only spoken in Portugal.

Compare every Portuguese →

Start in European Portuguese

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