I can fill in a form with my personal details, say my year of birth and my address, and get by when I don't understand someone.
A ficha: the fields of a form
A ficha: the fields of a form
You're asked to fill in a form at a hotel, a school, or a bank. The fields are the same everywhere; they're in the table alongside.
The first name comes before the last name: Nome: Duarte, Apelido: Martins. In Portugal o apelido is the last name, not a nickname.
Naturalidade is the town where someone was born (Porto), and nacionalidade is citizenship; unlike in English, it's written with a lowercase letter: portuguesa, russa.
Estado civil: solteiro, casado, divorciado. You state it with ser: “Sou casado”, “Sou casada”.
A year is read as one whole number, not in pairs as in English “nineteen ninety”: “Nasci em mil novecentos e noventa”, “Nasci em dois mil e um”.
Address: Rua Augusta, 25, 3.º Esq., 1100-053 Lisboa. The house number comes after the street, and the ZIP code before the city. You read and recognize the line “3.º Esq.” (the floor and the side), but you don't write it yet.
A morada is the address.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Meu nome é Duarte” — O meu nome é Duarte: the article is required.
• NOT “Nasci em mil nove noventa” — that's not how a year is read.
• NOT “Nacionalidade: Coimbra” — Coimbra is the naturalidade.
The fields of a form
The first name comes before the last name; nationality is written in lowercase.
| Field | What goes in it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Nome | first name | Duarte |
| Apelido | last name | Martins |
| Data de nascimento | date of birth | 3 de maio de 1988 |
| Naturalidade | the city where the person was born | Porto |
| Nacionalidade | citizenship, in lowercase | portuguesa |
| Estado civil | solteiro, casado, divorciado | casado |
| Morada | address | Rua Augusta, 25 |
| Código postal | ZIP code | 1100-053 |
| Profissão | occupation | médico |
| Assinatura | signature | Duarte Martins |
The date and the year in words
A year is read as one whole number, not two digits at a time.
| In figures | In words |
|---|---|
| 12 de outubro de 1990 | doze de outubro de mil novecentos e noventa |
| 1985 | mil novecentos e oitenta e cinco |
| 2001 | dois mil e um |
| 2026 | dois mil e vinte e seis |
The lines of a Portuguese address
The ZIP code is four digits, a hyphen, and three digits; the city comes after the ZIP code.
| Line | What it is |
|---|---|
| Rua Augusta, 25 | street and house number |
| 3.º Esq. | floor and side — for reading only |
| 1100-053 | ZIP code |
| Lisboa | city |
Lesson notes
A ficha: the fields of a form
You're asked to fill in a form at a hotel, a school, or a bank. The fields are the same everywhere; they're in the table alongside.
The first name comes before the last name: Nome: Duarte, Apelido: Martins. In Portugal o apelido is the last name, not a nickname.
Naturalidade is the town where someone was born (Porto), and nacionalidade is citizenship; unlike in English, it's written with a lowercase letter: portuguesa, russa.
Estado civil: solteiro, casado, divorciado. You state it with ser: “Sou casado”, “Sou casada”.
A year is read as one whole number, not in pairs as in English “nineteen ninety”: “Nasci em mil novecentos e noventa”, “Nasci em dois mil e um”.
Address: Rua Augusta, 25, 3.º Esq., 1100-053 Lisboa. The house number comes after the street, and the ZIP code before the city. You read and recognize the line “3.º Esq.” (the floor and the side), but you don't write it yet.
A morada is the address.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Meu nome é Duarte” — O meu nome é Duarte: the article is required.
• NOT “Nasci em mil nove noventa” — that's not how a year is read.
• NOT “Nacionalidade: Coimbra” — Coimbra is the naturalidade.
Kit de sobrevivência
Digital life comes down to a few words you need every day: a palavra-passe (password), o wi-fi, a aplicação (app), a mensagem (message), carregar o telemóvel (charge your cell phone). A pasta is a folder, not pasta.
When you didn't understand: “Não percebi”, “Desculpe, como?”. When someone talks too fast: “Mais devagar, se faz favor”. The polite way to ask someone to repeat is “Pode repetir?”; to a friend, with tu, “Podes repetir?”.
When you don't know a word: “Como se diz isto em português?”, “O que significa?”, “Como se escreve?”.
When it's really hard: “Não falo bem português”, “Fala inglês?”. The whole set is in the table alongside.
In writing: palavra-passe and profissão have two s's: a single s between vowels would sound [z], as in “zoo”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Falo não bem português” — “não” goes before the verb.
• NOT “Pode repetes?” — Podes repetir?