1. Post-edition at Unbabel

2. Grammar

2.1. Agreement

The agreement for verbs occurs when they inflect to agree with their subject. The main problematic issues involve tense, mood, and person.

 

• Tense

The tense denotes the time in which the action occurs: past, present or future.

Note that the form ‘future + gerund’ is used only in cases when the action in the future will have continuity.

 

Example

Source text: When he arrives I’ll be sorting the papers.

✓ Quando ele chegar, estarei arrumando os papéis.

 

However, do not use it to replace the simple future form.

 

Example

Source text: We will be working on your reservation right now.

✘ Nós estaremos trabalhando em sua reserva agora.

✓ Nós trabalharemos em sua reserva agora.

 

 

• Mood

Verbs may be in one of three moods: indicative, which indicates a factual statement; subjunctive, which expresses doubts, wishes or conditions; and imperative, which makes orders or requests.

 

Example

Source text: We appreciate if you can complete the payment first.

✘ Agradecemos se você pode completar o pagamento primeiro.

✓ Agradecemos se você puder completar o pagamento primeiro.

 

 

• Person

"Something" or "someone" performs the action described by the verb. This subject is called “person”, and it can vary in number (singular or plural): first (eu, nós), second (tu), and third (ele, eles, ela, elas, você, vocês, a gente). Note that ‘a gente’ agrees with the third person, and it is an informal way to refer to ‘nós’ (first person plural).

 

Examples

Source text: Do rest assure that we have been constantly in contact.

✘ Assegure-se de estar constantemente em contato.

✓ Assegure-se de que estamos constantemente em contato.

 

Source text: We still lack high quality photos.

✘ Ainda falta fotos de alta qualidade.

✓ Ainda faltam fotos de alta qualidade.

 

2.1.2. Gender and number (nouns and adjectives)

The nouns and the surrounded words (articles, numerals, pronouns, adjectives) have to agree in gender (male and female) and number (plural and singular).

 

Examples

Source text: Check if you have entered the correct credit card details. 

✘ Verifique se você inseriu o dados correto do cartão de crédito.

✓ Verifique se você inseriu os dados corretos do cartão de crédito. [number agreement]

 

Source text: You need to take a photo of your ID and of yourself.

✘ Você precisa tirar uma foto do seu documento de identidade e outro de você.

✓ Você precisa tirar uma foto do seu documento de identidade e outra de você. [gender agrément]

 

Still regarding gender agreement, it is very common to find pronouns throughout the text that do not agree with the person mentioned in the greeting. Besides, it is also frequent the occurrence of the word ‘obrigado’, in the masculine form, even when it’s written by a female person.

 

Examples

Source text: Hello Mrs. Silva, we are unable to assist you.

✘ Olá, Sra. Silva, infelizmente não podemos ajudá-lo.

✓ Olá, Sra. Silva, infelizmente não podemos ajudá-la.

 

Source text: Hello, my name is Carla. Thank you for your message.

✘ Olá, o meu nome é Carla. Obrigado pela sua mensagem.

✓ Olá, o meu nome é Carla. Obrigada pela sua mensagem.

 

The determiners specify the kind of reference of the nouns, and belong to different grammatical classes: definite, indefinite, demonstrative and possessive. There are two possibilities of error: the determiner is missing or the determiner is not the correct one for that context.

 

• Missing determiner

The most frequent error in translations regards a missing determiner before brands and products, since it is not needed in English.

 

Example

Source text: Thank you for your message and for using Canva.

✘ Obrigado pela sua mensagem e por usar Canva.

✓Obrigado pela sua mensagem e por usar o Canva.

 

Note that the determiner can occur contracted with prepositions.

 

Example

Source text: We are pending for further instruction from Tudo Azul.

✘ Estamos dependendo de novas instruções de Tudo Azul.

✓Estamos dependendo de novas instruções da Tudo Azul.

 

• Wrong determiner

Sometimes the wrong determiner is being used.

 

Example

Source text: We appreciate that you took the time to report to us.

✘ Agradecemos que você tenha tomado o tempo para nos informar.

✓Agradecemos que você tenha tomado seu tempo para nos informar.

 

Prepositions are units that establishe a relationship between two or more terms of a clause. Similar to the problems regarding determiners, there are also two possibilities of error: the preposition is missing or the preposition is not the correct one for that context.

 

• Missing preposition

 

Example

Source text: The booking for March 2-3, 2018 has not been confirmed.

✘A reserva para 2-3 de março 2018 não foi confirmada.

✓A reserva para 2-3 de março de 2018 não foi confirmada.

 

• Wrong preposition

 

Example

Source text: Utility bill on landlord's name.

✘ Conta de serviço pelo nome do proprietário.

✓ Conta de serviço em nome do proprietário.

 

There are still cases in which the preposition is wrong due to the regency of the verb or the adjective, i.e. the verb/adjective select another preposition.

 

Example

Source text: It will take you through the sign-up process.

✘ Isso irá levá-lo através do processo de inscrição.

✓ Isso irá levá-lo ao processo de inscrição.

 

Pronouns are words that can function as nouns or noun phrases, and that refer to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse. In translations, it is very common to find a pronoun being wrongly used, as in the example below.

 

Example

Source text: Download the app and it will take you through the sign-up process.

✘ Faça o download do aplicativo e você irá levá-lo ao processo de inscrição.

✓ Faça o download do aplicativo e isso irá levá-lo ao processo de inscrição.

 

In null subject languages, like Portuguese, there are some cases in which the pronoun is not needed, either because it is implicit in the verbal form, or the subject is indeterminate or non-existent.

 

Example

Source text: We are glad to have you as our client.

✘ Nós estamos felizes de termos você como nosso cliente.

✓ Estamos felizes de termos você como nosso cliente.

 

Still, unlike the English sentence structure, Portuguese doesn’t need to keep on mentioning the same pronoun throughout the text, in order to avoid repetition.

 

Example

Source text: I have processed the refund for you to the card you paid.

✘ Eu processei o reembolso para você do cartão que você pagou.

✓ Eu processei o reembolso do cartão que você pagou.

 

However, in some cases, it is better to insert the pronouns in order to avoid ambiguity, and to better understand the message, or simply for the reading flow.

 

Example

Source text: Let me know if I can solve the ticket.

✘ Informe-me se puder resolver o ticket. [ambiguous between ‘se eu puder’ and ‘se você puder’]

✓ Informe-me se eu puder resolver o ticket.

 

Another recurrent error is regards the oblique pronouns placement. If the required register is formal, you should follow the grammatical rules for that. Keep in mind that there is an order of priority in the pronominal placement: proclisis, mesoclisis, and enclisis.

 

• Uses of the pronoun before the verb (proclisis)

 

a) In the presence of negative words

 

Example

Source text: You haven’t returned the headphones yet.

✘ Você ainda não devolveu-nos os fones de ouvido.

✓ Você ainda não nos devolveu os fones de ouvido.

 

b) In the presence of adverbs

 

Example

Source text: They probably sent you the package 3 days ago.

✘ Provavelmente enviaram-lhe a encomenda há 3 dias.

✓ Provavelmente lhe enviaram a encomenda há 3 dias.

 

c) In the presence of relative pronouns

 

Example

Source text: The package that was sent to you is courtesy of the company.

✘ A encomenda que enviaram-lhe é cortesia da empresa.

✓A encomenda que lhe enviaram é cortesia da empresa.

 

d) In the presence of indefinite pronouns

 

Example

Source text: Someone sent me an e-mail.

✘ Alguém enviou-me um e-mail.

✓ Alguém me enviou um e-mail.

 

e) In the presence of neutral demonstrative pronouns

 

Example

Source text: That makes us believe that there was a delay.

✘ Isso faz-nos acreditar que houve um atraso.

✓ Isso nos faz acreditar que houve um atraso.

 

f) In the presence of subordinate conjunctions

 

Example

Source text: Rest assured, we put you in our priority list.

✘ Fique tranquilo, pois colocamo-lo em nossa lista de prioridades.

✓ Fique tranquilo, pois o colocamos em nossa lista de prioridades.

 

g) In the presence of compound verb tenses

Example

Source text: We have always provided him with the support to solve this problem.

✘ Nós temos dado lhe todo o auxílio para solucionar este problema.

✓ Nós temos lhe dado todo o auxílio para solucionar este problema. 

 

 

• Uses of the pronoun after the verb (enclisis)

 

a) When the verb occurs in the beginning of the sentence

 

Example

Source text: This is a system upgrade.

✘ Se trata de uma atualização do sistema.

✓ Trata-se de uma atualização do sistema.

 

b) When the verb is in the affirmative imperative

 

Example

Source text: Let us know if you have any further questions.

✘ Se tiver alguma outra dúvida, nos informe.

✓ Se tiver alguma outra dúvida, informe-nos.

 

c) When the verb is in the gerund

 

Example

Source text: You can make your registration by sending us your personal data.

✘ Você poderá fazer o cadastro, nos enviando seus dados pessoais.

✓ Você poderá fazer o cadastro, enviando-nos seus dados pessoais.

 

d) When the verb is in the impersonal infinitive

 

Example

Source text: It wasn’t our intention to ask you for that data.

✘ Não era nossa intenção lhe pedir tais dados.

✓ Não era nossa intenção pedir-lhe tais dados.

 

Note: The use of mesoclisis (i.e., the pronoun in the middle of the verb form, as in ‘pedir-lhe-ia’, ‘enviar-nos-á’, etc.) is more restricted to extremely formal contexts of written language, and it is practically in disuse.

 

Verbs are words that express actions or states, and can vary in mood (indicative, subjunctive and imperative), tense (past, present, future, etc.), number (singular and plural), person (first, second and third) and voice (active and passive).

 

The most problematic issues regarding verbs are related to compound tenses. Compound tenses are formed by the auxiliary verbs ‘ter’ and ‘haver’, and by a main verb in the participle form. To form the compound verbs, we only conjugate the auxiliary verb, since the main verb will always be in the participle. You must pay special attention to the sentence tense, and the properly conjugation of the auxiliary verb.

 

Examples

Source text: I hope that you liked the new product.

✓ Espero que você tenha gostado do novo produto.

 

Source text: You had made the reservation, but it has not been concluded.

✓ Você havia feito a reserva, mas ela não foi concluída.

 

Source text: If you had told that me before, I would have come into contact with our provider.

✓ Se você tivesse me avisado antes, eu teria entrado em contato com nosso provedor.

 

Source text: By the time you make the reservation we will have the problem solved.

✓ Quando você refizer a reserva, nós já teremos solucionado o problema.

 

As an important note, please take into account that all translations must follow the rules of thehttp://www.academia.org.br/nossa-lingua/vocabulario-ortograficoNew Orthographic Agreement.

Abbreviations consist in the use of a shortened form of a word or a phrase, as cm, m, kg (for measures) and Sr., Dr., Prof. (for titles).

You should only use abbreviations when the source text also has abbreviated forms

 

Example

Source text: Dear Ms. Almeida

✘ Prezada Senhora Almeida

✓ Prezada Sra. Almeida

 

The initial capital letters should be used in the following situations:

Rules	Examples
At the beginning of the period, verses and direct quotations.	Qualquer comentário adicional será valioso para nos ajudar a melhorar o aplicativo.
In proper names of people and places, including mythological figures and places.	Machado de Assis; Rio de Janeiro; Zeus
In names of public places and roads.	Praça Getúlio Vargas; Rodovia Washington Luís
In names of the cardinal points, when they indicate regions.	o Nordeste; o Sudeste
In names of regions.	Vale do Paraíba; Região Norte; Zona Sul
In names of celestial bodies.	Lua; Júpiter; Marte
In proper names of historical eras or notable ages.	Idade Média; Era Cristã
In names of important historical acts, solemn acts and great public enterprises.	Dia do Trabalho; Revolução Francesa; Guerra do Golfo
In names that designate important religious, political or philosophical concepts.	Igreja; Estado; Império
In names that designate arts, sciences, disciplines and branches of human knowledge.	Ética; Filosofia; Cultura
In names that appoint positions or dignitaries.	Papa; Presidente da República; Ministro da Educação; Secretário de Estado
In names of institutions, corporations, offices, associations and administrative units.	Câmara dos Deputados; Assembleia Legislativa
In names of buildings and public or private establishments.	Aeroporto Santos Dummont; Cemitério Nossa Senhora do Carmo
In titles of books, newspapers, magazines, artistic, literary and scientific productions.	Jornal do Brasil; Dom Casmurro
In nouns, adjectives, pronouns and expressions of treatment of reverence and their abbreviations.	Vossa Majestade; Excelentíssimo
In qualifiers, epithets and nicknames.	Ricardo Coração de Leão; Alexandre, o Grande
In names of laws or economic and political norms.	Lei de Segurança Nacional; Lei de Diretrizes e Bases
In names of religious festivals.	Natal; Páscoa
In names of religious entities, saints, angels and demons.	Deus; Santo Antônio
In names of tournaments and championships.	Copa do Mundo; Olimpíadas

 

 

Note: some rules for the use of capital letter differ in English and Portuguese. Thus, days of the week, months of the year, nationalities or origins and languages are written with lowercase in Portuguese.

 

Example

Source text: The French are known for walking around holding baguettes.

✘ Os Franceses são conhecidos por sempre caminharem carregando baguetes.

✓Os franceses são conhecidos por sempre caminharem carregando baguetes.

 

Compounds that may cause problems to Portuguese speakers are the juxtaposed ones, i.e. forms composed by independent words but that still maintain a phonetic and morphological independence. The main problems regard the spelling (use of a hyphen or a whitespace), and the use of the plural and feminine forms.

 

The rules for the use of the hyphen depend on the type of compound word we are dealing with.

 

• Words composed by a prefix

In words composed by prefixes, we use the hyphen to separate equal vowels (micro-ondas) or to separate the prefix from the words beginning with the letter ‘h’ (pré-história). On the other hand, if the first element of the compound ends with a vowel, and the second element begins with a ‘r’ or ‘s’, these letters are duplicated (semirreta, minissaia).

 

Exceptions: this rule does not apply for the prefixes ‘re-’ followed by ‘e’, or ‘co-’ followed by ‘o’. In these cases, the vowel is repeated (reescrever, cooperar). If the prefix ‘co-’ joins a word beginning with the letter ‘h’, this letter disappears (co + habitar = coabitar).

 

Note: With the prefixes ‘inter-‘, ‘super-‘ and ‘hiper-‘ (which end with the letter ‘r’), we must use the hyphen if the word begins with ‘r’ (inter-regional).

 

• Words composed by independent words

With these compounds, we must use the hyphen if there is no element linking them: we do not use a hyphen in ‘pé de moleque’ because the preposition ‘de’ is already linking the two words; on the other hand, we must use hyphen in ‘couve-flor’, since there isn’t any element of connection between the two words.

 

Exceptions: água-de-colônia, cor-de-rosa, arco-da-velha, mais-que-perfeito, pé-de-meia.

 

• Specific cases

Due to the complexity of the hyphen use, we list here some specific examples. For more information, please refer to the grammars cited at the end of this guidelines.

 

1. With the prefixes ‘circum-’ or ‘pan-’, we must use the hyphen if the word begins with ‘m’, ‘n, ‘h’ or a vowel (circum-navegação).
2. With the unit ‘mal’, we use the hyphen if the next word begins with ‘h’, ‘l’ or a vowel (mal-humorado).
3. With the prefix ‘ad-’, we use the hyphen if the next word begins with ‘h’, ‘d’ or ‘r’ (ad-rogar, ad-digital).
4. With prefixes ‘ab-’, ‘ob-’, ‘sob-’ and ‘sub-’, we must use the hyphen if the next word begins with ‘h’, ‘b’ or ‘r’ (sub-região, sub-bloco, sub-humano).
5. We always use the hyphen in patrician adjectives, i.e. words that indicate the place of origin (‘mato-grossense’), and also in compound words that indicate zoological species (‘joão-de-barro’) or botanical species (‘flor-de-lis’).
6. Therer are some words that speakers do not recognize as compound anymore (paraquedas pontapé, mandachuva, parabrisa, paralama, girasol). This words are written without any hyphen or whitespace.
7. We must always use the hyphen with the prefixes ‘bem-’, ‘sem-’, ‘vice-’, ‘ex-’, ‘pós-’, ‘pré-’, ‘pró-’, ‘além-’, ‘aquém-’, ‘sota-’, ‘soto-’ (vice-presidente, ex-professor, bem-humorado).

 

 

• The plural form

The plural formation of compound nouns depends on how they are written, the type of words that compose the compound and the relationship that is established between them. Those that are written without a hyphen or whitespace behave like simple nouns: ‘aguardentes’, ‘pontapés’, ‘girassóis’.

 

Regarding the compounds whose elements are linked by a hyphen, observe the following:

1. When both words are nouns, you can choose to either put only the first element or both in the plural: ‘palavras-chave’ or ‘palavras-chaves’; ‘couves-flor’ or ‘couves-flores’.
2. The two elements are inflected when the compound is formed by:
1. noun + adjective (amores-perfeitos);
2. adjective + noun (gentis-homens);
3. numeral + noun (quintas-feiras).
3. Only the second element is inflected when the compound is formed by:
1. verb + noun (guarda-roupas);
2. invariable word + variable word (alto-falantes);
3. repeated words (reco-recos).
4. Only the first element is inflected when the compound is formed by:
1. noun + clear preposition + noun (águas-de-colônia);
2. noun + omitted preposition + noun (cavalos-vapor).
5. The compound remains invariable when it is formed by:
1. verb + adverb (bota-fora).
6. Special cases: ‘os louva-a-deus’; ‘os bem-te-vis’; ‘os bem-me-queres’; ‘os joões-ninguém’.

 

The role of diacritics is to change the vowels pronunciation. We have different types of diacritics.

 

• Acute and circumflex accents (´ ^)

In our writing, the vowels are represented, in most cases, with basic graphemes without diacritics (a, e, i, o, u). However, a reduced number of vowels can have an acute or a circumflex accents (á, â, é, ê, í, ó, ô, ú). The acute accent is used to represent open vowels. The circumflex accent is used to represent closed vowels. You can only use one accent per word.

 

The rules for graphic accentuation are based on the syllable that receives the stress and are described above.

 

• Proparoxytone words

All proparoxytone words (i.e. third-last syllable stressed words) are accentuated (trágico, dúvida, eletrônico).

 

Example

Source text: The program uses simple mathematics to calculate the data.

✘ O programa usa matematica simples para calcular os dados.

✓ O programa usa matemática simples para calcular os dados.

 

c) Paroxytone words

The paroxytones (i.e. second-last syllable stressed words) are accented in the following cases:

Termination	Example
l	fácil
n	pólen
r	cadáver
ps	bíceps
x	tórax
us	vírus
i, is	júri, lápis
om, ons	iândom, íons
um, uns	álbum, álbuns
ã(s), ão(s)	órfã, órfãs, órfão, órfãos
ditongo oral (seguido ou não de ‘s’)	jóquei, túneis

 

 

Comments:

1) Paroxytons ending in ‘n’ are accented (hífen), but those that end in ‘ens’ are not (hifens, jovens).

2) The prefixes ending in ‘I’ and ‘r’ are not accented (semi, super).

3) The paroxytones that end in increasing diphthongs are accented (várzea, mágoa, óleo, régua, férias, tênue, cárie, ingênuo, início).

Example

Source text: You can buy your album online.

✘ Pode comprar seu album online.

✓ Pode comprar seu álbum online.

 

• Oxytone words

The oxytones (i.e. las syllable stressed words) should be accented in the following cases:

Termination	Examples
a(s)	sofá, sofás
e(s)	jacaré, vocês
o(s)	paletó, avós
em, ens	ninguém, armazéns

 

 

Example

Source text: I bought a new sofa.

✘ Comprei um sofa novo.

✓Comprei um sofá novo.

 

• Tilde (~)

The tilde is not an accent. It only serves to indicate nasality and, in the Portuguese language, it can only occur with the vowels ‘a’ and ‘o’: /ã/, /ãe/, /ãi/, /ão/ and /õe/.

 

Note that the tilde can occur with other accents: the stressed vowel is accented, while the vowel that receives the tilde is unstressed (órfão, bênção, acórdão). However, the tilde can mark the stressed syllable if there is no other accentuated syllable (irmã, sabão, balões).

 

Example

Source text: The judgment was approved by the court.

✘ O acórdao foi aprovado pelo Tribunal.

✓ O acórdão foi aprovado pelo Tribunal.

 

• Grave accent (`)

The grave accent is used in crasis situations, i.e. when the preposition ‘a’ meets the article ‘a’ (à, às), or the demonstrative pronouns beginning with the letter ‘a’ (àquele, àquela, etc.).

 

Example

Source text: Feel free to contact us again anytime.

✘ Sinta-se a vontade para contatar-nos novamente a qualquer momento.

✓Sinta-se à vontade para contatar-nos novamente a qualquer momento.

 

• Cedilla

The cedilla is added to the letter ‘c’, and its function is to indicate that this letter represents /s/ in certain contexts. Note that ‘ç’ should only be used before the letters ‘a’, ‘o’ and ‘u’ (doença, reconheço, açúcar, tradição, situações). You can not use ‘ç’ before ‘e’ or ‘i’ (‘cálice’ and not ‘cáliçe’, ‘alucinado’ and not ‘aluçinado’).

     

Note: in order to facilitate the communication among the Portuguese-speaking countries, a New Ortography Agreement was created and it is valid since 2016. Because of that, some rules regarding diacritics changed, and you should pay special attention to them.

 

Try to translate foreign words whenever possible. However, when you find a word (mainly common nouns) that is commonly used in the original language, keep the original term, without quotation marks. Keep in mind that Brazilian Portuguese speakers easily accept new foreign words, adapting them to their vocabulary, while European Portuguese speakers tend to use a translation.

 

Examples

Source text: Use your mouse to right click on the App icon.

✘ Clique com o botão direito do seu rato no ícone do aplicativo.

✓Clique com o botão direito do seu mouse no ícone do aplicativo.

 

Source text: Visit the app settings for voice feedback.

✘ Visite as configurações do aplicativo para o comentário de voz.

✓ Visite as configurações do aplicativo para o feedback de voz.

 

If there is a translation for the word, and the translated word is used in Portuguese, you should translate it.

 

Example

Source text: You may print it on items for resale, such as postcards and t-shirts.

✘ Você pode imprimi-lo em itens para revenda, como postais e t-shirts.

✓ Você pode imprimi-lo em itens para revenda, como postais e camisetas.

 

Brazilian Portuguese or Portuguese from Brazil (PT-BR) is the term used to classify the variety of the Portuguese language spoken by more than 200 million Brazilians. Due to the huge amount of speakers and the long distance from other Portuguese-speaker countries, PT-BR has many peculiarities regarding syntax, phonetics and lexicon. The main differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Brazilian are listed below.

 

• Different use of pronouns

In PT-BR it is preferable to place the oblique pronoun before the verb (proclisis) while in European Portuguese (PT-EU) it is more common to place it after the verb, preceded by a hyphen (enclisis).

 

Example

Source text: They offered me a proposal.

PT-EU: Eles ofereceram-me uma proposta.

PT-BR: Eles me ofereceram uma proposta.

 

• Different use of verb forms

In PT-BR, the use of gerund is frequent, rather than the infinitive preceded by preposition. Also, some lexical choices of past participle are different.

 

Examples

Source text: Looking forward to hear from you soon.

PT-EU: Ficarei a aguardar notícias suas.

PT-BR: Ficarei aguardando notícias suas.

 

Source text: The proposal was accepted.

PT-EU: A proposta foi aceite.

PT-BR: A proposta foi aceita.

 

• Different use of possessive pronouns

Contrary to European Portuguese, in Brazilian Portuguese it is not mandatory to use definite articles preceding possessive pronouns. The decision to use it or not is most of the times based on the level of familiarity or specification that the speaker/write wants to infer. 

 

Examples

Source text: Laura Jean Baker was his teacher and he was delighted to be dancing with her.

PT-EU and PT-BR: Laura Jean Baker era a sua professora e ele estava encantado em dançar com ela.

PT-BR: Laura Jean Baker era sua professora e ele estava encantado em dançar com ela.

 

While both translations are grammatically correct, the first one infers, by the addition of the article, that Laura is probably his only teacher. 

 

• Different use of persons of speech

PT-BR, it is much more common to use the third person (você) instead of the second person (tu), and it is not a matter of register (formal or informal), but it is rather a national variant. Actually, in official texts, ‘você’ is always used. The choice of the person reflects on the selection of the pronouns and the verb agreement.

 

Examples

Source text: I recommend you to send back the product with a flaw.

PT-EU: Recomendo que Ø envies o produto com defeito de volta. [informal]

PT-EU: Recomendo que Ø envie o produto com defeito de volta. [formal]

PT-BR: Recomendo que você envie o produto com defeito de volta.

 

Source text: You can order your card here.

PT-EU: Ø Podes solicitar o teu cartão aqui. [informal]

PT-EU: Ø Pode solicitar o seu cartão aqui. [formal]

PT-BR: Você pode solicitar o seu cartão aqui.

 

Source text: A card will be issued for you.

PT-EU: Será emitido um cartão para ti. [informal]

PT-EU: Será emitido um cartão para si. [formal]

PT-BR: Será emitido um cartão para você.

 

Source text: Our system will automatically call you back.

PT-EU: O nosso sistema irá ligar-te automaticamente. [informal]

PT-EU: O nosso sistema irá ligar-lhe automaticamente. [formal]

PT-BR: O nosso sistema irá ligar para você automaticamente.

 

Different from PT-EU, in PT-BR the oblique pronoun ‘si’ is used only in some specific cases, like ‘entre si’, ‘por si só’, ‘si mesmo’, but never in contexts like ‘para si’.

 

• Different use of diacritics

There are some differences between PT-BR and PT-EU regarding the use of diacritics (acute vs circumflex vs none).

PT- EU	PT-BR	EN
verificámos	verificamos	verified
jogámos	jogamos	played
eletrónico	eletrônico	electronic
académico	acadêmico	academic

 

  

Examples

Source text: The following electronic devices are suitable for this case.

PT-EU: Os seguintes dispositivos eletrónicos são adequados para este caso.

PT-BR: Os seguintes dispositivos eletrônicos são adequados para este caso.

 

Source text: Click on this button to access your academic profile.

PT-EU: Clique neste botão para aceder o seu perfil académico.

PT-BR: Clique neste botão para acessar o seu perfil acadêmico.

 

• Different lexicon

When we compare the two varieties of Portuguese, we realize that a series of words used in PT-BR are not the same as those found in PT-PT. You can find some comparison below:

PT-PT	PT-BR	EN
pequeno almoço	café da manhã	breakfast
casa de banho	banheiro	bathroom
telemóvel	celular	cell phone
autocarro	ônibus	bus
sumo	suco	juice
comboio	trem	train
paragem	ponto de ônibus	bus stop
chávena	xícara	tea/coffee cup
utilizador	usuário	user
aplicação	aplicativo	app
frigorífico	geladeira	fridge
eléctrico	bonde	tram
papaia	mamão	papaya
guarda-redes	goleiro	Goalkeeper
carta de condução	carteira de motorista	driving license
boleia	carona	ride
gelado	sorvete	Ice-cream
hospedeira de bordo	comissária de bordo	stewardess
sistema operativo	sistema operacional	operating system
ecrã	tela	screen
comprovativo de morada	comprovante de endereço	proof of address
definições	configurações	settings
chamada	ligação	call
lixívia	água sanitária	bleach
fato	terno	suit
talho	açougue	butcher
biberão	mamadeira	feeding bottle
rebuçado	bala	sweet
banda desenhada	quadradinhos	cartoon
agrafador	grampeador	stapler
confusão	bagunça	mess
equipa	equipe/time	team
t-shirt	camiseta	t-shirt
fato de banho	maiô	swimming suit
sanita	vaso	toillet seat
aceder	acessar	to access
carregar	apertar	to press

 

 

Examples

Source text: Your account details are in your App.

PT-EU: Os dados da sua conta estão na sua aplicação.

PT-BR: Os dados da sua conta estão em seu aplicativo.

 

Source text: If you are a registered user, you will receive a bonus.

PT-EU: Se for um utilizador registado, receberá um bónus.

PT-BR: Se você for um usuário registrado, receberá um bônus.

  

• Different orthography

There are also some differences regarding orthography that is notable to mention, as you can see below.

PT- EU	PT-BR	EN
contacto	contato	contact
golo	gol	goal
registo	registro	register
registar	registrar	to register
Teerão, Amsterdão, Roterdão	Irã, Teerã, Amsterdã, Roterdã	Iran, Tehran, Amsterdam

 

Example

Source text: If you are a registered user, you will receive a bonus.

PT-EU: Se você for um usuário registado, receberá um bônus.

PT-BR: Se você for um usuário registrado, receberá um bônus.

 

Regarding numerals format (written in numbers or words), you must always respect the source text: if they are written as digits in the source text, this should be maintained in the translation; on the other hand, if they are written as words, they should be translated to the target language.

 

Concerning the use of a separator of the classes of numbers (units, thousands, millions, etc.) or the decimal places, there is no orthographic standard. As use is concerned, Brazilian Portuguese differs from English, as we use the comma as a decimal separator and dots to separate classes of thousands.

 

Examples

Source text: The express delivery costs € 20.50.

✘ A entrega rápida custa € 20.50.

✓ A entrega rápida custa € 20,50.

 

Source text: Your video had more than 2,000 views.

✘ O seu vídeo obteve mais de 2,000 visualizações.

✓ O seu vídeo obteve mais de 2.000 visualizações.

 

Source text: The correct number is 10,000.27

✘ O número correto é 10,000.27

✓ O número correto é 10.000,27

 

 

• Slash (/)

Although there are no very definite rules on the existence of spaces before and after the slash bar, it is preferable to use them without whitespaces. The uses of the oblique bar are described as follows:

1. As separator for dates: 14/04/2018; 2017/2018.
2. As separator for verses in poems: "[…] De tanto olhar para longe,/ não vejo o que passa perto,/meu peito é puro deserto./ Subo monte, desço monte (Cecília Meireles).
3. As a substitute for a word: 220 km/h (quilômetros por hora); e/ou (e ou ou).
4. As an abbreviation: c/ (com); s/ (sem).
5. As a mathematical symbol, to separate the numerator from the denominator and into fractions: ¼ (um quarto); 200/5 (200 dividido por 5).
6. On internet addresses or paths of files: https://unbabel.com/
7. To indicate phonemes, i.e. the sounds of the language: /a/, /p/, /r/.

 

• Percentage (%) 

Similarly to the slash, the percentage is used without whitespaces between the number and the symbol. It is always preferable to use the symbol (%) instead of the written expression (por cento).

 

Example

Source text: This hotel will charge a 10% destination fee when you arrive.

✘ Este hotel cobrará uma taxa de destino de 10 por cento quando você chegar.

✘ Este hotel cobrará uma taxa de destino de 10 % quando você chegar.

✓ Este hotel cobrará uma taxa de destino de 10% quando você chegar.

 

Punctuation marks indicate syntactic limits and help to clarify the meaning, ensuring cohesion, coherence and a good understanding of the message. See below the most common punctuation marks.

 

• Comma | ,

It is used to mark a pause of the statement in order to indicate that the terms separated by it, although participating in the same sentence or clause, do not form a syntactical unit. Below, you can find some rules that cover the use of comma.

 

a) In dates, to separate the location.

 

Example

Source text: London, March, 16th, 2018

✘ Londres 16 de março de 2018

✓ Londres, 16 de março de 2018

 

b) After the adverbs ‘sim’ and ‘não’ when they are used in answers in the beginning of a sentence.

 

Example

Source text: Yes, I understand what you’re saying.

✘ Sim eu entendo o que você quer dizer.

✓ Sim, eu entendo o que você quer dizer.

 

c) After the greeting in emails.

 

Examples:

Source text: Best regards,

✘ Atenciosamente

✓ Atenciosamente,

 

Source text: Hello Tom,

✘ Olá Tom,

✓ Olá, Tom,

 

d) To separate coordinated terms.

 

Example

Source text: We need a copy of your ID document, passport, and driving license.

✘ Precisamos da cópia da sua carteira de identidade passaporte e carteira de motorista.

✓Precisamos da cópia da sua carteira de identidade, passaporte e carteira de motorista.

 

e) To isolate intercalated conjunctions or adverbial adjuncts.

 

Examples

Source text: It is however necessary that you send your documents again.

✘ É necessário porém que você envie seus documentos novamente.

✓ É necessário, porém, que você envie seus documentos novamente.

 

Source text: You surely won’t be charged again for that.

✘ Você com certeza não será cobrado novamente por isso.

✓ Você, com certeza, não será cobrado novamente por isso.

 

f) To isolate a vocative.

 

Example

Source text: Hello, Leonardo.

✘ Olá Leonardo.

✓ Olá, Leonardo.

 

g) To isolate an apposition.

 

Example:

Source text: ePayments, your safest digital wallet, has some news.

✘ O ePayments sua carteira digital mais segura está com novidades.

✓ O ePayments, sua carteira digital mais segura, está com novidades.

 

h) To isolate an explicative expression.

 

Example

Source text: Your reservation wasn’t confirmed and you will be reimbursed, i.e. you will receive your money back.

✘ Sua reserva não foi confirmada e você será reembolsado isto é você receberá seu dinheiro de volta.

✓ Sua reserva não foi confirmada e você será reembolsado, isto é, você receberá seu dinheiro de volta.

 

i) To separate adversative, conclusive, explicative and some alternative clauses.

 

Example

Source text: It looks that your the access to the app is blocked, but don’t worry.

✘ Parece que seu acesso ao aplicativo está bloqueado mas não se preocupe.

✓ Parece que seu acesso ao aplicativo está bloqueado, mas não se preocupe.

 

j) When coordinate clauses have different subjects.

 

Example

Source text: The password will be reset, and you’ll be able to access your account again.

✘ A senha será recuperada e você poderá acessar sua conta novamente.

✓ A senha será recuperada, e você poderá acessar sua conta novamente.

 

k) To isolate explicative subordinate clauses.

 

Example

Source text: Our support team, who is analyzing your situation, will soon reach a solution.

✘ Nossa equipe de suporte que está revendo seu caso retornará em breve com uma solução.

✓ Nossa equipe de suporte, que está revendo seu caso, retornará em breve com uma solução.

 

l) To isolate small clauses.

 

Example

Source text: To register, you’ll just need to access this link.

✘ Para fazer o cadastro basta acessar este link.

✓ Para fazer o cadastro, basta acessar este link.

 

In English, it is necessary to use a comma before the conjunction ‘and’ (Oxford comma), and sometimes this comma is kept in the Portuguese translation. Please, remember to correct it when it is not applicable.

 

Example

Source text: I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.

✘ Eu adoro os meus pais, Lady Gaga, e Humpty Dumpty.

✓ Eu adoro os meus pais, Lady Gaga e Humpty Dumpty.

 

• Colon | :

The most frequent uses of colon are:

 

a) In enumerations.

 

Example

Source text: Required documents: identity card, driving license and passport.

✘ Documentos necessários, carteira de identidade, carteira de motorista e passaporte.

✓ Documentos necessários: carteira de identidade, carteira de motorista e passaporte.

 

b) In clarifications.

 

Example

Source text: The best function of our application: to keep up with your exercises.

✘ A melhor função de nosso aplicativo, acompanhar seus exercícios.

✓ A melhor função de nosso aplicativo: acompanhar seus exercícios.

 

c) After the words ‘observation’, ‘note’, ‘important’, ‘example’, ‘attention’, etc.

 

Example

Source text: Note: don’t forget to send us a photo identification.

✘ Nota, não se esqueça de nos enviar um documento com foto.

✓ Nota: não se esqueça de nos enviar um documento com foto.

 

• Semicolon | ;

The semicolon indicates a pause longer than the comma and shorter than the period. It is mainly used in cases such as following:

 

a) To separate items from an enumeration.

 

Example

Source text: We need the following documents:

                    - ID document

                    - Passport

                    - Photo

✘ Nós precisamos dos seguintes documentos:

- Documento de identidade,

- Passaporte,

- Foto.

 

✓Nós precisamos dos seguintes documentos:

• Documento de identidade;
• Passaporte;
• Foto.

 

 

b) To lengthen the pause of adversative conjunctions (‘mas’, ‘porém’, ‘contudo’, ‘todavia’, ‘entretanto’, etc.), replacing the comma.

 

Example

Source text: We tried to contact you by e-mail, in the meantime we didn’t get any answer.

✘ Tentamos entrar em contato com você por e-mail, entretanto, não obtivemos resposta.

✓ Tentamos entrar em contato com você por e-mail; entretanto, não obtivemos resposta.

 

• Period | .

The period can represents a long pause, at the end of declarative or imperative clauses. It is also used in abbreviations

 

Examples

Source text: If you have any doubt just let me know.

✓ Avise-me se você tiver alguma dúvida.

 

Source text: Dear Mr. Leonard.

✓ Prezado Sr. Leonard.

 

• Exclamation point | !

The exclamation point is used in exclamatory expressions, such as ‘Nossa!’.

 

• Question mark | ?

The question mark is in direct questions.

 

Example

Source text: Will you come today?

✓ Você virá hoje?

 

• Hyphen | - 

The hyphen can occur in several linguistic circumstances, such as:

1. linking compound words (e.g. couve-flor);
2. make the junction between oblique pronouns and some verbal forms, represented by mesoclisis (e.g. dir-lhe-ei) and enclisis (e.g. dei-lhe);
3. connect some words preceded by prefixes (e.g. super-homem);
4. separate the syllables of a word at the end of a line.

 

• Em dash | —

It is mostly used to indicate the change of interlocutor in dialogs. It can also be used to introduce explanatory expressions, functioning as commas or parentheses.

 

Examples

Source text:

—Who are you?

—I’m Manoel.

✓ — Quem é você?

    — Sou o Manoel.

 

Source text: The company owner—an excellent entrepreneur—revealed his plans.

✓ O dono da empresa — um excelente empreendedor — revelou seus planos.

 

• Quotation marks | “ ”

You can use double quotation marks (" "), single quotation marks (' ') or no quotation marks at all to highlight the names of buttons and commands. We recommend you choose the least-effort solution based on the MT content. Just make sure you keep internal consistency.

 

• Brackets | [ ]

Brackets have the same purpose as parentheses; however, their use is usually restricted to didactic, philological, and scientific writings. It can be employed in the following cases:

1. In dictionary definitions, to refer to the etymology of the word.
2. To intercalate non-text words or symbols.
3. To insert comments and observations into previously published texts.
4. To indicate omissions of parts in the transcription of a text.

 

Example

Em Aruba se fala espanhol, inglês, holandês e papiamento. Aqui está uma frase útil em papiamento: Bo ta bon? [Você está bem?]

 

In Brazilian Portuguese, you should use a comma between the greeting (‘Olá’ or ‘Oi’) and the vocative or the proper name (‘Maria’ or ‘Sr. Duarte’).

 

Examples

Source text: Hello Mr. Smith,

✘ Olá Sr. José,

✓ Olá, Sr. José.

 

Source text: Hi Maria,

✘ Oi Maria,

✓ Oi, Maria.

 

Please note that after the greeting, you must use a period (preferably) or a comma.

 

Example

Source text: Hi Maria,

✘ Oi Maria,

✓ Oi, Maria,

✓ Oi, Maria.

 

Regarding closing formulas, they are always followed by a comma.

 

Source text: Kind regards,

✘Atenciosamente!

✓ Atenciosamente,

 

 

Register refers to the level of formality used in the text. It shows how our clients address their customers and contributes to the voice of the brand itself. Register may vary depending on the company, the brand, the service they offer, the customers, and the target language.

We make a first main distinction between grammatical and lexical register: the first one regards the use of pronouns and verb person (for the languages to which this morphological feature is applied), while the latter is related to lexical choices, since some words and expressions also have a degree of formality or colloquialism.

Both these registers are also divided into formal and informal, as shown below.

 

The formal register is used in situations that require more seriousness. Pay particular attention when this register is required, and make sure that you use the correct pronouns, verb forms and lexical words. You can check some formal expressions in the table below.

Category	Examples	Type of Register
Personal pronouns	Use ‘nós’ instead of ‘a gente’. Use ‘o senhor’ or ‘a senhora’ instead of ‘você’ (if you know the gender of the addressee).	Grammatical
Greetings	Olá Caro/a Prezado/a	Lexical
Closings	Atenciosamente Cordialmente	Lexical
Contractions	Use ‘para’ instead of ‘pra’.	Grammatical

 

 

Examples

Source text: Would you please send us the following documents?

✘ Tu poderias nos enviar, por favor, os seguintes documentos?

✓O senhor poderia nos enviar, por favor, os seguintes documentos?

 

Source text: Dear Ms. Carmen,

✘ Querida Sra. Carmen,

✓ Prezada Sra. Carmen,

 

The informal register is used when there is familiarity between the interlocutors or in casual situations. When this register is required by the client, you can use a day-by-day communication, but it does not mean that you can be totally informal. Since it is a written message, there are certain expressions that should be used, as the ones mentioned in the table below.

 

Category	Examples	Type of Register
Pronouns	Place pronouns befoer the verb whenever possible. Better yet, prefer using 'você' instead of an oblique pronoun.	Grammatical
Greetings	Oi  Olá	Lexical
Closings	Até logo! Até breve!	Lexical

 

Examples

Source text: We would kindly ask you to let us know the following.

✘ Gostaríamos de pedir-lhe que nos informe o seguinte.

✓ Gostaríamos de pedir a você que nos informe o seguinte.
✓ Gostaríamos de lhe pedir que nos informe o seguinte.

 

Source text: We would also like to remind you that we have a FAQ.

✘Também gostaríamos de lembrá-lo de que temos um FAQ.

✓ Também gostaríamos de lembrar você de que temos um FAQ.

 

Source text: Let us know if you have any difficulties. 

✘ Avise-nos se houver qualquer dificuldade.

✓ Se houver qualquer dificuldade, nos avise.

✓ Por favor, nos avise se houver qualquer dificuldade

 

 Important notes:

1. Do not use:

• We do not recommend the use of ‘a gente’, because it can be considered a colloquial expression from the speech. You should always use ‘nós’.
• Do not use ‘Querido/a’ in greetings as this is a very familiar way to address a person, and sometimes it may sound pejorative.
• Do not use the second person ‘tu’ as its use depends on Brazilian regions, and the most frequent pronoun is ‘você’.
• When writing informal messages, avoid constructions in which you'd have to use the pronoun after the verb.  Tweak the sentence by adding something before the verb. This would allow you to then place the pronoun before the verb, which will sound much better.

1. Do use:

• You can use ‘Olá’ in greetings, as well as the pronoun ‘você’, for both formal and informal registers. Be mindful of the source text, though: double check if it isn't preferable to switch from 'olá' to 'prezado' or 'caro'.
• The use of ‘atenciosamente’ in closings is also appropriate for both registers, as it shows respect.

 

Proper nouns refer to unique entities, such as persons, places, organizations, brands, events, etc. As foreign proper nouns are concerned, languages may adopt different rules regarding whether they should be translated or kept in the original language. When editing a text, you should follow your languages rules for all different types of proper nouns listed below. However, please note that if there is a glossary provided by the client that includes these types of units, you should always apply the glossary items.

 

6.1.1. Persons