At Unbabel we have a unique approach to translation: each text submitted by a customer is translated by our Machine Translation system, and then corrected by our community of editors in an online platform. By editing the output of the software, the editors ensure the quality of the translations and confirm that the message is accurate (i.e., has the same meaning as the original), fluent (i.e., can be easily understood and sounds natural) and is in line with the style requested by the clients (i.e. respects their register and terminology). In order to help editors do the best job possible, we provide various types of information:

Customer instructions, which include the identification of the client and his requests to personalize the translation, such as the register that must be used to address the recipient of the message. Following these instructions is vital to deliver translations that match the client’s expectations.
Glossaries, which correspond to specific vocabulary and expressions used by the client, and that must be respected by the editors.
Translation Memories, which correspond to stored segments (expressions, sentences or paragraphs) that have previously been translated and accepted for customer usage. They are useful for ensuring consistency across translations.

Finally, in order to deliver the best possible translation, we also provide these guidelines about your language specifications. Please, read them carefully and always follow these instructions in your editions.

2. Grammar

2.1. Agreement

2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs)

When translating sentences containing quantificational or partitive expressions (such as a maioria de, metade de, a maior parte de, uma (boa/grande/pequena) parte de, uma série de, um grande/pequeno/certo número de, uma quantidade/porção/dezena/centena de, metade), you should use the singular form of the verb. These follow the same pattern as sentences containing collective nouns such as assembleia, brigada, comissão, comunidade, equipa, turma, bando, batalhão, rebanho, etc.

Example

Source text: Most payments are made by bank transfer.

✘ A maioria dos pagamentos são feitos através de transferência bancária.

✓ A maioria dos pagamentos é feita através de transferência bancária.

When there is a coordinated subject, the agreement between subject and verb is as follows:

If the coordination includes a first-person pronoun, use the first person plural.

Example

Source text: You and I / He and I will fill the form.

✘ Tu e eu / Ele e eu vão preencher o impresso.

✓ Tu e eu / Ele e eu vamos preencher o impresso.

If the coordination doesn’t include a first-person pronoun, use the third person.

Example

Source text: You and he will fill the form.

✘ Tu e ele vamos preencher o impresso.

✓ Tu e ele vão preencher o impresso.

If the action includes only one of the subjects, the verb is singular.

Example: João or António will be promoted.

✓O João ou o António será promovido. [only one of the subjects will be promoted]

If the action includes both subjects, the verb is plural.

Example: The cold and the wind cause dry skin.

✓O vento e o frio causam pele seca. [both subjects cause dry skin]

When there is a singular subject followed by an interpolated sentence that introduces more subjects, separated by a comma, the verb keeps the singular form.

Example

Source text: Protection of nature, as well as natural biodiversity, is also cited as objectives.

✘A proteção da natureza, bem como a biodiversidade natural, fazem parte dos objetivos citados.

✓A proteção da natureza, bem como a biodiversidade natural, faz parte dos objetivos citados.

In structures with the verbs ser and parecer followed by a predicative subject in the plural, the verb agrees with the predicative.

Examples

Source text: That is part of the job.

✘ Isso é ossos do ofício.

✓Isso são ossos do ofício.

Source text: Everything is life seems to be dreams and hopes.

✘ Tudo na vida parece sonhos e esperanças.

✓Tudo na vida parecem sonhos e esperanças.

The verb haver, when used with the meaning of existir (‘there are, ‘there happen to be’), is never conjugated in the plural form. The same happens with the verbs tratar e começar.

Examples

Source text: There were some problems with the app.

✘ Houveram alguns problemas com a aplicação.

✓ Houve alguns problemas com a aplicação.

Source text: Those are studies carried out by the European Commission.

✘ Tratam-se de estudos levados a cabo pela Comissão Europeia.

✓ Trata-se de estudos levados a cabo pela Comissão Europeia.

Source text: There are already some data on the state of health of immigrant communities.

✘ Começam a haver alguns dados sobre o estado da saúde das comunidades imigrantes.

✓ Começa a haver alguns dados sobre o estado da saúde das comunidades imigrantes.

With expressions such as um dos que, uma das pessoas que, um dos aspetos que, etc. the verb always occur in the plural.

Example

Source text: José Saramago was one of the authors that won the Nobel Prize.

✘ José Saramago foi um dos escritores que ganhou o prémio Nobel.

✓ José Saramago foi um dos escritores que ganharam o prémio Nobel.

When in doubt as to the correct verbal form, check LxConjugator.

2.1.2. Gender and number (nouns and adjectives)

In sentences with more than one noun displaying different grammatical genders, the standard agreement pattern is the masculine form.

Example

Source text: The exam and the appointment are scheduled.

✘ O exame e a consulta estão marcadas.

✓ O exame e a consulta estão marcados.

The feminine form will be used if all the nouns are feminine.

Example

Source text: The analysis and the appointment are scheduled.

✘ As análises e a consulta estão marcados.

✓ As análises e a consulta estão marcadas.

Although most of words ending in -a are feminine, and most of the ones ending in -o are masculine, make sure to note the exceptions to the rule (e.g. o grama, o drama, o profeta, o problema, o telefonema, o tema, a tribo).

When in doubt as to the correct form, check LxInflector.

2.2. Determiners

Determiners always agree with the noun in gender and number. When translating ‘the’ and ‘a / an’, make sure to check the gender of the noun in Portuguese.

Example

Source text: the consort

✘ a cônjuge

✓ o cônjuge

Determiners are used in Portuguese even in the presence of a possessive determiner.

Example

Source text: his friend

✘ seu amigo

✓ o seu amigo

Contrary to English, some proper nouns in Portuguese are preceded by determiner.

Example

Source text: Brazil and China are countries that have good economic relations with Portugal.

✘ Brasil e China são países que têm boas relações económicas com Portugal.

✓ O Brasil e a China são países que têm boas relações económicas com Portugal.

2.3. Prepositions

Some verbs, adjectives and nouns select a specific preposition: confiar em, herdar de, proibir de, sonhar com, viajar em/por, votar a favor de, votar contra, ser fiel a, estar orgulhoso de; ter confiança em, ter empenho em, um livro de/sobre, ter preocupação com/de/em.

Example

Source text: The client may disagree with the proposal.

✘ O cliente pode discordar com a proposta.

✓ O cliente pode discordar da proposta.

Given the wide range of cases, please consult a dictionary of prepositional regency, such as Guia Prático de Verbos com Preposições.

Prepositions should be contracted with determiners (do (de+o); neste (em+este)), except when the determiner is the beginning of an infinitive sentence.

Example

Source text: They considered the hypothesis of organizing the conference in Lisbon.

✘ Foi colocada a hipótese da conferência se realizar em Lisboa.

✓ Foi colocada a hipótese de a conferência se realizar em Lisboa.

Example

Source text: The reservation was canceled because of unredeemed checks.

✘ Foi cancelada a reserva pelos cheques não terem cobertura.

✓ Foi cancelada a reserva por os cheques não terem cobertura.

2.4. Pronouns

Unlike English, in Portuguese the subject is more likely to be omitted in subordinated clauses, but only when it is the same as the subject of the main clause.

Example

Source text: The client said that he will be late.

✓ O cliente disse que chegará atrasado.

Note that the sentence below is also possible, but it is more likely to occur when the pronoun ele doesn’t refer to o cliente, but to someone else.

✓ O cliente disse que ele [another person] chegará atrasado.

Also, even in a main clause, pronominal subjects should be omitted whenever they can be recovered by verbal morphology.

Example

Source text: I saw John at the cinema.

✘ Eu vi o John no cinema.

✓ Vi o John no cinema.

2.5. Verbs

In Portuguese, there are some verbs that display two participial forms, a long one (which ends in –ado), and a short one, as shown below:

aceitar: aceitado; aceite
prender: prendido; preso
matar: matado; morto
secar: secado; seco

The regular form is the longest one, and is used in compound tenses with the verb ter (e.g. tem aceitado), while the irregular form (the shortest one) is used with the verbs ser and estar (e.g. foi preso; está preso). For a list of these verbs, you can check this page atCiberdúvidas.

Examples

Source text: He had accepted the task.

✘ Ele tinha aceite a tarefa.

✓ Ele tinha aceitado a tarefa.

Source text: The task was immediately accepted.

✘A tarefa foi aceitada imediatamente.

✓A tarefa foi aceite imediatamente.

Another aspect to be considered regards the fact that, while in English the gerundive form is frequently used, European Portuguese uses the infinitive preceded by a preposition.

Example

Source text: I saw him running yesterday night.

✘ Vi-o correndo ontem à noite.

✓Vi-o a correr ontem à noite.

When in doubt as to the correct verbal form, check LxConjugator, where all the forms of a verb can be generated.

3. Orthography

As an important note, please take into account that all translations must follow the rules of the New Orthographic Agreement.

3.1. Abbreviations

The rules regarding European Portuguese abbreviations are listed below.

Abbreviations are usually written with a dot at the end: etc. (et cetera), Dr. (Doutor), pág. (página).
If the abbreviation is composed of more than two words, there’s usually a whitespace between them: p. ex. (por exemplo), a. C. (antes de Cristo), i. e. (isto é). However, you can also find the absence of a whitespace between abbreviations, as in i.e. Note that, for example, the Dicionário Houaiss registers these forms without a whitespace, and there’s no need to correct them or mark them as an error.
In some cases, with the correct text formatting, the last letter of the word is written in superscript after the dot, and without any whitespace: Dr.ª (Doutora), n.º (número), Ex.^mo (Excelentíssimo).
The plural forms are created by adding a -s before the dot: pág./págs., fig./figs.
If the abbreviation consists of one letter, the plural can be formed by duplicating it: p./pp. (página/páginas).
When the abbreviation is placed at the end of a sentence that ends in a dot, do not repeat the dot.

Example

Source text: To perform a good translation, we need to know the target language, the culture of the country, etc.

✘ Para fazer uma boa tradução, é preciso conhecer a língua-alvo, a cultura do país, etc..

✓ Para fazer uma boa tradução, é preciso conhecer a língua-alvo, a cultura do país, etc.

When in doubt, check the Initials and Abbreviations Dictionary.

3.2. Apostrophes

In European Portuguese, the apostrophe is used to separate a preposition (e.g. de, em) from an expression referring to a deity, a title of a book or the name of work of art when it starts with a vowel.

Example

Source text: The character Adamastor appears in the Os Lusíadas.

✘ A personagem do Adamastor aparece nos Os Lusíadas.

✓A personagem do Adamastor aparece n’Os Lusíadas.

The apostrophe is also used to signal the deletion of a vowel: borda-d'água, cobra-d'água, copo-d'água, estrela-d'alva, galinha-d'água, mãe-d'água.

3.3. Capitalization

Capital letters are used when writing:

Names of people (real or fictional): António, Eça de Queirós, Quixote.
Names of places and monuments: Lisboa, Portugal, Brasil, Avenida da Liberdade, Praça da Alegria; Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Torre de Belém, Panteão Nacional.
Institutions: Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, Organização das Nações Unidas, Instituto Nacional de Estatística.
Events: Segunda Guerra Mundial, Implantação da República, Revolução dos Cravos.
Holidays and festivities: Carnaval, Natal, Páscoa, Ramadão.
Cardinal points: Norte, Sul, Este, Oeste, Ocidente, Oriente.
Periodicals and book titles (except prepositions): Expresso, Diário de Notícias; O Crime do Padre Amaro, Viagens na Minha Terra.
Disciplines: Linguística, Matemática, Engenharia.
Stars and others: Sol, Júpiter, Inferno, Paraíso.
Abbreviations and symbols: UE, AR, ONU, NATO, H2O.

Unlike English, nationality designations, week days and months are written in lower case:

Example

Source text: The Portuguese are granted a visa-free travel to the United Kingdom.

✘Os Portugueses estão isentos de visto para o reino Unido.

✓ Os portugueses estão isentos de visto para o reino Unido.

When in doubt, you can check the Vocabulário Ortográfico do Português.

3.4. Compounds

In European Portuguese, compounds can be written in a single word or separated by a hyphen. According to the Novo Acordo Ortográfico, the hyphen in compounds is used only in the following cases:

Compounds that are composed by elements of the same syntactic category, as 2 nouns (ano-luz) 2 verbs (chupa-chupa) or 2 adjectives (surdo-mudo).
Compounds that designate botanic or animal species (couve-flor, erva-doce, cobra-capelo, formiga-branca).
When the prefix ends in a vowel, and the second element starts with the same vowel (micro-ondas, contra-ataque).
Toponyms starting with grã- or grão- (Grã-Bretanha, grão-mestre), with a verbal form (quebra-nozes) or with two elements linked by an article (Trás-os-Montes).
Compounds with the elements além-, aquém-, recém- and sem- (além-mar, aquém-Tejo, recém-nascido, sem-número).
When the prefixes circum- and pan-, and the following element starts with a vowel, -m, -n or -h (circum-navegação, circum-murado, pan-americano).
Compounds with the prefixes super-, inter- or hiper-, when the second element starts with -r or -h (hiper-requintado, inter-resistente, super-homem).
Compounds with the prefixes ex-, vice- (ex-diretor, vice-rei).
Compounds with the prefixes pós-, pré-, pró-, when the second element is an independent word (pré-história).
When the second element starts with an h (anti-higiénico, bem-humorado, infra-humano, proto-histórico, super-homem).

The plural of the compounds is formed taking into account either the type of elements that compose the compound and the type of relationship that they have.

If the elements have a coordination relationship, meaning that their characteristics are simultaneously applied, both elements occur in the plural: surdos-mudos, atores-encenadores, sociais-democratas).
If the elements have a subordination relationship, meaning that the second element of the compound could also be introduced by the relative que (e.g. máquina de barbear à uma máquina que serve para barbear), only the first element occurs in the plural if the structure is Noun Preposition Noun: máquinas de barbear, caminhos de ferro, conferências de imprensa. On the other hand, if the structure is Verb-Noun, only the second element occurs in the plural: guarda-chuvas, lava-loiças.
If the second element modifies the first one, both elements occur in plural: escolas primárias, grandes superficies, guerras civis.

Given that there are quite a few exceptions with regard to written form of compounds, when in doubt, always check Portal da Língua Portuguesa, Dicionário Priberam or Vocabulário Ortográfico do Português.

3.5. Diacritics

In European Portuguese, each word has only one stressed syllable, which may or may not be marked with a diacritic. The most used accent to mark stressed vowels is the acute (´), which can be placed over all vowels, but a circumflex accent can also be used when the vowel is closed. The diacritics are used as follows:

Words stressed in the antepenultimate syllable are always written with a diacritic (lástima, débito, estímulo, vitória, música, mecânico).
Words stressed in the last syllable are marked with an acute accent when ending in:
- -a, -e, -o (papá, café, avó, avô);
- diphthongs -eu, -ei and -oi (papéis, chapéu, herói).
Words stressed in the last syllable are NOT marked with an acute when ending in –i, -u and -z (rubi, peru, juiz).
Words stressed in the penultimate are NOT marked with an acute accent except:
- words ending in -i and -u (táxi, lápis, vírus);
- words ending in -l, -n, -r, -x e -ps (nível, pólen, néctar, tórax, bíceps).

There’s also the grave accent (`), which is used in the contraction of the following elements, and it’s only placed over the vowel a:

prepositions and articles: à (a + a), às (a + as);
prepositions and demonstrative pronouns: àquilo (a + aquilo), àquele (a + aquele).

The circumflex accent (^) can be placed over the vowels a, e and o, and is mostly used:

to change some pronunciations, closing the vowel (tem têm; pôr vs. por);
to distinguish some homophonous (pêlo pelo).

Note that some words are NOT written with a circumflex accent:

cor, flor, dispor, propor,
words with double vowels (voo, veem).

The tilde (~) is only placed over the vowels a and o, and is used to mark a nasal sound (manhã, irmão, pães, cãimbra, leões).

The cedilla (ç) is placed under the letter c only before the vowels a, o and u to indicate the pronunciation /s/ (raça, caroço, açúcar). The cedilla is NOT used with the letters e and I (cerco, cinco).

The diaresis (¨) can be use when writing foreign words or a word derived from a foreign name (Müller, mülleriano).

When in doubt, always check Portal da Língua Portuguesa, Dicionário Priberam or Vocabulário Ortográfico do Português.

3.6. Foreign words

There are some foreign words that have equivalents in European Portuguese in order to be closer to the Portuguese writing and pronunciation. In these cases, it is recommended to use the Portuguese word and avoid the foreign word.

Examples

bowling (EN) → bólingue (PT)

crochet (FR) → croché (PT)

édredon (FR) → edredão (PT)

hamburger (EN) → hambúrguer (PT)

poster (EN) → póster (PT)

troika (RU) → troica (PT)

However, there are many foreign words that do not have equivalents in Portuguese. In this case, keep the original word and write it in italics whenever possible: copyright, ex-aequo, smörgåsbord, kamikaze.

When in doubt, check the Dicionário de Estrangeirismos and the Dicionário de formas não adaptadas.

3.7. Language variety

European Portuguese (PT-EU) presents some syntactic and lexical differences concerning Brazilian Portuguese (PT-BR). The most frequent are the following.

Different use of pronouns

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

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-EU the infinitive verb preceded by a preposition is preferable to the use of the gerund. Also, some lexical choices of past participle are different.

Example

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 Brazilian Portuguese, in European Portuguese the possessive pronouns are always preceded by definite articles.

Examples

Source text: Laura Jean Baker was her teacher and her eyes danced as she smiled.

PT-EU: Laura Jean Baker era a sua professora e os seus olhos dançavam enquanto ela sorria.

PT-BR: Laura Jean Baker era sua professora e seus olhos dançavam enquanto ela sorria.

Source text: If the email isn’t in your inbox, be sure to check the spam folder.

PT-EU: Se o mail não estiver na sua caixa de entrada, certifique-se de verificar a pasta de spam.

PT-BR: Se o mail não estiver em sua caixa de entrada, certifique-se de verificar a pasta de spam.

Different use of persons of speech

In 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). On the other hand, in PT-EU, you should never use the third person (você) in formal register (it should be omitted), and, in informal register, the second person pronouns (tu, te, ti, teu, etc.) are commonly used.

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-EU and PT-BR 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 ao seu perfil académico.

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

Different lexicon

When we compare the two varieties of Portuguese, we realize that a series of words used in PT-EU are not the same as those found in PT-BR. 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 for um utilizador registado, receberá um bónus.

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

3.8. Numerals

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.

Use a whitespace to indicate groups of thousands, contrary to English, which uses a comma.

Example

Source text: 50,000

✘ 50,000

✓ 50 000

However, please note that if the number is composed by only 4 digits, there is no whitespace or any other type of punctuation.

Example

Source text: 1,000

✘ 1,000

✘ 1 000

✓ 1000

Use a comma to indicate the decimal place, contrary to English, which uses a period.

Example

Source text: 89.15%

✘ 89.15%

✓ 89,15%

Also note that some numbers differ in English and in European Portuguese. Portuguese uses the term bilião to refer to a million millions (1 000 000 000 000), while English uses ‘billion’ to refer to a thousand millions (1 000 000 000).

Example

Source text: Planet Earth has more than 7 billion people.

✘ O planeta Terra tem mais de 7 biliões de pessoas.

✓ O planeta Terra tem mais de 7 mil milhões de pessoas.

3.9. Symbols

In Portuguese, symbols are always placed after the number and are separated by a whitespace.

Example

Source text: We support to a maximum amount of €40.

✘ Cobrimos até ao montante máximo de €40.

✘ Cobrimos até ao montante máximo de 40€.

✓ Cobrimos até ao montante máximo de 40 €.

There are however some exceptions to the whitespace rule. Thus, the symbols, %, ºC and ºF are never separated by a whitespace.

Example

Source text: Beverages containing more than 1.2% alcohol by vol. pay more taxes.

✘ As bebidas que contenham mais do que 1,2 % de álcool pagam mais impostos.

✓ As bebidas que contenham mais do que 1,2% de álcool pagam mais impostos.

Measure symbols (cm, km, h, l, etc.) are also separated by a whitespace and NEVER have dots or plural form.

Examples

Source text: 300 km

✘ 300 km.

✘ 300 kms

✓300 km

Source text: I’ll arrive in 2 h, more or less.

✘ Chego daqui a 2 h. aproximadamente.

✘ Chego daqui a 2 hs, aproximadamente.

✓Chego daqui a 2h aproximadamente.

When in doubt, check the Vocabulário Ortográfico do Português.

4. Punctuation

4.1. How to use punctuation marks

Comma | ,

Please take into account the basic rules for the use of commas.

To delimit parenthetical clauses or modifiers.

Example

Source text: When John Smith, our manager, gives the approval, we will get in touch with you.

✘ Quando John Smith o nosso gerente der autorização, entraremos em contacto consigo.

✓ Quando John Smith, o nosso gerente, der autorização, entraremos em contacto consigo.

To enclose vocatives.

Example

Source text: Javier, remember to set up the reunion.

✘ Javier lembra-te de marcar a reunião.

✓Javier, lembra-te de marcar a reunião.

To replace an elided verb.

Example

Source text: Quality is our objective; cooperation, our mean.

✘ A qualidade é o nosso objetivo; a cooperação o nosso meio.

✓ A qualidade é o nosso objetivo; a cooperação, o nosso meio.

After connectors that are at the beginning of the sentence, such as isto é, a saber, ou seja, em primeiro lugar, por um lado, por outro lado, por último, nesse caso, When they are in the middle of the sentence, include them between commas.

Example

Source text: These words are synonyms, in other words, they mean the same.

✘ Estas palavras são sinónimas isto é têm o mesmo significado.

✓ Estas palavras são sinónimas, isto é, têm o mesmo significado.

Before adversative conjunctions, such mas, porém, contudo, todavia, no entanto, não obstante, ainda assim, and alike conjunctions introducing consequence or results.

Example

Source text: We compromise to deliver it to you as soon as possible, but we can’t guarantee a precise date.

✘ Comprometemo-nos a entregá-lo assim que possível mas não podemos precisar a data exata.

✓ Comprometemo-nos a entregá-lo assim que possível, mas não podemos precisar a data exata.

After adverbial complements that are at the beginning of the sentence. When they are in the middle of the sentence, include them between commas.

Examples

Source text: In those first summer days, the coexistence between residents was perfect.

✘ Naqueles primeiros dias de verão a convivência entre os residentes era perfeita.

✓ Naqueles primeiros dias de verão, a convivência entre os residentes era perfeita.

Source text: The coexistence between residents in those first summer days was perfect.

✘ A convivência entre os residentes naqueles primeiros dias de verão era perfeita.

✓ A convivência entre os residentes, naqueles primeiros dias de verão, era perfeita.

With adverbial expressions that end in –mente (principalmente, nomeadamente, designadamente, etc.).

Example

Source text: Such diseases are mostly caused by stress.

✘ Tais doenças são causadas principalmente pelo stress.

✓ Tais doenças são causadas, principalmente, pelo stress.

After a subordinate clause that precedes the main clause.

Example

Source text: If you’re going to be late, warn me.

✘ Se chegares tarde avisa-me.

✓ Se chegares tarde, avisa-me.

Unlike English, Portuguese does not employ the ‘Oxford comma’ rule (i.e. a comma placed before ‘and’ in an enumeration).

Example

Source text: The report includes an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion.

✘ O relatório contém uma introdução, três capítulos, e uma conclusão.

✓ O relatório contém uma introdução, três capítulos e uma conclusão.

On the other hand, you can put a comma before the conjunction e when the subjects that are being coordinated are different.

Example

Source text: He packed his stuff, and she never spoke to him again.

✘ Ele fez as malas e ela nunca mais falou com ele.

✓ Ele fez as malas, e ela nunca mais falou com ele.

Note that subject and predicate are NEVER separated by a comma.

Example

Source text: The report written by a certifying company includes several attachments.

✘ O relatório elaborado pela empresa certificada, contém vários anexos.

✓ O relatório elaborado pela empresa certificada contém vários anexos.

Colon | :

The colon is used to introduce a list of items. Please bear in mind that the word after the semi-colon should be written in lowercase.

Example

Source text: The report includes three parts: introduction, development and conclusion.

✘ O relatório contém três partes, introdução, desenvolvimento e conclusão.

✓ O relatório contém três partes: introdução, desenvolvimento e conclusão.

The colon is also used to introduce reported speech.

Example

Source text: The director said, “We are well on track”.

✘ O diretor disse, “Estamos no bom caminho”.

✓ O diretor disse: “Estamos no bom caminho”.

Semicolon | ;

It can be used to delimit elements in a list, especially in more complex sentences. Also, the word after the semi-colon should be written in lowercase.

Example

Source text: The report should include three parts: introduction, with a brief presentation of the suppositions; development, with an explanation of the process; and conclusion.

✓ O relatório deverá conter três partes: introdução, com a apresentação breve dos pressupostos; desenvolvimento, com a explicação do processo; e conclusão.

Period | .

Periods are used to indicate the end of sentence or to mark abbreviations, as seen above.

Exclamation mark | !

The exclamation point is used to mark an exclamation or an imperative sentence.

Examples

Source text: Congratulations!

✘ Parabéns.

✓ Parabéns!

Source text: Please, do not click on the green button!

✘ Por favor, não clique no botão verde.

✓ Por favor, não clique no botão verde!

Question mark | ?

The question mark is used to mark an interrogative sentence.

Example

Source text: Did you receive my message?

✘ Recebeste a minha mensagem.

✓ Recebeste a minha mensagem?

Quotation marks | “ ” « »

Quotation marks can be used to indicate quotations, and in reported speech.

Example

Source text: The minister said: “There is no compensation”.

✘ O ministro disse: Não haverá lugar a indemnização.

✓ O ministro disse: “Não haverá lugar a indemnização”.

When using a foreign word (“blitzkrieg”) or when using a word in a special or ironic sense (Os “patrões” do futebol).

Hyphen | -

The hyphen can be used to separate the elements in some compounds (saca-rolhas) and to separate personal pronouns form the verb (disse-me).

Dash | –

Portuguese only has one dash, which can be used to indicate direct or reported speech, as well as to delimit parenthetical clauses or modifiers

Example

Source text: The report – delivered by hand – was ordered to Deloitte.

✓ O relatório – entregue em mão – foi encomendado à Deloitte.

Round brackets | ( )

Brackets can be used to indicate parenthetical clauses or modifiers.

Example

Source text: The form (available on our website) must be signed by the party’s representative.

✓ O impresso (disponível no nosso site) deve ser assinado pelo representante da parte.

4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings

A comma should always be used in greetings and closings.

Examples

Source text: Dear colleague,

✘ Caro colega

✘ Caro colega.

✓ Caro colega,

Source text: Hello,

✘ Olá

✘ Olá.

✓ Olá,

Source text: Best regards,

✘ Com os meus melhores cumprimentos

✘ Com os meus melhores cumprimentos.

✓ Com os meus melhores cumprimentos,

When in the greeting we have the expression is Olá followed by a noun, the noun must appear between commas.

Example

Source text: Hello Pedro,

✘ Olá Pedro,

✓ Olá, Pedro,

5. Register

5.1. Grammatical and Lexical Registers

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 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.

5.2. Formal Register

Unless there is some degree of familiarity between speakers, the formal register should always be used. Although the form você is considered part of the formal register, you should avoid it, as it might be considered rude by many Portuguese speakers.

Category	Examples	Type of Register
How to address the speaker	o senhor, a senhora os senhores, as senhoras	Grammatical
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb)	3^rd person (don’t use você) ✓A senhora deseja inscrever-se? ✓As senhoras desejam inscrever-se?	Grammatical
Possessive pronouns	seu / sua seus / suas vosso / vossos vossa / vossas consigo / convosco	Grammatical
Greetings	Olá, (preferred) Olá, [proper name], (preferred) Caro(a) + proper name (preferred) Caro Senhor, Cara Senhora,	Lexical
Closings	Cumprimentos Com os melhores cumprimentos, Com elevada estima, Atenciosamente, Atentamente, Cordialmente, Respeitosamente,	Lexical

IMPORTANT: Please note that the table above is primarily applicable to standard email communications. Legal documents, court proceedings, official correspondence or reports that reference high-ranking individuals often employ more formal and respectful forms of address not included in this table. When translating content that mentions or addresses individuals of high rank, always take into account the specific context and the intended audience to ensure appropriate levels of formality and respect.

5.3. Informal Register

If there is some degree of familiarity between speakers, the informal register should always be used.

Category	Examples	Type of Register
Personal pronouns	tu, vocês	Grammatical
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb)	2^nd person (personal pronouns can be omitted) ✓Queres inscrever-te? ✓ Querem inscrever-se?	Grammatical
Possessive pronouns	teu / tua teus / tuas vosso / vossos vossa / vossas contigo / convosco	Grammatical
Greetings	Olá	Lexical
Closings	Até breve, Até à próxima, Cumprimentos,	Lexical

6. Localization challenges

6.1. Proper nouns

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

Usually, you should not translate people names to Portuguese.

Example

Source text: Hello John,

✘ Olá, João,

✓Olá, John,

Regarding celebrities or fictional characters, if the name is usually translated or adapted to Portuguese, you should use the common form.

Examples

Source text: Queen Elizabeth II

✓ Rainha Isabel II

Source text: Martin Luther

✓ Martinho Lutero

If there is no tradition of translating the name, keep the original form: Martin Luther King, William Shakespeare, Harry Potter.

6.1.2. Places

Some place names have a standard adapted form: Antuérpia, Cantuária, Edimburgo, Estrasburgo, Munique, Muralha de Adriano.

On the other hand, others are kept untranslated: Glasgow, Frankfurt, Liechtenstein, Liverpool, Oxford, Stonehenge, Kuwait.

When in doubt, check the Dictionário de Gentílicos e Topónimos.

6.1.3. Organizaitons

If there is a standard adapted form for foreign organization, you should use it.

Examples

Source text: United Nations

✓ Organização das Nações Unidas

Source text: Cambridge University

✓ Universidade de Cambridge

You should keep the original form if there is no adapted form: London School of Economics, King’s College, The National Gallery.

6.1.4. Brands and products

Brand names and products are usually kept in the original form, unless there is an accepted adaptation: Sony, Apple, Microsoft, American Express.

6.1.5. Other entities

Art works, events and other denominations should be translated when there is accepted adapted form.

Example

Source text: The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice are plays by William Shakespeare.

✓A Tempestade e O Mercador de Veneza são obras de William Shakespeare.

If there isn’t an accepted translation, keep the original name: Titanic, Guernica, Woodstock.

6.2. Acronyms and initials

Acronyms and initials are usually written with capital letters. If there is a translation of an initialism or acronym in Portuguese, use this form.

Examples

EN: ECB (European Central Bank)

PT: BCE (Banco Central Europeu)

EN: EU (European Union)

PT: UE (União Europeia)

EN: WHO (World Health Organization)

PT: OMS (Organização Mundial de Saúde)

EN: VAT (Value Added Tax)

PT: IVA (Imposto sobre o Valor Acrescentado)

In many cases, the original form is standardly used in Portuguese: NASA, FBI, CIA, BBC, EFTA, NAFTA, NATO, UNESCO, UNICEF, FAQ, PIN, CEO, CTO, UEFA, FIFA. Thus, if there is no accepted translation, always keep the original form.

Please note that initials NEVER have plural forms.

Example

✘ DVDs

✓ DVD

Also note that in some cases, the original initialism or acronym has to be translated fully.

Examples

Source text: ATM

✓ multibanco

Source text: MP

✓ deputado

Also note that there are some nouns derived from acronyms that are written with lower case, such as sida and laser.

When in doubt, check the Initials and Abbreviations Dictionary.

6.3. Date format

English differs from other languages by using, in general, the format mm/dd/yy. This means that, when translating into Portuguese, references to date need to be changed to a dd/mm/yy format.

Example

Source text: The form should be delivered until 4/30/2019.

✘ O impresso deverá ser entregue até 4/30/2019.

✓ O impresso deverá ser entregue até 30/04/2019.

6.4. Time format

English differs from other languages by using, in general, a 12-hour format, followed by am/pm. This means that references to time need to be changed to a 24-hour format when translating into Portuguese.

Example

Source text: The train arrives at 4 PM.

✘ O comboio chega às 4 PM.

✓ O comboio chega às 16 h.

✓ O comboio chega às 16h00.

6.5. Measures

Measures should always keep the format of the source text and should never be converted. You should only translate them when they have an equivalent term in your language. This means that, when translating measure terms expressed in Imperial units (e.g. inch, foot, yard, mile, acre, ounce, pound, gallon), you should only translate the term to Portuguese.

Example

Source text: 300 miles

✘ 300 km

✓ 300 milhas

Abbreviations should be kept: 2 ft, 20 cm.

6.6. Currency

Keep the currency values as they appear in source text and translate only the currency.

Example

Source text: 100 pounds

✘ 100 euros

✓ 100 libras.

In Portuguese, the currency symbols (€, $, £, etc.) are placed after the numbers, followed by a whitespace.

Example

✘ € 1000

✘ 1000€

✓ 1000 €

Currency initials are written after the number, followed by a whitespace.

Example

✘ EUR1000

✘ 100EUR

✓ 1000 EUR

7. Most frequent errors

Lexical Selection

Lexical Selection is one of the most frequent errors in Portuguese translations. As words are polysemous (i.e. may have different meanings), and a word in the source text can be translated to different words in the target text depending on the context, you should pay special attention when editing machine translation texts.

Examples

Source text: You must look out for fraudulent websites.

✘ Tem de olhar para os sites fraudulentos.

✓ Tem de ter cuidado com os sites fraudulentos.

Source text: Your connection is too slow.

✘ A tua conexão está muito lenta.

✓ A tua ligação está muito lenta.

False Friend

The occurrence of false friends (i.e. words that are graphically similar to the source ones but have a completely different meaning in the target language) is also frequent.

Examples

Source text: The client bought the product eventually.

✘ O cliente, eventualmente, comprou o produto.

✓ O cliente, por fim, comprou o produto.

Source text: You’ll have all our support to solve the problem.

✘ Terá todo o nosso suporte para resolver o problema.

✓ Terá todo o nosso apoio para resolver o problema.

Register

The way that people are addressed in the customer support messages differ from client to client. Please, pay special attention to the required register in the text. If it’s formal, you should use formal pronouns (always avoiding the word você) and verb forms (third-person singular, as in pode, avise, escolha, diga, etc.). On the other hand, if the required register is informal, you must use informal pronouns (tu) and verb forms (second-person singular, as in podes, avisa, escolhe, diz, etc.).

Examples

Source text: Thanks for reaching out. [informal]

✘ Obrigado por nos contactar.

✓ Obrigado por nos contactares.

Source text: We have attempted to replicate your issue but haven’t been able to. [formal]

✘ Tentámos replicar o teu problema, mas não foi possível.

✓ Tentámos replicar o seu problema, mas não foi possível.