The first work email I wrote in Portuguese opened with Querida. I had a question for my accountant in São Paulo, I wanted the word for "Dear," and the dictionary offered querida. I had met this woman once, for twenty minutes, about a tax form. Her reply began Prezado Mike and ended Atenciosamente, and it took me a while to see what I had done. I had written to a near stranger the way you write to your favorite aunt.
If you want to know how to write an email in Portuguese, that one word covers a lot of the problem. English gets by with "Dear" or "Hi" for nearly everyone. Brazilian Portuguese gives you a short ladder of greetings, and the rung you choose tells the reader how close you think you are. Below you'll find the greetings, the closings, the office phrases and three templates to copy.
How to start an email in Portuguese
Start by asking how well you know the person. This table runs from most formal to least:
| Greeting | Formality | Use it for | Say it roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prezado Senhor, / Prezada Senhora, | Very formal | Someone whose name you don't know | preh-ZAH-doo seen-YOR / preh-ZAH-dah seen-YOR-ah |
| Prezado João, / Prezada Ana, | Formal | Clients, officials, anyone you've never met | preh-ZAH-doo zhoo-OWN |
| Caro João, / Cara Ana, | Formal and warmer | Someone you've dealt with before | KAH-roo / KAH-rah |
| Bom dia, Ana, / Boa tarde, Ana, | Neutral | Almost anyone at work | bohn JEE-ah / BOH-ah TAR-jee |
| Olá, Ana, | Friendly | Colleagues, customer support | oh-LAH |
| Oi, Ana, | Casual | People you already chat with | oy |
Prezado comes from prezar, to hold in esteem, and it sits about where "Dear" sits in an English business letter. It agrees with the person you're writing to: prezado for a man, prezada for a woman, prezados for a group. Caro has the same double life as English "dear," since it also means expensive. Querido is the one to save. It works like "Dear" on a birthday card, so keep it for people you would hug at the airport.
If you learn one opener, make it Bom dia. Bom dia, Ana, tudo bem? is polite enough for a client and relaxed enough for the person at the next desk. Asking how a stranger is doing in your first line would look like a sales pitch in English. In Brazil, skipping it can read as cold, which is the same instinct behind Brazilian small talk. Use bom dia until noon, boa tarde until it gets dark and boa noite after that.
What if you can't tell from the name whether you're writing to a man or a woman? Names like Darci and Juraci go both ways, and you'll sometimes see Prezado(a), which looks like a mass mailing. Bom dia, Darci solves it, because the greeting carries no gender.
Your pronoun has to match your greeting. Open with Prezado Senhor and you owe him o senhor for the rest of the email: O senhor poderia me enviar o contrato? Open with Bom dia, Ana and você is fine.
Doutor, Vossa Senhoria and a 2019 decree
Older or legal correspondence can get much grander. Lawyers and physicians are often addressed as Dr. or Dra. whether or not they hold a doctorate, and you may meet Vossa Senhoria (a very stiff "you") in a letter from a bureaucrat or a law firm.
The surprise is that Brazil's federal government tried to end all this. A 2019 decree made senhor the only form of address for federal officials and banned doutor, Vossa Senhoria, Vossa Excelência and ilustríssimo in communication with them. It says nothing about private life, so your lawyer's office can stay Dr. forever.
Try this in Falando: Formal Portuguese gets easier once you've used it out loud. In Bate-papo, choose Real-life situation and pick At the bank. Explain the problem with gostaria de and ask for the next step with o senhor poderia or a senhora poderia.
How to end an email: atenciosamente and friends
A Brazilian email usually closes in two steps: one last polite sentence, then the sign-off. These are the sentences you'll see most:
- Fico no aguardo. I'll wait to hear from you. Brazilians write this constantly, and it's a gentle way to say you expect a reply.
- Aguardo seu retorno. I look forward to your reply. A little more formal.
- Qualquer dúvida, estou à disposição. If you have any questions, I'm available.
- Desde já, agradeço. Thank you in advance. Our guide to saying thank you in Portuguese has more of these.
Then comes the sign-off, followed by a comma and your name:
| Sign-off | Closest English | When to use it | Say it roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atenciosamente, | Sincerely, Regards | The safe default for formal email | ah-ten-see-oh-zah-MEN-chee |
| Cordialmente, | Cordially | Formal with a slightly warmer tone | kor-jee-ow-MEN-chee |
| Respeitosamente, | Respectfully | A judge, a senior official | hes-pay-toh-zah-MEN-chee |
| Obrigado, / Obrigada, | Thanks | You've just asked for something | oh-bree-GAH-doo / oh-bree-GAH-dah |
| Um abraço, / Abraços, | A hug, hugs | Colleagues and people you've met | oong ah-BRAH-soo |
Atenciosamente literally means "attentively," which is a nice thing to call yourself at the end of an email about an overdue invoice. The official rule is short: a Brazilian court's writing guide keeps respeitosamente for someone who outranks you and gives atenciosamente to everyone else. It also rejects stacking the two, so choose one.
You'll see Att. in real inboxes as a shortcut. I'd spell the word out for anyone you want something from, since it only costs eleven letters. Abs, short for abraços, belongs with people you already know.
Can you send a hug to your boss? Often, yes, once your boss has hugged you first. Copying the other person's sign-off is the simplest rule in Brazilian email, and it also tells you when to drop Prezado.
Try this in Falando: The Celpe-Bras exam tests this same judgment. Each written task tells you who you're writing to and why, and the genre can be an email. Take a single Celpe-Bras task and you'll get feedback on your answer.
Workplace phrases for email in Portuguese
Most office emails need the same handful of sentences. Notice how much work gostaria and poderia do. Both are conditional forms, and they turn a blunt quero ("I want") into something you can send to a client.
- Gostaria de confirmar a reunião de quinta. I'd like to confirm Thursday's meeting.
- Você poderia me enviar o contrato, por favor? Could you send me the contract, please?
- Conforme combinado, segue o relatório. As agreed, here's the report.
- Peço desculpas pela demora. I apologize for the delay.
- Surgiu um imprevisto. Something came up. A very useful sentence in any Brazilian office.
- Vou verificar e te dou um retorno até sexta. I'll check and get back to you by Friday.
- Favor confirmar o recebimento. Please confirm receipt. Bureaucratic, and you'll see it in official mail.
Two idioms will make you sound like you work there. Dar um toque means to give someone a heads-up (me dá um toque quando chegar), and correr atrás, literally "to run after," means to chase something up (vou correr atrás disso). Keep both for colleagues.
Segue anexo or segue em anexo?
Both are accepted, as Dicio explains, but they follow different rules. Anexo alone is an adjective, so it has to agree with the attachment. Em anexo never changes.
| Attachment | With anexo | With em anexo |
|---|---|---|
| o relatório | O relatório segue anexo. | O relatório segue em anexo. |
| a planilha | A planilha segue anexa. | A planilha segue em anexo. |
| os documentos | Os documentos seguem anexos. | Os documentos seguem em anexo. |
Use em anexo and you have one thing left to check: segue for one attachment, seguem for several.
The words around the message
E-mail is masculine (o e-mail) and sounds roughly like ee-MAY-oo. You mandar or enviar one. The subject line is the assunto, and an attachment is an anexo. Encaminhar means to forward, and responder a todos is the reply-all you'll regret. Brazilian Outlook marks replies with RES: and forwards with ENC:, and Cco (com cópia oculta) is the Bcc field.
Then there's the São Paulo office dialect. Around Avenida Faria Lima, the city's financial strip, you'll hear Portuguese with English bolted on: vamos marcar uma call para alinhar o deadline. It's familiar enough that Faria Limer became a nickname and a running joke. Alinhar, to get on the same page, is the part worth stealing, because vamos alinhar? works in any office.
One calendar warning. Brazilians like to say the year only starts after Carnival, so a request sent the Friday before may come back with Estou fora do escritório (I'm out of the office) and a return date. And don't be surprised if a client answers your careful email with me chama no WhatsApp. Our WhatsApp slang guide will help with what comes next.
Three email templates in Portuguese
Change the names and details and these are ready to send.
A formal first contact
Assunto: Dúvida sobre o contrato de aluguel
Prezado Sr. Almeida,
Meu nome é [seu nome] e moro no apartamento 42. Gostaria de confirmar a data de vencimento do aluguel. O senhor poderia me informar, por gentileza?
Desde já, agradeço.
Atenciosamente,
[Seu nome]
Subject: Question about the rental contract. Dear Mr. Almeida, my name is [your name] and I live in apartment 42. I'd like to confirm the rent due date. Could you let me know, please? Thank you in advance. Sincerely, [your name].
A colleague you know
Assunto: Relatório de outubro
Bom dia, Ana, tudo bem?
Conforme combinado, segue em anexo o relatório de outubro. Você pode dar uma olhada até sexta? Se preferir, a gente alinha numa call rápida.
Fico no aguardo.
Um abraço,
[Seu nome]
Subject: October report. Good morning, Ana, how are you? As agreed, the October report is attached. Can you take a look by Friday? If you'd rather, we can go over it on a quick call. I'll wait to hear from you. A hug, [your name].
Changing a meeting
Assunto: Reunião de quinta-feira
Olá, Carlos,
Peço desculpas pelo aviso em cima da hora. Surgiu um imprevisto e não vou conseguir participar da reunião de quinta. Podemos remarcar para a semana que vem?
Qualquer dúvida, estou à disposição.
Abraços,
[Seu nome]
Subject: Thursday's meeting. Hi Carlos, I apologize for the short notice. Something came up and I won't be able to make Thursday's meeting. Can we reschedule for next week? If you have any questions, I'm available. Hugs, [your name].
Turning down a request takes more padding than this, and how to say no in Brazilian Portuguese shows you how much.
Try this in Falando: Rewrite the second template for a real colleague in Journaling. You'll get a corrected version with tips, and the feedback will catch a segue that should have been seguem.
What changes in Portugal
Everything above is written for Brazil. Business email in Portugal tends to be more ceremonial. A formal message in Portugal may open with Ex.mo Sr. or Ex.ma Sra. and close with Com os melhores cumprimentos, and você doesn't carry the same easy neutrality there. Our guide to European vs Brazilian Portuguese covers the wider differences. If your reader is in Lisbon, copy their sign-off here too.
People also ask about emails in Portuguese
How do you start a formal email in Portuguese?
Use Prezado or Prezada with the person's name or title: Prezada Sra. Costa,. If you don't know the name, write Prezado Senhor,, Prezada Senhora, or Prezados, for a department. Put a comma after the greeting, and start the first sentence on a new line.
What does atenciosamente mean?
It literally means "attentively," and it works like "Sincerely" or "Regards" in English. It's the standard formal sign-off in Brazil, followed by a comma and your name.
How do you say "to whom it may concern" in Portuguese?
A quem possa interessar is the literal match, and you'll see it on formal declarations. In an email, Prezados, or Bom dia, equipe do RH, (good morning, HR team) sounds more natural.
How do you say "please find attached" in Portuguese?
Segue em anexo followed by the document: Segue em anexo a proposta. With more than one attachment, change the verb: Seguem em anexo as propostas.
Start with bom dia, end with atenciosamente
You don't need twenty templates for this. Open with Bom dia, ask with gostaria or poderia, and sign with Atenciosamente until somebody hugs you first. My accountant and I reached Abraços after about a year, which I took as a promotion.
Then send one real email in Portuguese this week. Ask a landlord a question, or answer a colleague who has been writing to you in English out of kindness. The answer will usually come back in Portuguese, and from then on you have a real person to practice with. Beleza? Vamos lá.
