Thank You in Portuguese: Obrigado, Obrigada and 12 More Ways

On the day I moved into my first apartment in São Paulo, I said obrigado about forty times. I said it to the removal men, to the porteiro who held the service lift for most of the afternoon, and to the neighbour who lent me a screwdriver. I said it the same careful way each time, four syllables with every vowel in place. The Brazilians thanked me back in words I didn't know. The removal men said valeu. The neighbour said brigado over his shoulder, already halfway down the corridor. And when I gave the porteiro a tip at the end of the day, he said Deus lhe pague.

Obrigado is always correct. But it is only one way to say thank you in Portuguese, and the others tell you who is talking, how well they know each other and how big the favour was.

Obrigado or obrigada? The rule for thank you in Portuguese

The standard way to say thank you in Brazilian Portuguese is obrigado if you are a man and obrigada if you are a woman. The ending follows the person speaking. The person you are thanking makes no difference, so a woman thanking a male taxi driver says obrigada, and a man thanking his female boss says obrigado.

The rule makes sense once you know what the word means. Obrigado is an adjective meaning "obliged," the same idea as the old-fashioned English much obliged. You are describing yourself: I am obliged to you. Portuguese adjectives agree with the person they describe, and that person is you.

Two notes on pronunciation. The stress falls on GAH: oh-bree-GAH-doo and oh-bree-GAH-duh. And in Brazil the final -o sounds like the oo in food. Say it like the o in go and you will sound like a tourist reading a phrasebook.

That is the short version. Our page on obrigado vs obrigada has the long one, with what to say to a mixed group, the gender-neutral obrigade and a four-question quiz.

12 more ways to say thank you in Portuguese

Brazilians thank people all day long: the bus driver, the cashier, whoever holds the door. They rarely use the textbook form for all of it. Here are twelve other ways, roughly from casual to formal.

Everyday thanks: muito obrigado, brigado and valeu

Muito obrigado is the everyday "thank you very much," and Brazilians use it for a held door as readily as for a big favour. You can push it up to muitíssimo obrigado, though at that point you are being a little theatrical.

In fast speech, obrigado loses its first syllable and becomes brigado or brigada. You will hear it constantly and almost never see it written, except in text messages, where people abbreviate both forms to obg.

Valeu is the word I wish I had learned first. It is the past tense of valer, "to be worth," so literally it says something like "that was worth it." In practice it is the Brazilian "cheers," friendly and casual, with no gender ending, so nobody has to choose between -o and -a. Say it to a friend, a waiter, your Uber driver or the stranger who points you to the right platform, but keep it out of a formal email to someone you have never met. In texts it shrinks to vlw. The same verb gives you the idiom valer a pena, "to be worth it," which you will hear just as often.

Among friends: obrigadão and tamo junto

Portuguese can make a word bigger with -ão, and obrigadão is a big, slightly playful thank-you. The feminine is obrigadona, but you will hear plenty of women say obrigadão or brigadão as well. The small version, obrigadinho or obrigadinha, sounds sweet when the favour was small and sarcastic when it wasn't, so listen to the tone before you copy it. Our post on diminutives and augmentatives explains how these endings change the mood of a word.

Tamo junto is a clipped estamos juntos, "we are together." Between friends it means "I've got your back," and it works as a thank-you, a reply to one and a goodbye, sometimes all in the same exchange: Valeu, cara! — Tamo junto! It is slang, so save it for people you would greet with a hug or a fist bump.

When someone saves your day

Some favours deserve more than a word. When a colleague covers your shift, or a friend drives you to the airport at five in the morning, Brazilians reach for a whole sentence.

Fico te devendo means "I'm left owing you." Add essa, as in fico te devendo essa, and it becomes "I owe you for this one." The shorter te devo uma is the exact "I owe you one."

Nem sei como agradecer, "I don't even know how to thank you," is for the big ones: someone hands back the passport you left on a bus, or a neighbour waters your plants for a month. Você é um anjo, "you're an angel," is warmer and lighter, for anyone who turned up at exactly the right moment.

Try this in Falando: In Bate-papo, choose Real-life situation and pick Talking to the porteiro. You ask the doorman to take in a package for you, which makes it a favour, so it is a good place to try muito obrigado, valeu or fico te devendo instead of a bare obrigado.

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Thank you in formal Portuguese: agradeço and grato

In emails and formal speech, obrigado is still fine, but you will also see the verb agradecer, "to thank." Agradeço a atenção, "I appreciate your attention," is a standard line before the sign-off, and desde já agradeço means "thank you in advance." Agradeço has no gender ending because it is a verb, and the plural agradecemos is how companies thank you. Look at the bottom of a Brazilian receipt and there is a fair chance it says Agradecemos a preferência, "thank you for choosing us."

Grato and grata mean "grateful," and they follow the same speaker rule as obrigado. Grato pela atenção closes a lot of Brazilian business emails, usually right above the name. Out loud it sounds stiff, so keep it for writing.

An older thank-you: Deus lhe pague

Deus lhe pague, "may God repay you," comes from a time when some debts of kindness could only be paid back by heaven. You will mostly hear it from older Brazilians, and often from someone who has just been given something, a few coins or a plate of food. You don't need to say it yourself, but you should recognise it. If someone says it to you, de nada is a perfectly good answer.

The phrase is also the title of the song that opens Chico Buarque's 1971 album Construção, which Brasil de Fato describes as a landmark of Brazilian music. Written under the military dictatorship, the song turns the blessing into irony, offering thanks for things nobody should have to be grateful for.

Thank you for…: obrigado por, pelo and pela

To say what you are thankful for, add por. Before a verb, use por with the infinitive: obrigado por vir, "thanks for coming," or obrigada por esperar, "thanks for waiting." Before a noun, por merges with the article and becomes pelo for masculine nouns and pela for feminine ones:

• Obrigado pela ajuda. Thanks for the help.
• Obrigada pelo convite. Thanks for the invitation.
• Obrigado pelas flores. Thanks for the flowers.
• Obrigada pela paciência. Thanks for your patience.
• Obrigado pelo carinho. Thanks for the kindness, or the love, or the warm wishes, depending on who sent them.
• Obrigada por tudo. Thanks for everything.

Tudo takes no article, so it stays por tudo. If por and para still trip you up, our guide to por vs para sorts them out. Thanking is one of the clearest uses of por, because it introduces the reason.

How to answer when Brazilians thank you

De nada is the textbook reply and is always correct. In conversation, though, Brazilians tend to match the reply to the thanks:

• Obrigado! → Imagina! or De nada! Imagina means "don't mention it," and it is the more Brazilian of the two.
• Valeu! → Valeu!, Tamo junto! or De boa! ("no worries").
• Brigadão! → Que isso! ("oh, come on, it was nothing").
• Fico te devendo! → Imagina, não foi nada. ("Don't mention it, it was nothing.")
• Muito obrigada pela ajuda. → Disponha. ("Anytime," a little formal, often heard from shop staff.)
• Agradeço a atenção. → Eu que agradeço. ("I'm the one who should be thanking you.")

Yes, valeu is often answered with valeu. Two Brazilians can thank each other back and forth for a surprisingly long time before anybody leaves.

One more trap. Não, obrigado is a polite no, and in a Brazilian home a polite no to more food is often treated as an opening offer. If you really cannot face a third plate, our post on how to say no in Brazilian Portuguese has the phrases that hold.

People also ask about thank you in Portuguese

How do you say thank you very much in Portuguese?

Muito obrigado if you are a man and muito obrigada if you are a woman. For something bigger, say muitíssimo obrigado. Between friends, obrigadão or valeu mesmo does the same job.

What does "valeu" mean in Portuguese?

Valeu means "thanks" or "cheers." It is the past tense of valer, "to be worth." It is informal and has no gender ending, so anyone can say it to anyone. In text messages it is written vlw.

Is thank you the same in Portugal and Brazil?

Obrigado and obrigada are the same in both countries, and so is the rule about the speaker. Valeu and tamo junto mark you as someone who learned in Brazil, while in Portugal obrigadinho is an everyday, sincere thank-you. Our guide to European vs Brazilian Portuguese covers the wider differences.

Does Japanese "arigatō" come from Portuguese "obrigado"?

No, although the story is popular. Portuguese traders did reach Japan in the 1540s, and the two words sound alike. But arigatō comes from the Japanese adjective arigatai, which first meant "rare, hard to come by," and it was in use before the Portuguese arrived. The Japanese reference site JapanKnowledge explains the history.

Say obrigado, then listen for the rest

If you remember one thing, make it the rule: obrigado when a man is speaking and obrigada when a woman is. It works everywhere in Brazil, from a job interview to a pharmacy counter. Then add the others as you hear them. Valeu will come first, because you will hear it dozens of times a day. Fico te devendo and nem sei como agradecer will come the first time somebody bails you out, and grato pela atenção the first time you write to a landlord.

Try this in Falando: Write a short thank-you email in Journaling. Thank a colleague for their help with obrigado pela or agradeço, then sign off with grato or grata. The feedback will point out a pelo that should have been pela.

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And the next time a Brazilian thanks you, skip the de nada and try imagina. Valeu, e tamo junto!