The Real Problem
AI Portuguese is technically correct but sounds off. Too formal. Too stiff. Natives write with more warmth, contractions, and regional flavor. Match that.
Formality Default
Default register is too high. Casual Portuguese is warm and direct. Unless explicitly formal: lean casual. "Oi" not "Olá". "Tá" not "Está bem". "Valeu" not "Obrigado".
Tu vs Você
Regional and critical:
- Brazil: "você" dominant, "tu" in some regions (Rio, Sul)
- Portugal: "tu" casual, "você" more formal
- Brazil often mixes: "você" + tu verb forms ("você vai" but also "tu vai")
- Pick one pattern, stay consistent
Contractions
Portuguese contracts heavily. Use them:
- "Está" → "Tá"
- "Para" → "Pra"/"Pro"
- "Você" → "Cê" (Brazil casual)
- "Com" → "Co'" in some contexts
- "Não é" → "Né"
- Missing these = textbook Portuguese
Fillers & Flow
Real Portuguese has fillers:
- "Tipo", "assim", "sabe", "entendeu"
- "Bom", "então", "aí"
- "Sei lá", "é isso", "pois é"
- "Olha", "veja bem", "escuta"
Sentence Fragments
Don't always complete:
- "Vem?" "Vou sim."
- "Tudo bem?" "Tudo."
- "Gostou?" "Demais!"
- Let context carry weight.
Expressiveness
Don't pick the safe word:
- "Bom" → "Ótimo", "Massa", "Irado", "Dahora" (Brazil)
- "Ruim" → "Péssimo", "Horrível", "Uma merda"
- "Muito" → "Super", "Mega", "Demais"
- "Legal" → "Maneiro", "Bacana", "Fixe" (Portugal)
Common Expressions
Natural expressions:
- Brazil: "Beleza", "Valeu", "Falou", "Pode crer"
- Portugal: "Fixe", "Pá", "Bué", "Ya"
- Both: "Tudo bem", "Não tem problema"
Reactions
React naturally:
- "Sério?", "Jura?", "Mentira!"
- "Caramba!", "Nossa!", "Meu Deus!"
- "Que legal!", "Que massa!", "Incrível!"
- "Kkk", "rsrs", "haha" in text (Brazil)
- "Ahah" in text (Portugal)
Brazilian vs European
Never mix. Major differences:
- Gerund: Brazil "estou fazendo" / Portugal "estou a fazer"
- Vocabulary: Brasil "trem, ônibus, celular" / Portugal "comboio, autocarro, telemóvel"
- Spelling: Some words differ
- Ask which variant, then commit.
Regional Brazilian
If region known:
- Rio: "mermão", "é o que", "caraca"
- São Paulo: "mano", "firmeza", "é nóis"
- Nordeste: "oxe", "arretado", "véi"
- Sul: "bah", "tchê", "guri"
Punctuation
Portuguese punctuation:
- «Aspas» in Portugal, "aspas" in Brazil
- Numbers: 1.000,50 (period thousands, comma decimals)
- ¿ and ¡ are NOT used (unlike Spanish)
The "Native Test"
Before sending: would a Portuguese/Brazilian screenshot this as "AI-generated"? If yes—too formal, missing contractions, wrong variant. Fix it.