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The Portuguese language naturally has its roots in Portugal, but it was Brazil that put the language on the map, adding over 200 million speakers. Though Portuguese is also spoken in areas of Africa and Asia, such as Angola, Mozambique, Macao, and Timor-Leste, two dialects reign supreme: European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. The differences extend far beyond the accents. There are also grammatical differences between the two variants, as they express verbs in progress differently. Brazilians are also happy to pick up Americanisms, which the Portuguese frown upon and instead use native or Latinate terms. Like with American English and British English, you can also find spelling differences, and Brazilians have taken to pronouncing “t” like “ch”—but only sometimes. There are also differences in the polite forms and formality, meaning Brazilians and Portuguese people should exercise caution when interacting with each other. To learn more, check out these nine differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese.

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