Portuguese is undergoing orthographic changes: the letters k, w and y were recently added to the alphabet, and spelling is being standardized between Portuguese-speaking countries. The Portuguese alphabet, with the introduction of these letters, is now the same as the English-language alphabet. There are also several letters with diacritical markings (which are not separate letters) like ç, ã, õ, ê and ú.
Bom dia! That's Portuguese for "good morning," similar to the Spanish "buenos días." If you'd like to know how the person you're talking to is doing, say "Como vai?" She might say, "Bem, obrigada" ("fine, thanks"). To say "hi" to a friend in Portuguese, say "oi!", while to say "goodbye" you might say "tchau!" To part with someone on more formal terms, say "até logo!"
In Portuguese, nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine, and two numbers, singular and plural. Generally, masculine nouns end in -o or a consonant, as in "o livro" (book) and "o espanhol" (the Spanish man). As in Spanish, there are some exceptions: one exception the two languages have in common is "day" (o dia). Feminine nouns commonly end in -a or -ão, like "a mesa" (the table) and "a canção" (the song). Nouns ending in -ade are also feminine (corresponding to Spanish -ad), like "a cidade" (the city) and "a igualdade" (equality). Some common words do not have readily recognizable gender endings, including both mother ("a mãe") and father ("o pai"). Most plurals are formed by adding -s or -es (os livros, os dias, as mesas, as cidades, as mães, os pais). There are many exceptions, however, including "os espanóis" and "as canções."
Adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Adjectives generally follow nouns, although there are some exceptions, such as "bom" (good), and times when the adjective's position changes its meaning (for instance, "grande," which means "great" before a noun and "big" after it).
Some adjectives, like new (novo) and old (velho), clearly mark for gender: "o novo computador" (the new computer) and "a velha camisa" (the new shirt). These also mark clearly for number: "os novos computadores," "as velhas camisas."
Some adjectives, like "inteligente," do not change to show gender but do change in the plural: "o menino inteligente" (the smart boy), "a menina inteligente," (the smart girl) but "os meninos inteligentes." Adjectives that end in -s do not change to show gender or number: "o teste simples" (the simple test), "a canção simples" (the simple song), "os testes simples" (the simple tests), "as canções simples" (the simple songs).
Portuguese has a slightly different pronoun system than languages like Spanish and French, especially with the second person. Portuguese personal pronouns include eu, você, o senhor/a senhora, ele/ela, nós/a gente, vocês, eles/elas.
"Eu" is the easiest to explain: it means simply "I." Things get more complicated after that. Although Portuguese has the pronoun "tu," just as in Spanish, "você" is more common in Brazil and takes a third person singular verb. To show respect when speaking to one man or woman, use "o senhor" or "a senhora," as in "O senhor entende inglês?" ("Do you, sir, understand English?"). While "nós" means "we," it is common to replace this with "a gente" (literally, "the people"), and this also takes a singular verb. Vocês is for addressing more than one person in the second person, and eles and elas are the masculine and feminine forms of "they."
Like Spanish, Portuguese has three classes of verbs: -ar, -er and -ir. Unlike Spanish, the -er and -ir verbs in Portuguese have retained different endings. There are also some irregular verbs that end in -or. Portuguese verbs have many tenses, both simple (one-word forms) and compound (those made with helping verbs). There are also indicative, subjunctive and imperative moods of Portuguese verbs.
The conjugation of the verb "ler" (to read) in the present tense is eu leio, tu lês, ele lê, nós lemos, vocês ledes, eles lêem.