We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.
I’m so excited to share my top 10 Portuguese words I love with you all! My family comes from the Azores, and some of these words will be food related, but I hope you enjoy learning them. When I last visited Porto, I was amazed by how many dishes from my childhood were being made 🍃. If you ever visit Portugal, make sure you taste some of these wonderful foods!
I tried to do the pronunciation as best as I could for these haha. And although I speak Portuguese, it is rusty and needs to be improved!
1. As Queijadas (de leite)
Pronunciation: Kay-sha-das
The word “Queijada” makes me SO incredibly hungry. And that is because I am reminded of these creamy milk tarts my mother used to make when I was growing up. I love them so much and with some adaptations I can make these at home.
2. (Um) Guardanapo
Pronunciation: Gwer-de-nah-pu
It literally just means napkin haha. But I love saying it!

3. (Uma) Biblioteca
Pronunciation: Bib-lee-oh-tek-uh
Can you guess?
A library!

4. (Uma) Formiga
Pronunciation: For-mee-guh
An ant! I love how this one sounds!

5. (Um) Golfinho
Pronunciation: this one’s a bit hard for me to type, so I’ll link google translate!
A dolphin!

6. (As) Batatas
Pronunciation: Bah-tah-tas
The potatoes!
I absolutely love potatoes. Roasted, fried, in soup. You name it!

7. Puxar
Pronunciation: Pu-shar
This is actually the verb “to pull”! Very useful to learn this one quickly.
8. Saudade
Pronunciation: best to hear this one.
This is a very complex word. Saudade is a very deep feeling of melancholy/sadness/nostalgia.
9. (O) Gato / (A) Gata
Pronunciation: Gah-to; Gah-tah
Cat! Olivia’s request 😸

10. (Um) Beija-Flor
Pronunciation: Bay-jah-flor
Hummingbird.

QOTD: How do you like to eat batatas?
Let us know!

I loved this post. So creative!
I’ve been studying Spanish, and they have the same word for cat. 🙂
Lydia recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Words
Oh, that’s great you’ve been studying Spanish! The two languages are so similar but the pronunciations for many words spelled similarly can be quite different. I love both languages so much!
sarasreadingnook recently posted…Review | Tacos for Two by Betsy St. Amant
Thank you so much for sharing these words! I speak Spanish (not fluently anymore) and I understood a lot of these words before you gave their translation. I love reading Portuguese and Italian because of how closely related they are to Spanish and French. I just never know how to pronounce them in Portuguese or Italian so this was really helpful. 😀
Were you born in Portugal and moved to Canada when you were young? Or have you always lived in Canada and one of your family members was born in Portugal and emigrated?
Jenni Elyse recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #38
Yes! I love French and Spanish as well! Spanish I understand better via conversation than I do French, but writing-wise I can write French much better than Spanish. Very cool you speak Spanish!
The generations before me on both sides of my family are all Portuguese, from one of the Azorean islands. A lot of my family are still on the island. I’m hoping to move to Portugal in the future!
sarasreadingnook recently posted…REVIEW | Cat’s Don’t Like Christmas! by Andy Wortlock and Nahum Ziersch (Illustrator)
That’s really cool. I hope you get the chance to live there. 😀
Jenni Elyse recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #38
I love your creative spin on this week’s theme! So cool! 🙂
Thank you, Taylor!
I’m like you, I like potatoes any way and every way. I did get to visit Portugal a few years ago -Lisbon. It was very steep walking and also quite beautiful 😍 Fun post!
Agreed, the hills are something else! I’m always stunned by the beauty of Lisboa!
Portuguese is such a beautiful language!
The more I study the various dialects, the more I want to learn!
Portuguese is such a beautiful language – it always sounds like a gorgeous mixture of French and Spanish to me, somehow. Thanks for sharing some of these words with us!
That’s so cool that you say that! Because the accent from my family in the islands is the micaelense dialect. A lot of similar vowel sounds to French with some differences from the mainland. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This is so interesting. I’m so glad you added the pronunciation too. Your Gata is adorable!
Wendy recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday #63: Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan
Aw thank you, Wendy!
Yes to all the potatoes! 🙂 And how cool your family is from the Azores. I’ve always thought that sounded like a beautiful place.
Greg recently posted…Cover Love Retro covers
Yes! And the food … 😍
I have a Portuguese friend and once in a while she slips in some Portuguese words that I can figure out from the surrounding sentence. I’m a fan of Batatas so there aren’t many way I don’t like them cooked.
Sophia Rose recently posted…Death at the Manor by Katharine Schellman
Hurrah for batatas!
Oh that is so much fun. I think we can’t help but slip in the language as often as possible!
Love all the fun words! 😀
Lark recently posted…Haiku reviews…
Thank you!
Usually fried or baked, lol! Great post!
Cindy Davis recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday-Targeted
Yum! Haha and thank you!
Thank you for sharing this vocab. We absolutely love Portugal.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I am a batatas addict!! 🤦♀️😂 What a great post and thank you for teaching me something new Sara🤗📚💜
Susan recently posted…ALMOST FRIDAY!☕
You are in good company here!! Thank you, Susan!
This is so delightful! My brother and his family lived for several years in Brazil, and they came away with a working knowledge of Portuguese. I’m happy you know it, and thank you for sharing it with us.
Love this so much! I can’t decide if I like formiga or batatas more. Thank you for sharing!
Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense recently posted…Mini-Reviews: Lakelore + My Mechanical Romance
Oh I love that you choose portugese words <3
What a fun post! I love that you’ve included cats and hummingbirds into the post!
Jodie recently posted…Monday Matters #18
Thanks! They’re so lovely!
This is such a fun tae on the topic, I loved learning some Portuguese words! I love fried batatas the most 🙂
So fun that you put a unique spin on this topic. 🙂 I wish I would have gone with words or titles with words I love. But I didn’t make that happen… so next time. Thanks a bunch for visiting my website on this past week.
Rissi @ Finding Wonderland recently posted…NETFLIX CHRISTMAS 2022 ORIGINALS: THE LINEUP OF NEW PREMIERES
oooh i love this post! portugese is such a beautiful language! my second language is arabic and it’s super interesting because due to ancient trade routes, there are a lot of similar words for things that were traded between the arabs and the portugese and spaniards. for instance, we (arabs) say “al-btata” for “potatoes” too (we also say “soocar” for “sugar,” “bantaloon” for “pants,” “qamis” for “shirt,” and “urz” for “rice,” among others)—it’s always fascinating to see the similarities! thanks for the awesome lesson!
Lila @ Hardcover Haven recently posted…lately with lila october 2022 | scares and schoolwork