5 Ways to Say However in Portuguese – Portuguese lesson

This Portuguese lesson will teach you 5 ways to say HOWEVER in Portuguese: contudo, entretanto, no entanto, todavia, and porém.

Brazilians will use all these five words when they want to say however in Portuguese. Now you will be able to understand these words when you hear or read them. In addition, your Portuguese will sound awesome using different ways to say however.

Finally, I encourage you to learn beyond the main goal of this lesson. Observe all the elements in each sentence in Portuguese. Choose a few words you would like to incorporate into your vocabulary or a grammar point you would like to master, and explore that!

A quick Portuguese grammar tip

The words that you will learn today are conjunctions in the Portuguese grammar. Conjunctions are words that link other words, phrases or clauses together.

You don’t need to know this in order to use them correctly. However, in case you love grammar like I do, there you have it 🙂

In written Portuguese, you need to observe rules regarding the placement of a comma when you use the conjunctions that you will learn here: contudo, entretanto, no entanto, todavia, and porém.

Some rules are different in English.

Regarding the comma:

• When the conjunction starts the sentence, you don’t put a comma after it. This is also the case when the conjunction comes after a semicolon (;).
• If the conjunction comes in the middle of the sentence, it needs to come between two commas.

I will give you examples with both placements of the conjunctions.

1) Contudo

1) Eu fui dormir cedo ontem. Contudo só levantei às 10h hoje. = I went to sleep early yesterday. However, I only got up at 10am today.

2) Eu tinha a intenção de malhar hoje de manhã. Isso não aconteceu, contudo, porque acordei tarde. = I intended to work out this morning. This did not happen, however, because I woke up late.

2) Entretanto

1) Nós íamos acampar no fim de semana passado. Entretanto a chuva nos fez cancelar a viagem. = We were going to camp last weekend. However, the rain made us cancel the trip.

2) Eu adoro acampar. Prefiro, entretanto, ficar em casa quando está chovendo. = I love camping. However, I prefer to stay home when it is raining.

3) No entanto

1) John sempre quis aprender português. No entanto só recentemente ele começou a fazer aulas. = John always wanted to learn Portuguese. However, he only recently started taking classes.

2) As aulas de português do John tomam tempo. O prazer de falar português, no entanto, faz valer a pena. = John’s Portuguese classes take time. The pleasure of speaking Portuguese, however, makes it worthwhile.

4) Todavia

1) Regina tem um temperamento difícil. Todavia ela tem bom coração. = Regina has a difficult temper. However, she has a good heart.

2) Regina intimida as pessoas quando dá feedback. A intenção dela, todavia, é ajudar. = Regina intimidates people when she gives feedback. Her intention, however, is to help.

5) Porém

1) Eu adoro lasanha; porém não posso comer glúten. = I love lasagna; however, I can’t eat gluten.

2) Não posso comer glúten. Isso não significa, porém, que eu não como pães e massas – sem glúten, claro 🙂 = I can’t eat gluten. This does not mean, however, that I don’t eat bread and pasta – gluten free, of course 🙂

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