Learn this super popular Brazilian greeting to greet your friends like a Brazilian: E aí? I am sure that one of the first things that you have learned to say in Portuguese is: Tudo bem? When you add E aí to it, you sound even more natural in Portuguese.
E aí is one of the most popular informal greetings in Brazil. It means hello or hi or even hey. It can also mean “so…”. Its main uses are as follows:
1. You can say E aí to answer your phone when you see that a friend is on the other side. For example, let’s say that Paula sees that her friend Márcia is calling. She can answer the phone by saying:
- E aí, Márcia? Tudo bem com você? = Hey, Márcia? How are things with you?
This is not a literal translation. It is the natural manner in which to greet friends in Portuguese and in English.
If Paula and her friend are close, she can also simply say:
- E aí?
2. Use e aí To greet a friend when you two meet. Let’s say that Ronaldo is walking down street and runs into his friend José. The first one to greet the other will say:
- E aí, tudo certo? = Hi, all good?
3. To ask how an event went. For example: Fernanda calls Roberto to ask how his interview (party, concert, trip, you name it) went:
- Oi, Roberto. E aí, como foi a entrevista? = Hi, Roberto. So, how was the interview?
E aí is a pretty informal greeting. I would not recommend using it in the following situations, unless you feel comfortable with the person you are talking to and know it is fine to be informal:
- Professional contacts
- Written communications (except informal e-mails with friends)
On the other hand, E aí is totally recommended for every day, informal use with friends
This is the first video lesson I posted on YouTube, all the way back in 2008:
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Oi, Lu!Faltou “E aí, beleza?”
Hi AnshamThanks for the great comment. I agree with “E aí” also meaning “What´s up”. In my view, “E aí” has become so widespread that it has today a variety of uses, usually in greetings. So we say “E aí, tudo bem?” the same way that we say “Oi, tudo bem?” These two expressions have the same meaning and receive the same answer.