How do you say to ride your bike in Portuguese?

It sounds so simple, right? You probably say it often in your language in common everyday situations such as: Let’s ride our bikes. Or: I usually bike to work.

But it is a little tricky to say it in Portuguese because the literal translation from Portuguese to English doesn’t make sense.

Let me show you how to say this right in Brazilian Portuguese so you can speak the language with confidence.

I will show you two different situations that cover most of our needs. Watch the video:

How to Say Bicycle in Portuguese

Let’s start from the beginning. Here’s how you say bicycle in Portuguese:

• Bicicleta

Fun fact: Nowadays it is common to use the English word bike to talk about bicycles in Brazil.

To Ride a Bike in Portuguese

Here’s how we say “to ride a bike” in Portuguese:

• Andar de bicicleta

The literal translation to English is funny: to walk by bicycle.

Below are three examples using the expression.

Notice that we do not say “my bike” or “our bikes”. The expression is always andar de bicicleta. All you need to do is conjugate the verb andar to agree with the person who is riding the bike.

The verb andar is a regular verb. I have an app for Android devices that will help you practice the present and past tenses of regular verbs.

Here are the examples:

1)

Está um dia lindo. Vamos andar de bicicleta mais tarde?

Translation:

It’s such a beautiful day. Let’s ride our bikes later today.

2)

André: O que você fez ontem?

Carla: Andei de bicicleta no parque com uns amigos.

Translation:

André: What did you do yesterday?

Carla: I rode my bike in the park with friends.

3)

Rosa: Onde estão as crianças?

Ciça: Estão andando de bicicleta por aí.

Translation:

Rosa: Where are the kids?

Ciça: They are riding their bikes around.

To Bike Somewhere in Portuguese

Carla’s car broke down. André asks how she is going to work tomorrow. She says: I will ride my bike to work. How would Carla say that in Portuguese?

In these situations we use:

• Ir de bicicleta = to go by bicycle

Notice that in this situation of going somewhere by bike we do not say “to ride our bike”. We say “to go by bike”.

You need to conjugate the verb Ir to agree with the person who is biking.

I have a video lesson on how to use the verb Ir.

I also have a flashcard app for Android devices that will help you practice the present tense of irregular verbs Ser, Estar, Ter and Ir.

Here are examples using ir de bicicleta:

1)

André: Como você vai ao trabalho amanhã?

Carla: Vou de bicicleta.

Translation:

André: How are you going to work tomorrow?

Carla: I will go by bike.

2)

Não gosto de ir de bicicleta ao trabalho em Recife porque faz muito calor.

Translation:

I don’t like to bike to work in Recife because it is too hot.

3)

Daniela vai de bicicleta pra todo lugar.

Translation:

Daniela goes everywhere by bike.

 

I hope this new knowledge will be useful to you and will help you speak Portuguese with more confidence.

The best way to retain new knowledge and build upon it is to practice in real life situations. We can help! Street Smart Brazil offers Brazilian Portuguese lesson via Skype. It is a simple, convenient, and very effective way to speak Portuguese.

Book a Trial Lesson to get started.