In European Portuguese you catch transport with apanhar: apanhar o comboio (catch the train) and apanhar o autocarro (catch the bus). Portugal says comboio for train and autocarro for bus, where Brazil says trem and ônibus. To ask the way, use onde fica (where is) with à direita and à esquerda.
Getting around is one of the first real tasks you face in Portugal: a train to the next town, a bus into the centre, a question to a stranger when the stop is not where you expected. The words you need are few, and they come up the moment you arrive.
Transport is also where Portugal and Brazil split most visibly. Several everyday travel words are completely different between the two, so a phrasebook written for Brazil can leave you asking for the wrong thing at the station.
This guide covers the transport words, the verb Portugal uses to catch a bus or train, how to buy a ticket and how to ask for directions, all in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal.
Key takeaways
- In European Portuguese, comboio means train and autocarro means bus, where Brazilian Portuguese uses trem and ônibus.
- Portugal uses the verb apanhar to catch transport, as in apanhar o autocarro, where Brazil says pegar o ônibus.
- To ask the way in Portugal, onde fica means where is, and à direita and à esquerda mean to the right and to the left.
- A ticket is um bilhete, a one-way is ida and a return is ida e volta, and quanto custa asks the price.
What are the main transport words?
These are the words you will see on signs and hear at stations across Portugal. Most carry a definite article, o or a, which is worth learning with the word because it rarely changes.
| English | European Portuguese |
|---|---|
| Train | o comboio |
| Bus | o autocarro |
| Tram | o elétrico |
| Metro | o metro |
| Taxi | o táxi |
| Station | a estação |
| Bus stop | a paragem |
| Ticket | o bilhete |
| Airport | o aeroporto |
The elétrico is the old tram, most famous on the hills of Lisbon. For longer trips between towns you may also take a camioneta, the regional coach, which leaves from a central de camionagem rather than a train station.
What changes in European Portuguese?
The grammar of getting around is shared with Brazil, so the way you build a sentence does not change. What changes is the vocabulary, and transport has some of the sharpest differences of any topic.
Train and bus are the two to get right, because they come up constantly and Brazil uses entirely different words. Portugal says comboio and autocarro, Brazil says trem and ônibus. The tram follows the same pattern: elétrico in Portugal, bonde in Brazil.
| Portugal | Brazil | English |
|---|---|---|
| comboio | trem | train |
| autocarro | ônibus | bus |
| elétrico | bonde | tram |
| paragem | ponto de ônibus | bus stop |
| apanhar | pegar | to catch (transport) |
For the wider set of differences between the two varieties, see how European Portuguese differs from Brazilian. Transport is one of the clearest places to feel the gap.
How do you catch a bus or train?
Portugal uses the verb apanhar to catch or take a bus, a train or a taxi. Vou apanhar o autocarro means I am going to catch the bus, and apanhei o comboio means I caught the train. Brazil uses pegar here, so apanhar is a reliable Portugal marker.
To find the stop, ask onde é a paragem, meaning where is the stop. Before you board, a useful check is este autocarro vai para o centro, which asks does this bus go to the centre. A short sim or não is the reply you are listening for.
How do you buy a ticket?
A ticket is um bilhete. To buy one, say um bilhete para plus the place, as in um bilhete para o Porto, se faz favor, meaning a ticket to Porto, please. Se faz favor is the everyday please you will use at every counter in Portugal.
For the type of ticket, ida is one-way and ida e volta is return. To ask when, say a que horas parte o comboio for what time the train leaves, and a que horas chega for what time it arrives. Quanto custa o bilhete asks how much the ticket is.
In the cities, a rechargeable travel card is cheaper than single tickets: the Navegante card in Lisbon and the Andante card in Porto cover the metro, bus and local trains. You load it with viagens, meaning journeys, at a machine in the station.
How do you ask for directions?
The one phrase that unlocks directions is onde fica, meaning where is. Onde fica a estação asks where the station is, and onde fica a paragem asks where the stop is. Fica is the verb Portugal uses for where something is located.
| English | European Portuguese |
|---|---|
| Where is...? | onde fica...? |
| To the right | à direita |
| To the left | à esquerda |
| Straight ahead | em frente |
| Turn right | vire à direita |
| Is it far? | fica longe? |
When someone answers, you will hear vire à direita for turn right, vire à esquerda for turn left and siga em frente for keep going straight ahead. If you lose the thread, pode repetir, meaning can you repeat, buys you another try.
How do you practise getting around out loud?
Reading comboio and apanhar off a page is easy. Saying the right word at a ticket counter, with a queue behind you, is the part that only speaking practice builds. The vocabulary here is small, so the real task is turning it into speech you can produce without a pause.
This is where Fluentus fits. Fluentus teaches the Portuguese spoken in Portugal only, so you learn comboio and autocarro from the start, not the Brazilian words. Its AI tutor holds spoken conversations with you 24 hours a day in a real human voice, and corrects both the word and the way you say it.
Fluentus runs courses from A1 to B2 with smart flashcards built from your own conversations, on iOS and Android. If you are just starting, how to learn European Portuguese from scratch lays out a first path, and common European Portuguese phrases for beginners covers the basics around these.
In one sentence: say comboio and autocarro rather than trem and ônibus, use apanhar to catch them, and ask the way with onde fica, à direita and à esquerda.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say train and bus in Portugal Portuguese?
In Portugal Portuguese, train is comboio and bus is autocarro. Brazilian Portuguese uses trem and ônibus instead, so these are among the clearest words that tell the two varieties apart. A tram in Portugal is an elétrico, where Brazil says bonde.
What does apanhar mean in European Portuguese?
Apanhar means to catch or take transport in European Portuguese, as in apanhar o autocarro for catch the bus and apanhar o comboio for catch the train. Brazilian Portuguese uses pegar instead, saying pegar o ônibus. Portugal also uses apanhar for a taxi.
How do you buy a ticket in Portugal?
To buy a ticket in Portugal, say um bilhete para plus the place, as in um bilhete para o Porto, se faz favor. A one-way ticket is ida and a return is ida e volta. To ask the price, say quanto custa o bilhete.
How do you ask for directions in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal?
To ask the way in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal, use onde fica for where is, as in onde fica a estação. The key directions are à direita for to the right, à esquerda for to the left and em frente for straight ahead. Fica longe asks if it is far.