Brazilian Portuguese: What is the diference between “Tu” and “Você”?

If you learn the Brazilian Portuguese, you see that here, in Brazil, we use two words for “you”: “tu” e “você”. So, how to know which of these two to use? If I say “Tu”, all Brazilians will understand me? If I say “Você”, I'm being very informal?

Translate: Go you!
Photo by Cão Azul.

Calm down, I will explain everything! =)

What is the difference between “tu”  e “você”?

No difference! Both are for the second-person singular, the “you” in English.

The difference depends on the Brazil region that you will live or visit. For example, in the South, the peoples speak “tu”, and in the Southeast, we speak “você”. But, for example, if you use “você” in the South of Brazil, they will understand you perfectly, because all Brazilians know the two options for “you”. =)

“Tu” is more formal?

No. Nowadays, we speak “tu” and “you” for informal occasions and spoken language, the difference depends on the Brazil region. If you want to be fomal, use “o senhor” (in English equivalent to “Mr.” or “Sir”) for male and “a senhora” (equivalent to “mam”, “Mrs.” or “lady”) for female. For example:

                 Do you want more coffee?

Infomal:    Você quer mais café?    or    Tu queres mais café?

Fomal:      O senhor / A senhora quer mais café?

How will be the phrase if I use “tu”? And if I use “você”?

In the school, we, Brazilians, learned using the “tu”. One example, for comparison: verb “Escrever” (to write) in the present.

I –                     Eu escrevo

You –                Tu escreves

He / She / It –   Ele / Ela escreve

We –                 Nós escrevemos

You –                Vós escreveis

They –              Eles / Elas escrevem

You see the “tu”? Second-person singular. “Tu” have a single way for the verbs, never is the same as another person. The second-person PLURAL, will be “vós” in the “original” Brazilian language, but in the spoken language, the “vós” is not used anywhere in Brazil. Only a few older people, like my great-grandmother.

Now, we see the same verb, still in the present, but using “você”:

I –                     Eu escrevo

You –                Você escreve

He / She / It –   Ele / Ela escreve

We –                 Nós escrevemos

You –                Vocês escrevem

They –              Eles / Elas escrevem

Watch closely the verb for “você”, for “ele” and for “ela” is the same way: Você / Ele / Ela escreve. The same thing happens in the plural: Vocês / Eles / Elas escrevem.

Because of this, can be more simple and easy learn the Brazilian Portuguese focusing on the “você”.

If you want to be formal and use “o senhor”, how will be the verb?

For “o senhor” the verb will be the same used for “você”. Example:

                  You like cheese.

                  

Informal:    Você gosta de queijo.   Ou   Tu gostas de queijo.

Formal:      O senhor / A senhora gosta de queijo.

Which regions of Brazil, we use “você”?

The Brazil is divided into five regions.

Brazil and his five regions.
Photo by Aprendda.

In the regions of Southeast and Midwest, the peoples speak “você”. Famous cities are those regions, like the Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and the capital of Brazil, Brasília.

Curiosity: The variations of “você”.

I am writing these variations only for curiosity. The correctly is learn the “tu” or the “você”, but for curiosity, we will see the variations.

There are variations for “você”, but only in the spoken language.

"Caipira" - Hick.
Photo by Piadas.org

“Ocê” and “cê” is used in the countryside of the Southeast and Midwest of Brazil. It is associated with the speech of hick. Example:

You do not sleep well.

Ocê não dorme bem.

Important! You should never write “ocê” or “cê”, we use ONLY in the spoken language.

Which regions of Brazil, we use “tu”?

In the Northeast and South. In the Northeast, there are the beautiful beaches and where happen the Carnival celebrations. In the Northeast are the city of Salvador, in Bahia and the city of Fortaleza, in Ceará. The South have beautiful beaches too, like Florianópolis, a city of Santa Catarina. The cities have many stock farms and the South is the colder region, coming to snow in the winter (a rare thing in this tropical country!).

In the North, we use “tu” and the “você” too. In the north of Brazil are the cities surrounded by the Foresta Amazônica (Amazon forest). The best know is Manaus, in Amazonas.

Any questions you still have about using “tu” or “você”, you can ask in the space for comments, ok?

If you want more about the Brazilian Portuguese, visit this page of Wikipedia: Português Brasileiro.

Bye! o/