How to Introduce Yourself in Portuguese (Muito Prazer)
How to introduce yourself in Portuguese: oi, eu sou…, muito prazer — with audio, você or o senhor, cheek kisses, and one question to keep going.
Linguino · Sep 23, 2026 · 9 min read
To introduce yourself in Portuguese, say “Oi! Eu sou o Alex. Muito prazer.” — “Hi! I'm Alex. Nice to meet you.” If you are a woman, say eu sou a plus your name: Eu sou a Alex. These three short lines work at a barbecue, in a class, or with a new colleague in most of Brazil.
The other person will usually answer with the same shape: Prazer! and their name. Then one of you asks De onde você é?, “Where are you from?”, and the conversation has started. This guide uses Brazilian Portuguese as it is spoken in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, and points out what changes in Portugal. It explains each part, how formal to be, what to do when someone leans in for a kiss on the cheek, and which questions keep the conversation going.
How to introduce yourself in Portuguese in three lines
| Portuguese | Sounds like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Oi, tudo bem? | oy, TOO-doo BAYN | Hi, how are you? |
| Eu sou o Alex. | EH-oo SOH oo AH-leks | I'm Alex. |
| Muito prazer. | MOO-ee-too prah-ZEHR | Nice to meet you. |
| E você, de onde você é? | ee vo-SEH, jee ON-jee vo-SEH EH | And you, where are you from? |
Together:
Oi! Eu sou o Alex. Muito prazer.
Say it in three small beats with a short pause after each one. The spelling guides are only approximations: muito sounds like moo-een-too, with a nasal first syllable, even though no n is written, and in most of Brazil, including Rio, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, the de in de onde sounds like “jee.” Use the play buttons to hear the real sounds. If you want to know why Portuguese spelling works this way, start with how to read Portuguese.
Tudo bem? literally means “all good?” It is a greeting, not a real question about your life. Answer Tudo, e você? (“All good, and you?”) and move on to your name.
Why do Brazilians say “eu sou o Alex”?
Eu sou means “I am.” In everyday speech in São Paulo, Rio and Belo Horizonte, people often put a small word in front of a name: o for a man, a for a woman. So a man says eu sou o Alex, and a woman says eu sou a Marina. It works like saying “the Alex” in English, but it does not sound strange in Portuguese; it sounds relaxed. Some Brazilians, especially in parts of the Northeast, leave it out, and Eu sou Alex is completely correct too.
Two other ways are correct:
- Meu nome é Alex. “My name is Alex.” Clear and neutral. Good for a class, a desk, or the phone.
- Me chamo Alex. “I'm called Alex.” Also common and friendly.
Pick one and use it every time. Eu sou o… or eu sou a… is the most natural at a party.
What does “muito prazer” mean?
Muito prazer means “great pleasure”: the pleasure of meeting you. People often shorten it to Prazer!, especially when they answer. Unlike Spanish encantado, it does not change for men and women, so everyone says the same words.
You will hear two common replies when you say it first:
- O prazer é meu. “The pleasure is mine.”
- Igualmente. “Likewise.”
If you want a slightly longer version, say Prazer em te conhecer (“Nice to meet you”). It is informal and very common in Brazil. For now, muito prazer covers every setting.
Should you use você or o senhor?
Portuguese has several ways to say “you.” In Brazil, the everyday word is você, and the verb that goes with it has the same form as for “he” or “she”: você é, “you are.” It is friendly and polite at the same time, so you can use it with almost everyone you meet socially.
Here is a practical guide to three settings.
A churrasco, class, or friend of a friend
Use você. At a barbecue in Belo Horizonte or a birthday party in São Paulo, Oi! Eu sou o Alex. Muito prazer and De onde você é? fit perfectly. People will use first names from the start.
A new colleague or professional contact
Brazilian offices are usually informal with names too. Colleagues use você and first names, often including managers. Start with a handshake, say Muito prazer, and your first name. If people call your boss Dona Ana or Seu Paulo, you can do the same.
An older person or a clearly formal setting
With someone much older, a client in a formal meeting, or an official, use o senhor (for a man) or a senhora (for a woman) instead of você. The verb stays the same: O senhor é daqui? (“Are you from here?”). Muito prazer stays the same too. If they want you to be less formal, they will tell you, often with a laugh: Pode me chamar de você.
Tu, and what changes in Portugal
In Rio, Rio Grande do Sul, and parts of the North and Northeast, many Brazilians say tu with friends, often with the same verb form as você: tu é de onde? You only need to recognize it for now.
Portugal is different. There, tu is normal among friends and people of the same age, and você can sound distant or even rude when you say it directly to someone. Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa, a language advice service from the ISCTE university in Lisbon, explains why it is better not to address anyone as “você” in Portugal: people use the person's name, o senhor or a senhora, or leave the pronoun out. People in Portugal also say Olá more than Oi, and they pronounce many vowels so lightly that they almost disappear. If you are going to Lisbon or Porto, learn the Brazilian phrases here, then listen for those differences.
Do Brazilians kiss, hug, or shake hands?
In a social introduction in Brazil, a woman meeting a woman, or a man meeting a woman, usually greets with a kiss on the cheek, called a beijo. It is a light cheek-to-cheek touch with a small kissing sound. The number depends on the region: one kiss is typical in São Paulo, two are common in Rio, and some people give more. You do not need to know the local number. Let the other person lead, and stop when they pull back.
Two men meeting for the first time usually shake hands. Among friends, that handshake often turns into a short hug with a pat on the back, called an abraço. In a work setting, a handshake is the safe default for everyone. If someone offers a hand, shake it. If they lean in, follow.
Smile and keep eye contact while you say your name. Brazilians often stand close and may touch your arm while they talk. That is warmth, not pressure. In Portugal, two kisses on the cheek are the usual social greeting between women and between a man and a woman; men usually shake hands.
How to keep the conversation going in Portuguese
After names, you need one question that is easy to ask and easy to answer. The classic choice in Brazil is:
E você, de onde você é?
“And you, where are you from?”
E você (“and you”) just hands the turn over; on its own, De onde você é? works too. Brazilians often enjoy talking about their home city, so this question usually gets a friendly answer. The reply often comes back with the question returned to you: Sou de Recife, e você? (“I'm from Recife, and you?”). Answer with Sou de plus your city or country: Sou de Londres. If you live in Brazil, add mas moro aqui (“but I live here”).
At a party, a second natural question is how the other person knows the host:
Você conhece o Rafa de onde?
“How do you know Rafa?”
It gives the other person a short story to tell. A likely answer is Ele é meu primo (“He's my cousin”) or A gente trabalha junto (“We work together”; you will also see juntos, but in speech junto is very common). You will hear a gente (“we,” literally “the people”) all the time in Brazil; it means the same as nós.
If you missed the other person's name, ask for it right away:
Desculpa, como é o seu nome mesmo?
“Sorry, what's your name again?”
The small word mesmo at the end works like “again.” Asking is normal and polite. Use the name once soon afterwards, and it will be easier to remember.
To react to anything you hear, Que legal! (“How nice!” or “Cool!”) works almost everywhere.
What not to worry about yet
- You do not need tu, the Portugal forms, or the future subjunctive to introduce yourself.
- You do not need to know how many kisses a city gives. Follow the other person.
- You do not need to explain your job or your whole story in the first minute.
- You do not need a Rio or São Paulo accent. Clear and steady is enough.
- You do not need to get every o and a right. Get eu sou o or eu sou a right; the rest can wait.
What you do need is to recognize the reply: prazer, a name, and often e você? handing the turn back to you. Brazilians tend to speak fast and join words together, so if replies go past too quickly, the guide to understanding spoken Portuguese shows how to listen for that handoff.
Rehearse one real introduction
Use your own name and city, not “Alex” and “London,” and say this sequence out loud:
- Say Oi! and Eu sou o… or Eu sou a… with your name.
- Add Muito prazer.
- Listen to the other person's name.
- Ask E você, de onde você é?
- Answer Sou de… when the question comes back to you.
- React to what you hear, even if it is only Que legal!
Here is the whole first meeting, with Júlia playing the person you have just met. Play it once with the English visible, then again with it hidden:
Meeting someone at a churrasco in Belo Horizonte
Oi! Eu sou o Alex. Muito prazer.
Hi! I'm Alex. Nice to meet you.
Prazer, Alex! Eu sou a Júlia.
Nice to meet you, Alex! I'm Júlia.
E você, de onde você é?
And you, where are you from?
Sou de Recife, e você?
I'm from Recife, and you?
Sou de Londres. Você conhece o Rafa de onde?
I'm from London. How do you know Rafa?
Ele é meu primo! E você?
He's my cousin! And you?
A gente trabalha junto.
We work together.
If your mind goes blank even though you know the lines, the three-minute speaking fix will help you lower the pressure. To see where this conversation sits on the scale teachers use, read CEFR levels explained in plain English.
Linguino's “Meet someone new” scene puts you at a churrasco in Belo Horizonte, where your friend introduces you to their cousin, who wants to chat. Your AI teacher plays the cousin, answers what you actually say, and gives you a phrase card for Eu sou o Alex. Muito prazer or de onde você é? if you get stuck. You can replay and translate each of the teacher's lines, and afterwards, a short quiz, scored speaking cards, coach feedback and your Phrasebook help you review the phrases you used.
You are ready when you can give your name, say muito prazer, and ask one real question. That is enough to start a first conversation.