Portuguese Phrases Tourists Get Wrong in Portugal, From the Couvert to 'Contribuinte?'

You sit down in a tasca in Lisbon, and before you have even ordered, the waiter sets down bread, butter, olives and a little dish of cheese. Nobody asked you. You tear off some bread while you read the menu, and at the end of the meal it is on the bill, item by item. That plate is the couvert, the first trap of a first evening in Portugal. The question waiting at the till the next morning is the second.

Every phrase below is part of the free Portugal Trip Kit, fifty phrases for Portugal in five days with European Portuguese respellings. Going to Brazil instead? The words and the sounds change, so read the Brazilian traps post and take the Brazilian Portuguese Trip Kit.

The "couvert" is not free, and you can send it back

The bread, butter, olives, cheese or pâté that arrive before you order are the "couvert" (koo-VAIR), and whatever you touch is charged per item. It is not compulsory, though: by law, since 2015, the couvert can only be charged if you asked for it or ate it. Send it back with "não queremos o couvert, obrigado", we don't want the couvert, thanks, or leave it untouched.

There is no service charge on a Portuguese bill. Rounding up, or 5 to 10% for good service, is kind and never expected. If a bill looks wrong, ask for the "Livro de Reclamações", the complaints book every business must have.

"Faz favor!" calls the waiter, and the bill never comes on its own

"Se faz favor" (suh fash fuh-VOR) is the everyday Portugal way to say please, written s.f.f. on signs, and it goes at the end of the request. Cut down to a bare "faz favor!", it is how you call a waiter. The trap is the reply: when staff say "faça favor", they mean go ahead or here you are, not please.

You will need "faz favor" again at the end of the meal, because the bill never comes unasked, and sitting for an hour over an empty glass is normal. Catch the waiter's eye, or make the air-writing gesture, and say "A conta, se faz favor" (uh KON-tuh, suh fash fuh-VOR).

"Contribuinte?" at the till: just say no

Almost every till in Portugal asks "Contribuinte?" (kong-tree-BWEENT) or "número de contribuinte?". They mean your Portuguese tax number, the NIF, which residents add to receipts for tax deductions. You do not have one and do not need one: "não, obrigado", or obrigada, and the sale goes on. Shops must issue a receipt for every sale, "a fatura" or "o talão", so keep it for returns.

The other till question is "Dinheiro ou Multibanco?" (deen-YAY-roo oh mool-tee-BANG-koo), cash or card. Multibanco is the national card network, and here it simply means card. Answer with the one word or just tap your card: contactless is normal. Some small shops set a minimum for cards or say "só dinheiro", cash only. If a terminal or cash machine offers to charge you in your home currency, choose euros.

"Um café" is an espresso, cheapest at the counter

Ask for "uma bica" (OO-muh BEE-kuh) in Lisbon or "um café" (oong kuh-FEH) anywhere in Portugal and you get a short espresso, about a euro standing at the counter as of 2026, a little more at a table or on a tourist square. Porto calls the same cup "um cimbalino". If you wanted milk, say so: "um galão" is a tall glass that is mostly milk, and "uma meia de leite" is half and half in a cup.

Tap water is free, if you ask for it

Order water and the answer is a question, "Água com gás ou sem gás?" (AH-gwuh kong GAHSH oh sayng GAHSH), sparkling or still, and bottled water is charged. Tap water is safe to drink, and by law cafés and restaurants must give customers tap water free on request, even if they also sell bottles: ask for "água da torneira". The next question is "fresca ou natural?", chilled or room temperature, so "natural" does not mean still.

"Casa de banho", never "banheiro"

"Onde fica a casa de banho?" (OND FEE-kuh uh KAH-zuh duh BAH-nyoo) asks where the toilet is. If you learned Brazilian Portuguese, you will reach for "banheiro", which in Portugal means lifeguard and gets a smile. Signs say WC, and doors say "Homens" and "Senhoras", or just H and S, where S is the women's. Cafés expect you to buy something before using theirs. The other everyday words that change between the two countries are in Brazilian vs European Portuguese.

Tap your card on every bus, tram and Porto platform

"Valide o bilhete" (vuh-LEED oo bee-LYET) means validate your ticket. In Lisbon you tap your navegante card, the old Viva Viagem, at the metro gates and on the reader every time you board a bus or tram. A contactless Visa or Mastercard bank card also works at the metro gates and on Carris buses and trams.

Porto's metro is the trap, because it has no gates. Tap the Andante card on the validator before the platform and again on every change, or it counts as no ticket. Inspectors, the "fiscais", fine on the spot, and not knowing is no excuse; check the operator's site for the current amount.

The other forty-one

These nine phrases come from days one to four of the Portugal Trip Kit: ten phrases a day for five days, each with a readable respelling, a tip like the ones above, and audio. Day one works in the browser without an account, and the sheet prints on three pages. Already past the basics? The Portuguese vocabulary test shows how many words you know.

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