Giving Basic Compliments in Portuguese

When you want to praise someone in Portuguese, you can start with simple, everyday phrases. For example, if a friend finishes a task well, you can say bom trabalho. This is equivalent to saying “good job.” After someone has done something correctly, you might say muito bem, which means “very well” or “well done.” If you want to congratulate someone for an achievement, parabéns is the appropriate word. This is used just like “congratulations” in English, whether they’ve passed a test or celebrated a birthday.

• Muito bem! Você fez isso perfeitamente.
• Parabéns pela sua conquista!
• Bom trabalho na apresentação de hoje.

Using Specific Compliments

To give more personalized or enthusiastic compliments, Portuguese has a variety of expressive words. These include adjectives like:

• admirável for something admirable, like “That’s admirable.”
• brilhante for actions or ideas that are brilliant.
• excelente for excellent work.
• extraordinário to describe something or someone as extraordinary.
• fantástico for fantastic achievements or qualities.
• magnífico for magnificent performances or things.
• maravilhoso to describe something wonderful.
• talentoso for someone who is talented.

You might combine these words with the person or action to make your compliment more specific:

• Seu trabalho é excelente.
• Você é muito talentoso!
• A apresentação foi magnífica.
• Essa ideia é brilhante!
• O resultado está maravilhoso.

You can also add these adjectives after the verb ser (to be):
- Você é extraordinário! - O projeto ficou fantástico.

These words are appropriate in both formal and informal settings and can be used for both people and their work, actions, or things they have accomplished.