How to Write a Love Letter in Portuguese

If you are in love with a Portuguese speaker and would like to send them a romantic letter, this language guide will teach you how to write a love letter in Portuguese.

How to start a Portuguese love letter

In Portuguese, as you may know, there are differences between masculine and feminine groups of words. Below are two gender-neutral Portuguese phrases which can be used to start a love letter. Both of these can be used for male and female recipients:

• Ao meu amor, Maria. (To my beloved Maria)
• Ao amor da minha vida….(To the love of my life):

In Portuguese, a love letter could also start with one of the following two phrases. The choice between these two phrases depends on the gender of the person you are writing to:

• À minha querida [female recipient’s name] (To my beloved…)
• Ao meu querido [male recipient 's name] (To my beloved…)

The Portuguese language provides a large range of possible ways to start a love letter, what is essential is to be true to your feelings and let them flow through words.

What to write in a Portuguese love letter

We know that languages reflect the culture in which people live. Portuguese is part of the daily life of over 250 million people in 10 different countries across the world, and each nation has its unique way of expressing emotions

Brazilians are informal and don’t differentiate much between formal and informal speech, while European Portuguese tend to adhere to formalities and established structures. Regardless of the approach, it’s essential to express the reason for writing a love letter.

Is it the first attempt to gain someone’s heart, or are you writing to nurture an established love story?

Explaining why you are writing

Letters are usually written because of the distance between people, maybe you and your beloved are separated by oceans and you miss them very much, but how to express this feeling in Portuguese?

The word “saudade”: The Portuguese word “saudade” can mean, among others, the feeling of missing someone or something very deeply.

Portuguese speakers feel very touched by this word. For that reason, telling a Portuguese speaker “estou com saudade de você” (I miss you) might spark a light on that day.

The Portuguese word “saudade” is a noun, while in English “to miss” is a verb. You should be careful of the grammar when structuring sentences with this word.

In Portuguese, verbs which can be used with the noun “saudade” are:

• to have
• to feel
• to be with

To make things clearer, take a look at these examples that you can use as language chunks:

1. Tenho saudade de você.
   (I miss you [with the verb “to have”])
2. Sinto saudade de você.
   (I miss you [with the verb “to feel”])
3. Estou com saudade de você.
   (I miss you [with the verb “to be”])

Here are some more Portuguese sentences which can be used when writing a love letter:

Escrevo a você porque estou com saudade…,
(I’m writing because I miss you…)

With this expression, you clarify the reason for writing the love letter. However, if it is the first contact and the intention here is to disclose your feelings to someone, the sentences below might be a more helpful approach:

• Estou escrevendo esta carta porque desde o dia em que vi você não paro de pensar em você.
  (I’m writing this letter because I can’t stop thinking of you since the day I saw you.)
• Desde o dia em que conversamos/nos encontramos não paro de pensar em você…
  (Since the day we talked/met, I can’t stop thinking of you.)

Creating a connection

After mentioning the reason for the contact, begin to describe a situation that somehow creates a connection between both of you, and events that evoke a common experience. It can be, for instance, where you first or last saw each other.

Ainda estou pensando no tempo que passamos juntos.
(I’m still thinking about the time we spent together)

Inviting the recipient to a party

In case the letter is to invite your significant other to a specific event, such as a birthday or a party, you may use the following Portuguese phrases to make your intention clear:

• Gostaria muito de convidá-la/-lo para a minha festa.
  (I’d like to invite you to my party)
• Seria um prazer tê-la/-lo na minha festa
  (It would be a pleasure to receive you at my party)

Writing the end of the love letter

The end of the letter can be divided into three parts:

1. Last paragraph
2. A “wish sentence”
3. A lovely goodbye or salute

1- The last paragraph

It is time to recall the reasons why you decided to write this letter and bind the topics from the first and last paragraphs together. As important as the beginning, the end should cause good feelings so that your Portuguese-speaking crush can’t get enough of it.

In the last paragraph of the love letter, you can use one of these Portuguese sentences to impress them:

Seu sorriso é tão lindo.
(Your smile is so beautiful)

Who doesn’t like to have their smile complimented? People in Brazil take the smile of a person as one of the most important features in a potential partner. A curious fact is that some of us Brazilians will brush our teeth up to 4 times a day; this is double the global average.

Seu olhar me hipnotizou
(Your eyes have hypnotized me)

Just like smiles, beautiful eyes almost always captivate people. If you find the eyes of your beloved foreign friend beautiful, you can use the expression above in your love letter.

2- A Wish Sentence:

A “wish sentence” normally describes the writer’s expectations. For example, if it is the first contact, then it should be:

Será um prazer ler sua resposta.
(It’ll be a pleasure to read your reply.)

Your dear Portuguese speaker needs to know that you aren’t writing for the sake of pure fun, but that you want to keep in contact with them, so if you wish to have an answer to that specific piece of writing, you need to express it through your words.

Aguardo ansiosamente pelo seu contato.
(I’ll be waiting attentively for your reply.)

Just like the previous example, this expression lets the reader know you want to keep in touch with your crush. Go with this expression, and you will probably manage to have what you seek (an answer).

Não vejo a hora de poder vê-la/-lo novamente.
(I can’t wait to see you again.)

If the relationship is already a reality, it would be nicer to use this expression to let them know how much you enjoy their company. When love is in the air, we frequently long for the opportunity to see our loved ones again. Want to tell the receiver about this? You can use the above expression above in your love letter.

3- A Lovely Salute:

Below are two phrases that can be used to sign off a Portuguese love letter:

Com amor, [+ name of the writer]

“Com amor” literally means “with love”. This might serve as your last pinch of romance in your Portuguese love letter.

Do seu amor, [+ name of the writer]

If you are confident enough to say that you are the beloved sweetheart of the reader, you might want to use the sentence above, which means “from your beloved/sweetheart” in Portuguese.

With those closing notes, you conclude your love letter! You are now ready to dive into the sea of romantic words Portuguese offers you. Don’t feel discouraged if it seems complicated; what counts is that you just showed your feelings and took the time to express them.

Conclusion

We have reached the end of this guide on writing a love letter in Portuguese. For more ideas, you might look at the following article on Portuguese Compliments or the one on writing an Email in Portuguese.