How to Say "Good Day" in Portuguese

bom dia

/ˈbõ ˈd͡ʒi.ɐ/

bom dia is the Portuguese phrase for good day.

bom dia translates better to good morning in English. If you wish to say hello more generally, you can use olá.

Meaning: greeting between sunrise and sunset (intj)

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of the masculine adjective bom (good) and the masculine noun dia (day).

While bom dia is used from sunrise until midday, boa tarde is used from midday until sunset.

Because dia is a masculine noun, the adjective must be the masculine form bom rather than the feminine boa.

/ˈbõ ˈdʒi.ɐ/. The first of three syllables is stressed.

The word dia in bom dia is distantly related to the names Zeus and Jove because they all share an ancient root meaning 'heaven' or 'sky'.
In Brazil, bom dia is often used not just as a greeting when arriving, but also as a way to say goodbye to someone when leaving a place before midday.
If you find yourself in a region where people speak Fala, you might hear bo instead of the standard Portuguese bom.

Tenha um bom dia.
Have a good day.
This sentence shows how to use bom dia to wish someone a good day.
Tatoeba #1158005 by alexmarcelo, translation #3326719 by CK
Ontem foi um bom dia.
Yesterday was a good day.
This sentence uses bom dia to describe a past day.
Tatoeba #1512148 by alexmarcelo, translation #1512147 by CM
Você teve um bom dia?
Did you have a good day?
This sentence uses bom dia to ask someone about their day.
Tatoeba #5288563 by ajdavidl, translation #3825448 by CK
18 more sentences on Tatoeba

Gabriel and Mariana meet in a cafe in the morning.

Sources

Wiktionary, “good day” translations and entries bom dia, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries bom, bom dia, dia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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