Which one should you use?
While bom trabalho is a standard way to praise someone's work, it can sound slightly formal or detached in casual settings. If you want to express a higher level of praise, you can use Ótimo trabalho! to mean Great job!
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Brazil, Show de bola! is a popular expression for Great job and you might also hear mandou bem to mean you did well. In Portugal, bom trabalho is used to mean good work and you can also say parabéns pelo teu trabalho to mean congratulations on your work. In Angola and Mozambique, the phrase fizeste um bom trabalho is used to mean you did a good job.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective bom (good) must agree in gender with the noun trabalho (work/job), which is masculine. If praising a feminine noun like tarefa (task), you would use boa tarefa.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /ˈbõ tɾaˈba.ʎu/. It has 3 syllables and the stress is on the 1st syllable.
Did you know?
- The word trabalho is etymologically rooted in the concept of 'pain' or 'suffering' rather than just 'activity'. This stems from the Old Galician-Portuguese traballo, which originally meant the physical or mental pain caused by effort.
- The Portuguese word trabalho contains a phonetic feature called a 'lateral palatal' sound in its second syllable, which requires placing the tongue against the hard palate, a sound not found in English.
Examples in context
- Tom fez um bom trabalho.Tom did a good job.This sentence shows how to use bom trabalho to describe a job someone performed.Tatoeba #1268625 by alexmarcelo, translation #1026490 by CK
- Tenho feito um bom trabalho.I have done a good job.This sentence demonstrates the use of bom trabalho in the present perfect tense.Tatoeba #4824086 by Ricardo14, translation #2229159 by Eldad
- Está fazendo um bom trabalho.You're doing a good job.This sentence illustrates how to use bom trabalho when describing an ongoing action.Tatoeba #5546015 by bill, translation #3354143 by CK
- Parabéns pelo seu esforço!Congratulations on your effort!
- 33 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A manager is praising an employee after a presentation.
- RodrigoVocê fez um bom trabalho hoje.You did a good job today.
- MarianaMuito obrigada, Rodrigo.Thank you very much, Rodrigo.
- RodrigoSua apresentação foi excelente.Your presentation was excellent.
- MarianaFico feliz em ouvir isso.I am happy to hear that.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (bom, trabalho) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bom, trabalho, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
