perdão?
In Portuguese, "pardon" can be expressed as perdão? or como?
Meaning: interjection, request to repeat (intj)
Ways to say it
| Portuguese |
|---|
| perdão? |
| como? |
When you have not heard what someone said and want them to repeat themselves, you can use these interjections. Perdão? is a polite way to ask for repetition, while como? functions as a more common way to say "what?" or "pardon?" when you didn't hear something.
Which one should you use?
perdão? is a polite way to ask someone to repeat themselves, whereas como? is a much more common, informal way to say "what?" or "pardon?" when you didn't hear something.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The word perdão functions both as a noun meaning "forgiveness" and as an interjection when used alone with rising intonation to mean "pardon?"
Did you know?
- In Brazil, people often use the phrase oi? as a way to say 'pardon?' or 'what?' when they are confused or surprised by what they just heard.
- The word perdão is a derivative of the Latin perdonare, where the prefix per- means 'completely' and donare means 'to give'.
- In many Brazilian regions, instead of asking como?, people frequently use the word hein? to express confusion or to ask someone to repeat themselves.
Examples in context
- Perdão?I beg your pardon?This sentence is useful for asking "I beg your pardon?" using perdão?Tatoeba #1197461 by alexmarcelo, translation #24940 by CK
- Com licença, você poderia me ajudar?Excuse me, could you help me?
- Com licença, posso passar?Pardon me, may I pass?
- Desculpe, você pode repetir, por favor?Sorry, can you repeat that, please?
- Desculpe interromper, mas você tem um momento?Excuse me for interrupting, but do you have a moment?
- Perdão pela minha ignorância, mas o que essa palavra significa?Pardon my ignorance, but what does this word mean?
- Perdão pelo atraso na resposta.Pardon the delay in my response.
- Desculpa, posso pegar emprestado o seu livro?Sorry, can I borrow your book?
- Desculpa, você poderia repetir o que disse?Excuse me, could you repeat what you said?
- Oi, desculpa o atraso. Como você está?Hi, sorry for the delay. How are you?
- Oi, desculpa, você sabe onde está o João?Hi, excuse me, do you know where João is?
- Perdão? Não ouvi o que você disse.Pardon? I didn't hear what you said.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
In a noisy cafe, Felipe and Beatriz are talking.
- FelipeBeatriz, o café está muito quente.Beatriz, the coffee is very hot.
- BeatrizPerdão? Você pode repetir, Felipe?Pardon? Can you repeat that, Felipe?
- FelipeEu disse que o café está quente.I said the coffee is hot.
- BeatrizAh, entendi agora.Ah, I understand now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “pardon” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
