葡萄牙
pou⁴ tou⁴ ngaa⁴
The English phrase 'Portugal' is translated into Cantonese as 葡萄牙 (pou⁴ tou⁴ ngaa⁴).
葡萄牙 is used to refer to the country of Portugal.
Meaning: country (name)
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is pou⁴ tou⁴ ngaa⁴.
Did you know?
- While the name uses the word for 'grape', the third character 牙 means 'tooth', making the literal translation 'grape tooth'.
- The character 萄 is rarely used in Cantonese outside of the word for 'grape' or the name of 葡萄牙. It is a specialized character with very limited utility.
- Because of the colonial history of Macau, many elderly Cantonese speakers in that region may know how to say 葡萄牙 and other Portuguese terms without having visited Europe.
Examples in context
- 葡國嘅文化好有特色。The culture of Portugal is very unique.
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing their dream vacation destinations.
- 志強 Chi Keung你最想去邊個國家？nei5 zeoi3 soeng2 heoi3 bin1 go3 gwok2 gaa1?Which country do you want to visit most?
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan我最想去葡萄牙。ngo5 zeoi3 soeng2 heoi3 pou4 tou4 jaa4.I want to go to Portugal most.
- 志強 Chi Keung葡萄牙有啲咩好睇？pou4 tou4 jaa4 jau5 di1 me1 hou2 tai2?What is there to see in Portugal?
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan聽講嗰度嘅建築好靚。teng1 gong2 go2 dou3 ge3 gin3 zuk1 hou2 leng3.I heard the architecture there is very beautiful.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “portugal” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
