Face-to-face
Portuguese interpreters on site for appointments, hearings and meetings.
European languages
Portuguese interpreting and translation
Portuguese is spoken on four continents and is the official language of nine countries. SILA Linguists provides Portuguese interpreters and certified translators for European, Brazilian and African Portuguese speakers, across legal, healthcare, immigration and business work.
português
- Script
- Latin
- Direction
- Left to right
- ISO 639-3
por
Portuguese is the official language of Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste, and an official language of Equatorial Guinea and Macau. These countries cooperate through the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). Large Portuguese-speaking communities live in France, the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the United States and Canada.
European and Brazilian Portuguese differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, forms of address and grammar, such as where pronouns are placed. African varieties have their own features. An international spelling agreement aimed to unify spelling, but differences remain. In Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau, many people speak a Portuguese-based creole at home, and in Angola and Mozambique many speak African languages alongside Portuguese.
This page covers Portuguese in general and European Portuguese in particular. Brazilian Portuguese has its own page, because the differences matter for interpreting and translation.
Portugal
Brazil
Angola
Mozambique
Cape Verde
How we help
Portuguese services
Video (VRI)
Secure video interpreting when people are in different places.
Telephone, 24/7
Telephone interpreting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Certified translation
Certified Portuguese translation accepted by UK authorities.
SILA Linguists®
Portuguese interpreters and Portuguese translation from SILA Linguists®
Portuguese is official in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste, and in Equatorial Guinea and Macau, with large communities in France, the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the United States and Canada. European and Brazilian Portuguese differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and forms of address. SILA Linguists® provides Portuguese interpreters, translators and transcribers to healthcare, schools, employers in food production and hospitality, courts and police, immigration practitioners and businesses across the UK, North America, Australia, New Zealand and beyond.
Portuguese interpreting matched to Portugal, Brazil or Africa
Tell us where your client comes from. A speaker from Portugal, Madeira or the Azores, from Brazil, or from Angola, Mozambique or Cabo Verde usually communicates best with an interpreter who knows their variety, especially in medical, legal and emotional conversations. Forms of address differ too: o senhor and a senhora are common in formal European Portuguese, while você is more general in Brazil, and our interpreters adjust.
We provide Portuguese interpreting for hospitals, maternity units and GP surgeries, schools and children's services, workplaces in food production and hospitality, police interviews, courts and solicitors' offices, and immigration and residence appointments. Sessions can be held in person, by telephone at any hour, and by video through the SILA Linguists® app or Teams, Zoom or similar. Trade missions and conferences with Portuguese-speaking countries can be covered with consecutive, simultaneous or remote simultaneous interpreting.
European or Brazilian Portuguese translation
Translations are written for the target audience: European Portuguese for Portugal and most of Africa, Brazilian Portuguese for Brazil. Vocabulary, legal terms and conventions differ, and an unadapted text reads as foreign. We translate patient information, school letters, employment contracts and safety rules, and localise websites, apps and marketing for either market, with AI-assisted translation and human post-editing available.
Certified translations of birth and marriage certificates, criminal records, diplomas, residence papers and court documents carry a signed statement of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as colleges and tribunals, and by HR departments. Portuguese records for North American authorities are certified the way each requires, by US certificate of accuracy or Canadian provincial certification. In Portugal, translations for official use can be certified by notaries, lawyers and other authorised professionals, so check what a Portuguese authority needs.
Portuguese transcription and subtitling
We transcribe Portuguese interviews, recorded evidence, research audio and media with time references and an English rendering, noting the variety, and subtitle films, training and marketing video for European or Brazilian audiences.
Sectors we support in Portuguese
Our vetted, trained and qualified Portuguese linguists can support healthcare and maternity services, schools and children's services, food production and hospitality employers, courts, police and solicitors, immigration and residence practitioners, and businesses trading with Portuguese-speaking countries. SILA Linguists® assigns one coordinator, matches linguists by variety and protects all information under NDAs and UK GDPR. Portuguese interpreting is also available for courts, hospitals and immigration lawyers in Canada and the United States, in European or African Portuguese.
Good to know
Working with Portuguese
Interpreting
- Tell us where the client comes from. A speaker from Portugal, Madeira or the Azores, from Brazil, or from an African Portuguese-speaking country will usually communicate best with an interpreter familiar with their variety, especially in medical, legal and emotional conversations. Forms of address differ: o senhor and a senhora are common in formal European Portuguese, while você is more general in Brazil.
- Portuguese interpreting is in steady demand in healthcare, schools, employment, housing and courts. We provide face-to-face, video and telephone interpreting, and conference interpreting.
Translation
- Translations should be written for the target audience: European Portuguese for Portugal and most of Africa, Brazilian Portuguese for Brazil. Vocabulary, legal terms and conventions differ, and an unadapted text will read as foreign.
- In Portugal, translations for official use can be certified by notaries, lawyers, solicitors and some other authorised professionals and bodies. Our certified translations are accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office, tribunals, courts and universities, and by international bodies; for documents going to Portugal, Brazil or another Portuguese-speaking country, check the local requirements. If your documents are for use in the United States or Canada, we arrange the certification required there, whether that is a translator's certificate of accuracy for US immigration authorities or a translator certified by a Canadian provincial association.
Related languages
Portuguese and its neighbours
Choose a language to see its page. Getting the right variety matters: tell us the region or dialect if you know it.
Where Portuguese is often needed
- Healthcare and maternity services
- Schools and children's services
- Employment, food production and hospitality
- Courts, police and solicitors
- Immigration and residence matters
- Business and trade with Portuguese-speaking countries
Explore more european languages or see all languages A to Z.
Get in touch
Need a Portuguese interpreter or translator?
Our bookings team will confirm the details with you and arrange the right linguist. Have the language (and dialect, if you know it), the type of assignment and the date ready.