Index / Language / Records / Portuguese / Register
What title the other person gets, and what the choice says about both of you.
The control text · practical
Bom dia. No dia 12 deste mês, foi debitada da minha conta uma cobrança de R$ 89,90 que eu não reconheço. Cancelei esse serviço em maio e guardei o comprovante. Estou pedindo o estorno do valor e a confirmação, por escrito, de que a assinatura foi encerrada. Se não houver retorno até sexta-feira, vou registrar uma reclamação no Procon. Fico no aguardo.
Where the two part
Brazilian · the base
Doutor is inflationary — lawyers, physicians and anyone in authority get it regardless of qualification. Seu plus a first name is respectful and warm at once.
European · the contrast
Titles are used precisely and often: Sr. Dr., Sr. Eng.º, Sr.ª Dr.ª. Getting the title right is ordinary courtesy rather than flattery.
10 options
Bom dia, Ana. Sobre a cobrança do dia 12…
The tellNo title, no honorific, just the name.
The default in most Brazilian workplaces and in customer service, and it assumes a working relationship.
With an older person or a formal institution in Portugal it can read as familiar.
BR Bom dia, Senhor Almeida.
EU Bom dia, Senhor Almeida.
The tellHonorific plus family name.
Correct and safe in both countries, and the right opening for a first contact.
Sustained through a whole exchange it keeps a distance that may not serve you.
Bom dia, Seu João. · Obrigado, Dona Ana.
The tellA shortened senhor attached to a first name rather than a surname.
Uniquely Brazilian: respectful and affectionate simultaneously, with no European equivalent.
It encodes an age or status gap. Used with a peer it can read as ironic.
Bom dia, Doutor Almeida. — no doctorate required
The tellA doctorate claimed by the speaker on the other person's behalf.
Recognising it matters: in Brazil refusing to use it with a lawyer or an official can read as a slight.
In Portugal the same word is a factual claim about a degree, so carrying the habit across is visible.
Exmo. Sr. Dr. Almeida · Sr. Eng.º Costa
The tellStacked abbreviations, each meaning something specific.
Correct and expected in Portuguese professional correspondence, and its absence is noticed.
Getting the title wrong is worse than omitting it, so it requires knowing the person's qualification.
Bom dia, Professora Ana.
The tellA functional title used as a form of address.
Precise, earned, and correct in both countries where the role is real.
Narrow: outside teaching and academia it does not apply at all.
Vossa Excelência — courts, high office, formal petitions
The tellA third-person address form applied to a person present.
The correct register for a court filing or a petition to high office, in either country.
Anywhere else it is either satire or a serious misjudgement of the room.
BR Prezados, · Prezado Senhor Almeida,
EU Exmos. Senhores, · Caro Senhor Almeida,
The tellThe written opening, which carries the hierarchy before any content does.
Anchor A has no salutation at all, so this is where one gets chosen. Prezados is the safe Brazilian institutional default.
Caro claims a warmth that may not exist yet, and Prezado declines it entirely.
BR À Central de Atendimento,
EU Ao Serviço de Apoio ao Cliente,
The tellA department addressed instead of a person.
Sidesteps the whole problem when you do not know who will read it, and stays correct in both countries.
Nobody feels responsible for a letter addressed to a department.
Senhor Almeida → Ana, after the second reply
The tellThe register moving down once the relationship is established.
The most useful thing on this sheet: formality is an opening position, not a fixed setting, and lowering it deliberately signals goodwill.
Move too early and it reads as presumptuous. The other person should move first, or at least move with you.