Describe Your Daily Routine in Brazilian Portuguese: Reflexive Verbs — Practice
A guided practice lesson with English explanations, Brazilian Portuguese examples, and answers you can check. Read the examples, recall the meaning, then say a version of your own.
Use common routine verbs in first person
A reflexive verb describes an action connected to the subject. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, speakers often say acordo (I wake up), levanto (I get up), preparo o café (I make coffee), and me deito (I go to bed). Some verbs commonly keep the reflexive pronoun; others may appear with or without it depending on meaning and style.
For a beginner routine, learn the whole first-person phrase. Add a time or order word such as de manhã (in the morning), depois (afterward), and à noite (at night) to connect actions.
| Brazilian Portuguese | English meaning |
|---|---|
| Acordo às sete e tomo café em casa. | I wake up at seven and have coffee at home. |
| Depois do trabalho, me exercito no parque. | After work, I exercise in the park. |
| Normalmente me deito por volta das onze. | I usually go to bed around eleven. |
Say what is usual and what changes
Present tense can describe a repeated routine: trabalho de casa às sextas (I work from home on Fridays). Frequency words such as geralmente (usually), às vezes (sometimes), and quase nunca (almost never) help you avoid claiming that every day is identical.
To ask another person, say Como é um dia normal para você? (What is a normal day like for you?) or O que você costuma fazer depois do trabalho? (What do you usually do after work?). These questions invite a specific answer and give you a natural follow-up.
| Brazilian Portuguese | English meaning |
|---|---|
| Geralmente almoço perto do escritório, mas às vezes levo comida. | I usually have lunch near the office, but sometimes I bring food. |
| O que você costuma fazer no começo do dia? | What do you usually do at the start of the day? |
| Nos fins de semana, minha rotina muda bastante. | On weekends, my routine changes quite a bit. |
Remember: Build a routine description with a few everyday verbs, time connectors, and a frequency word. Use costuma + infinitive to ask what someone usually does.
Check your understanding
Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.
Recall the Portuguese, then say it
Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.
I wake up at seven and have coffee at home.
Show a Portuguese answer
Acordo às sete e tomo café em casa.
After work, I exercise in the park.
Show a Portuguese answer
Depois do trabalho, me exercito no parque.
I usually go to bed around eleven.
Show a Portuguese answer
Normalmente me deito por volta das onze.
I usually have lunch near the office, but sometimes I bring food.
Show a Portuguese answer
Geralmente almoço perto do escritório, mas às vezes levo comida.
What do you usually do at the start of the day?
Show a Portuguese answer
O que você costuma fazer no começo do dia?
On weekends, my routine changes quite a bit.
Show a Portuguese answer
Nos fins de semana, minha rotina muda bastante.
Make the phrase useful to you
Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.
Build a routine description with a few everyday verbs, time connectors, and a frequency word. Use costuma + infinitive to ask what someone usually does.
Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.
Sources and your next lesson
This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our Describe Your Daily Routine in Brazilian Portuguese: Reflexive Verbs lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.
To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.
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