Saudade vs. Sentir Falta: Say You Miss Someone in Portuguese — Practice

Use estar com saudade de for a feeling of missing someone

Saudade is a noun for a feeling of missing someone, a place, or an experience. A common Brazilian phrase is estar com saudade de: estou com saudade da minha família (I miss my family). The verb estar changes with the subject, and de contracts with articles: de + a becomes da; de + o becomes do.

Saudade can feel warm, wistful, or affectionate depending on context. English often uses the verb ‘miss,’ but Portuguese packages the feeling as a noun in this expression.

Use sentir falta de to emphasize someone or something absent

Sentir falta de literally describes feeling the absence or lack of someone or something. It often translates naturally as ‘to miss’: sinto falta dos meus amigos (I miss my friends). The phrase works for people, routines, objects, and activities.

The two expressions overlap. Saudade may highlight an emotional feeling; sentir falta can make the absence itself more explicit, but speakers do not follow a strict distinction in every sentence. Learn both and choose the one that fits your own tone.

Remember: Use estar com saudade de or sentir falta de to say you miss someone, a place, or an activity. Both are natural; the second makes the sense of absence especially clear.

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.

1. I miss you.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Estou com saudade de você.

2. We miss the summer.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   A gente está com saudade do verão.

3. She misses the city where she grew up.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Ela sente saudade da cidade onde cresceu.

4. I miss talking with you all.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Sinto falta de conversar com vocês.

5. Do you miss living near the beach?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você sente falta de morar perto da praia?

6. We miss our Sunday walks.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Estamos com saudade das nossas caminhadas de domingo.

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.

Use estar com saudade de or sentir falta de to say you miss someone, a place, or an activity. Both are natural; the second makes the sense of absence especially clear.

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 Saudade vs. Sentir Falta: Say You Miss Someone in Portuguese 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.