Holiday and Vacation in Brazilian Portuguese

In this post, you will learn words related to taking a break from work and how to talk about holidays and vacations in Brazilian Portuguese.

You'll also learn the difference in meaning between férias, feriado, feriadão and folga, as well as how to use these words in a sentence.

1. férias

The word férias is extended period of leisure away from work - vacation or holiday.

Ainda não sei o que eu vou fazer nas minhas férias. / I still don’t know what I’m going to do on my vacation.

👉 tirar férias (to take a vacation)

Quando você vai tirar férias nesse ano? / When are you going to take a vacation this year?

👉 estar de férias (to be on vacation)

Estou de férias! Não tenho que fazer nada! / I’m on vacation, I don’t have to do anything.

👉 entrar de férias (start a vacation)

Quando você vai entrar de férias? / When are you going to start your vacation?

👉 sair de férias (going on vacation - implying the idea of travelling)

Quando você vai sair de férias? / When are you going on vacation?

👉 passar as férias (to spend the vacation)

Onde você vai passar as suas férias?/ When are you going to spend your vacation?

The word feriado is a national or federal holiday, sometimes referred to as feriado bancário (bank holiday).

O dia sete de setembro é feriado no Brasil. / The seventh of September is a national holiday in Brazil.

Esqueci que amanhã é feriado! / I forgot that tomorrow is a bank holiday!

The word feriadão is used to refer to a long holiday weekend, when the holiday falls on a Friday or Monday:

O que você vai fazer no feriadão? / What are you going to do at the long bank holiday weekend?

The word folga means time off work (a day or a couple of days)

👉 tirar uma folga (to take time off work)

Vou tirar uma folga na semana que vem. / I'm going to take time off next week.