Over the years, Portuguese translations have become crucial for successfully entering into the Latin American markets. Spoken by more than 260 million people worldwide, Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language in the world.

Brazil is the largest Portuguese speaking nation with 176 million people. In addition, Portuguese is also the official language in Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe.

Apart from these nations, Portuguese is also widely used in Macau and various territories that were part of Portuguese empire in the past such as Malaysia, Tanzania, Malacca, and Goa and Daman in India. Portuguese speakers also form sizeable communities in the USA and Canada especially Toronto.

Portuguese also enjoys an official status in the European Union (EU), the African Union, the Latin Union, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and more. Over time, Portuguese has been influenced by various dialects and languages.

When it comes to Portuguese translations, the most important thing one has to keep in mind is what type of translation will be the most suitable for your company. Portuguese is classified into two primary categories: Brazilian Portuguese and the European Portuguese. And both these types of Portuguese languages vary greatly from each other in terms of pronunciation, grammar, spelling, dialects, sub-dialects and terminologies.

A resident of Brazil may understand a program on radio in European Portuguese but that is how far they understand the European version. If your target audience is based in Brazil, the usage of European Portuguese there is unacceptable and vice-versa. For this reason it is highly advisable to use the services of a professional translation company, be it a translation Regina agency or a certified translation Toronto services provider that is capable of producing accurate Portuguese translations.

The usage of pronouns varies in both the Brazilian and European versions of Portuguese. When it comes to spelling too there is a vast difference between the two versions. For instance the words such as 'fact' and 'baptism' become 'facto' and 'baptismo' in European version whereas in Brazilian they are called 'fato' and 'batismo'.

Brazilian Portuguese is greatly influenced by Italian and other European languages. Over the years the difference between Brazilian and European Portuguese widened as Brazilian Portuguese is more open to accept new words as opposed to the European version. For instance, in Portugal and other European nations the translation of words such as train, or bus is 'comboio', and 'autocarro'. On the other hand, in Brazil, the same words are translated as 'trem' and 'ônibus'.

About half of South America speaks Portuguese. So if you are really serious about making your mark in this vast Latin American market, you have to take Portuguese translations very seriously. Hence obtain the services of a reputable translation company, which could be a translation Regina agency or a certified translation Toronto services provider which has translators who understand the differences between the two versions and create translations that are suitable for your target audience.