Portuguese translator

By default we recommend European Portuguese (pt-PT) to the Acordo Ortográfico 1990 for documents aimed at Portugal and the EU. We deliver Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR) for the Brazilian market; the differences in vocabulary and grammar are significant. We confirm the variant in the quote based on your target country, so your reader recognises the text as natural.

The UK has no sworn-translator institute, so there is no "sworn translator" as a legal office here. As your Portuguese translation agency we provide certified translation: a signed and dated statement of accuracy from the translator or the agency, with our contact details. Where a body asks for more, this can be escalated to notarisation by a solicitor or notary public, or to an apostille or legalisation through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). We confirm in the quote which level your receiving authority requires.

European Portuguese (pt-PT) and Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR) differ in vocabulary, grammar and sometimes spelling. Examples: "comboio" versus "trem" (train), "telemóvel" versus "celular" (mobile). For a document read in Brazil we choose pt-BR; for Portugal, Angola or Mozambique we choose pt-PT. We confirm the variant up front in the quote so your reader recognises the text as natural.

We work with native specialist translators and reference the recognised UK professional bodies — the ITI (Institute of Translation and Interpreting), the CIOL (Chartered Institute of Linguists) and, for interpreting, the NRPSI (National Register of Public Service Interpreters). These are bodies of reference for the profession; we name them so you can see the standard the work is held to.

On working days you receive a quote within 1 hour. The lead time for the translation itself depends on document type, volume, language pair and any required certification, and is confirmed in the quote. For tight deadlines we confirm a workable rush schedule up front rather than promising a fixed turnaround.

We combine native specialist translators with a structured QA layer: a terminology list, a style guide and a second review where the legal field, risk profile or volume requires it. CAT tools (Trados, memoQ, Phrase TMS) keep terminology consistent across volume and repeated content, including between pt-PT and pt-BR, and a translation memory keeps follow-up work aligned and lowers the cost over time.

For legal Portuguese translation — contracts, judgments, articles of association, notarial deeds — we pair you with a translator who has a legal background and match terminology to Portuguese or Brazilian law as the case requires. Our legal-translation page goes deeper into certification, the closing statement of accuracy and the difference between the two legal systems. See [legal translation](/en/services/legal-translation/).

A Portuguese translation agency takes the coordination off your hands. We select the native specialist who fits your document, sector and target market (pt-PT or pt-BR), arrange certification, notarisation or legalisation where an authority requires it, and have the work checked by a second reviewer. You keep one point of contact for variant, terminology, scheduling and delivery, all under a single quote. A skilled freelance translator does excellent work too; the difference an agency adds is bringing those moving parts together so you are not managing them separately.