_____ _____
Global Sourcebook for International Data Management
by Graham Rhind
For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here , to postal code pages here and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here .
10 343 066 (2021) [1]
Note: This section last updated 13th December 2020
1.234,45
(where , indicates the decimal separator and . the thousands separator). A space is also used as a thousands separator.
Note: This section last updated 1st June 2021
dd-mm-yyyy dd/mm/yyyy
The 24-hour clock notation is used.
14:32
Portuguese is spoken by the most of the population. There are 5 000 Caló -speakers; 15 000 Galician -speakers in Tras Os Montes; 10 000 speakers of Mirandesa , also in Tras Os Montes; and 500 Vlach Romani -speakers.
This is written à atenção do Exmo. Senhor ... for men and à atenção do Exma. Senhora ... for women in Portuguese. It may be abbreviated to A/c.
The Portuguese each have four names: two first names and two surnames, which will differ within the same family. The first surname comes from the mother, the second from the father. When addressing women, the first name should be used after the form of address. When addressing men, a first name or a surname may be used after the form of address. First names are more important in Portugal than in many other countries. The whole name should be written in addresses.
Upon marriage, Portuguese women may retain their maiden surnames; add their husband’s paternal surname (or both surnames, sometimes with the connector de) to her maiden surname(s); or drop her maternal surname and add her husband’s paternal surname. For example, if Ana María Goncalves Gorguiera marries Luiz Pazos Silva she may become one of the following:
Ana María Goncalves Gorguiera Ana María Goncalves Gorgueira Silva Ana María Goncalves Gorgueira de Silva Ana María Goncalves Gorgueira Pazos Silva Ana María Goncalves Gorgueira de Pazos Silva Ana María Gorgueira Silva
Children may take all of their parents’ surnames or only the paternal surnames:
Carlos João Gorguiera Silva Carlos João Gorguiera Pazos Silva Carlos João Goncalves Gorguiera Pazos Silva Carlos Silva
Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names , family name prefixes , forms of address , job titles
Note: This section last updated 2nd January 2020
C.a in a company name means Companhia (Company). Other company types found in Portuguese address are:
ACE (Agrupamento Complementar de Empresas – association of businesses) Associação (Ass) - association CRL (Cooperative de responsabilidade limitada) EIRL (Single shareholder company) Empresa Publicas Lda (Sociedade por quotas) SA (Sociedade Anõnima orSociedade Aberta) SF (Sociedade Fechada) SGPS (Sociedad gestora de participações socialis – holding enterprise) Unipessoal Limitada - single member company
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
Note: This section last updated 28th March 2021
Addresses consist of three or four lines, comprising the following:
Addresses are written in this format:
Recipient name Thoroughfare type[ ]Thoroughfare name[ ]number{[ ]number suffix details/staircase/floor etc.} {District/zone/estate etc.} {Locality} postal code[ ]TOWN NAME
For example:
Addresses may be found where the house number is preceded by a comma, like this:
Rua Conde Redondo, 80
As in Spain, the house number is often followed by a series of letters and punctuation to indicate floor numbers, stairway numbers and so on. The name and address of the sender should not be written on the back but on the top left-hand corner of the front of the envelope.
For post office box or box addresses, the format is:
Recipient name Box number Post office name postal code[ ]TOWN NAME
For example:
EC is the abbreviation of Estaçao de Correios and CDP of Centro de Distribuição Postal.
The exact form of the thoroughfare type and any prepositions within the address will be determined by grammar. For example, you will find the following:
Rua de masculine singular before a proper noun Rua do masculine singular before any other noun Rua da feminine singular Rua dos masculine plural Rua das feminine plural
Portuguese addresses often contain indications of floor or staircase number and so on, which are needed for the correct delivery of a package. The following words give these indications:
andar floor anexo annex bloco (bl.) block casa house direito (dto.) right entrada (ent.) entrance esquerdo (esq.) left frente front lote lot porta door rés-do-chão (r/c) ground floor trás behind
The words ‘first’, ‘second’ and so on are written as a number followed by a superscript ‘o’ (o), for example:
1°, 2°
etc.
The CTT (Portuguese postal services) prefer that the complete address is written in upper case.
When abbreviation is required, follow these guidelines:
- Thoroughfare types (Rua, Avenida etc.) may be abbreviated - Prepositions (de, da, das, do, dos) may be suppressed - Forms of address (Doutor, Engenheiro etc.) may be abbreviated or suppressed. - CTT prefers that full stops should not be used in abbreviations - For thoroughfare and place names: - No abbreviations should be used when they consist of only one word - When they consiste of more than one word, the first and last words should not be abbreviated (except where these are a form of address). - No abbreviations should be used on the postal code line.
These tables contain CTT-approved abbreviations. Other, commonly found, abbreviations found within addresses are listed in the sections below.
A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired
Form of address | Postally preferred abbreviation |
Alferes | Alf |
Almirante | Alm |
Arquitecto | Arq |
Brigadeiro | Brig |
Capitão | Cap |
Comandante | Cmdt |
Comendador | Comend |
Conselheiro | Cons |
Coronel | Cor |
Dom | D |
Dona | D |
Doutor | Dr |
Doutora | Dr |
Duque | Dq |
Embaixador | Emb |
Engenheira | Eng |
Engenheiro | Eng |
Frei | Fr |
General | Gen |
Infante | Inf |
Marquês | Mq |
Padre | Pe |
Presidente | Presid |
Professor | Prof |
Professora | Prof |
São | S |
Sargento | Sarg |
Tenente | Ten |
Visconde | Visc |
Sub-building type | Postally preferred abbreviation |
Cave | Cv |
Direito | Dto |
Esquerdo | Esq |
Frente | Ft |
Habitação | Hab |
Loja | Lj |
Rés-do-Chão | Rc |
Sobre-Loja | Slj |
Sub-Cave | Scv |
Here is a list of the most commonly occurring (sub-)building types with their common (not necessarily postally preferred) abbreviations:
Portuguese | English |
andar | Floor |
apartamento | Apartment |
Bloco (Bl) | Block |
Cave (Cv) | Cellar |
Centro Comercial (C. Com.) | Commercial Centre |
Direito (Dto) | Right-hand |
Esquerdo (Esq) | Left-hand |
Edifício (Edif., Edf) | Building |
Frente (Ft) | Front |
Habitação (Hab) | Residence |
Loja (Lj.) | Shop |
Lote (Lt.) | Plot, site |
Res-do-Chão (Rc) | Ground floor (UK); First floor (US) |
Sala | Suite |
Sobre-Loja (Slj) | Mezzanine |
Sub-Cave (Scv) | |
Torre (Tr) | Tower |
Vivenda (Vv) | Residence |
Thoroughfare type | Postally preferred abbreviation |
Alameda | Al |
Avenida | Av |
Azinhaga | Az |
Bairro | Br |
Beco | Bc |
Calçada | Cc |
Calçadinha | Ccnh |
Caminho | Cam |
Casal | Csl |
Escadas | Esc |
Escadinhas | Escnh |
Estrada | Estr |
Gaveto | Gav |
Jardim | Jrd |
Largo | Lg |
Loteamento | Loteam |
Parque | Pq |
Pátio | Pto |
Praça | Pc |
Praceta | Pct |
Prolongamento | Prolng |
Quinta | Qta |
Rotunda | Rot |
Rua | R |
Transversal | Transv |
Travessa | Tv |
Urbanização | Urb |
Vila | Vl |
Zona | Zn |
Thoroughfare types are written before and separately from the thoroughfare name. Here is a list of the most commonly occurring thoroughfare types with their common (not necessarily postally preferred) abbreviations:
Thoroughfare Type | Commonly found Abbreviations |
Alameda | Al. |
Arco | |
Avenida | Av., Avda., Ave. |
Azinhaga | Az |
Bai | |
Bairro | Ba., Br. |
Baluarte | |
Beco | Bc |
Cais | |
Calçada | Cc. |
Calçadinha | Ccnh |
Caminho | Cam. |
Campo | |
Carreiro | |
Casal | Csl |
Charneca | |
Circular | |
Entrada | |
Escadas | Esc |
Escadinhas | Escnh |
Esplanada | |
Estação | |
Estrada | Est., Estr |
Estrada Nacional | Estr. Nac. |
Forte | |
Fraião | |
Gaveto | Gav |
Impasse | |
Jardim | Jrd |
Ladeira | |
Largo | L., Lgo., Lg. |
Larguinho | Larg. |
Local | |
Lomar | |
Loteamento | Loteam |
Lugar | Lug. |
Mercado | |
Monte | |
Nogueiró | |
Parque | Pq |
Passeio | |
Pátio | Pto |
Praça | Pr., Pç., Pc |
Praceta | Pct. |
Praia | |
Prolongamento | Prolng |
Quarto, Quarta | Qt., Qto., Qta. |
Quinta | Qu., Qta |
Rampa | |
Rodovia | |
Rotunda | Rot |
Rua | R. |
Rua Particular | |
Ruas | |
São, Santa, Santo | S. |
Sítio | |
Tenões | |
Terreiro | |
Transversal | Transv |
Travessa | Tv. |
Túnel | |
Urbanização | Urb. |
Vale | |
Vereda | |
Via | |
Viaduto | |
Viela | |
Vila | Vl |
Vivenda | |
Volta | |
Zona | Zn |
Other type | Postally preferred abbreviation |
Associação | Ass |
Instituto | Inst |
Lugar | Lug |
Ministério | Min |
Projectada | Proj |
Sem Número | SN |
Sociedade | Soc |
Universidade | Univ |
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
NB: The form of each word can change according to whether the following word is masculine or feminine, singular or plural, or the definite article. Where more than one form is given, they are in the order masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural and feminine plural.
Portuguese Word | Translation |
o, a, os, as | the |
um, uma | a, an |
e | and |
até | till, until, up to |
para | for |
de | of, from |
do, da, dos, das | of the, from the |
a | to, towards |
ao, á, aos, ás | to the, towards the |
perto | near, by |
em | on, in |
no, na, nos, nas | on the, in the |
defronte de | opposite (proper noun) |
defronte do, da, dos, das | opposite (other noun) |
junta a | next to (proper noun) |
junta ao, á, aos, ás | next to (other noun) |
atrás de | behind (proper noun) |
atrás do, da, dos, das | behind (other noun) |
em frente de | in front of (proper noun) |
em frente do, da, dos, das | in front of (other noun) |
entre | between |
sobre | over |
debaixo de | under (proper noun) |
debaixo do, da, dos, das | under (other noun) |
com | with |
nova, nova, novos, novas | new |
velho, velha, velhos, velhas | old |
curio, curta, curtos, curtas | short |
longo, longa, longos, longas | long |
grande, grandes | large |
pequeno, pequena, pequenos, pequenas | small |
norte, do norte, setentrional | north, northern |
leste, este, do leste, do este, oriental | east, eastern |
sul, do sul, meridional | south, southern |
oeste, do oeste, ocidental | west, western |
São (male saint), Santa (female saint) | Saint |
This is written as Apartado. The old designator, Case Postale, may still be found in addresses.
The Portuguese postal service (C.T.T.) has changed the postal code (Código Postal) system in 1999-2000. The old codes consisted of a block of 4 digits, starting with a number between 1 and 9, and are always followed on the last line of the address by the town name in upper case.
In 1999, three extra digits were added to this code to identify smaller areas (streets, blocks, districts, small settlements or groups of small settlements) or large-users within these large postal code districts.
In the codes, the seven digits is formatted:
9999-999
The first four digits will correspond to the old postal code. Where the fourth digit is a 0 or 5, the code is usually that of a central distribution point.
When the old four-digit code was still in use, large users were indicated by the word CODEX after the name of the town. Now that the seven-digit code is used, the word CODEX should no longer be found in or used for addresses.
Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired
\A([1-9]\d{3,3}(-)\d{3,3})\Z
Note: This section last updated 16th June 2015
Refer to Exonyms in Portugal for full lists of place names in Portugal in other languages.
Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm
Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm
Portugal has 18 districts ( distritos , singular - distrito)and the two autonomous island groups ( regioes autonomas , singular - regiao autonoma) of Ilhas dos Açores (Azores) and Ilha de Madeira :
Districts
Aveiro Beja Braga Bragança Castelo Branco Coimbra Évora Faro Guarda Leiria Lisboa Portalegre Porto Santarém Setúbal Viana do Castelo Vila Real Viseu
Portuguese mobile numbers have area codes commencing with a 9.
Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.
All information copyright Graham Rhind 2024. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.