When you step into your first capoeira class, you will be bombarded by many foreign words. Don’t worry. You don’t need to be fluent in Brazilian Portuguese to play capoeira, but it would help you to know a few basic words you may hear while training.

Also, check out the Capoeira Terms page for a wider selection of capoeira related words.

Body Parts

mao: hand

braco: arm

cabeca: head

cotovelo: elbow

perna: leg

pe: foot

joelho: knee

Numbers (One – Ten)

um: one

dois: two

tres: three

quatro: four

cinco: five

seis: six

sete: seven (pronounced “setch”)

oito: eight (pronounced “oy-toh”)

nove: nine (pronounced noh-vay)

dez: ten

Pronouns

eu: I

voce: you

ele/ela: he/she

nos: we

Questions

quando: when

onde: where

o que: what

por que: why

quem: who

como: how

Instruments

berimbau: the main instrument of capoeira

atabaque: the capoeira drum

pandeiro: the capoeira tambourine

Miscellaneous

de novo: again

mais uma vez: one more time

assim: like this

pior: worse

melhor: better

pouco: few/little

muito: many/very

esquerda: left

direita: right

para tras: backwards

para frente: forward

mais: more

menos: less

rapido: fast

devegar: slow

roda: circle/wheel, this is the circle of people in which the capoeira game is played

jogo: game, jogar capoeira is to play capoeira

volta ao mundo: around the world, this is when capoeiristas circle the roda, usually to catch their breath or take a break in the game

stress

: a master of capoeira

esquiva: dodge

movimento: movement

comprar de jogo: buy the game, this is when you enter the jogo by “cutting out” a player, it’s sometimes considered disrespectful to buy from mestres and other instructors

Text from the The Capoeira Blog