Creole of Guinea-Bissau is the main language of Guinea-Bissau. It is based on Portuguese and local African languages. The grammar is very simple, but the lack of an official orthography makes written Creole complicated, as it is spelled differently in every text.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns when subject of a verb

I 
N
You (sing) 
Bu
He, she, it 
I
We 
No
You (pl) 
Bo
They 
E

Personal pronouns used for emphasis.

I 
Ami
You (sing.) 
Abo
He, she, it 
El
We 
Anos
You (pl.) 
Abos
They 
Elis

Pronunciation guide

Vowels

Consonants

Common diphthongs

Phrase list

Basics

Hello. 
Bon dia, boa tarde, boa noite. ( )
Hello. (informal) 
Kuma? ( )
How are you? 
Kuma ku bu sta? ( ?)
How are you? 
I kuma? ( ?)
Fine, thank you. 
Sta bom, obrigado. ( )
What is your name? 
Kuma ku bu nome? ( ?)
My name is ______ . 
Nha nome i ______ . ( _____ .)
Nice to meet you. 
. ( )
Please. 
. ( )
Thank you. 
Obrigado. ( )
You're welcome. 
Nada. ( )
Yes. 
Si. ( )
No. 
Não. ( )
Excuse me. (getting attention) 
. ( )
Excuse me. (begging pardon) 
Skulpa. ( )
I'm sorry. 
Skulpa. ( )
Goodbye 
Tchau. ( )
Goodbye (informal) 
Na bai. ( )
I can't speak creole [well]. 
N ka ta papia kriol [bem]. ( [ ])
Do you speak English? 
Bu ta papia inglés? ( ?)
Is there someone here who speaks English? 
Alguem li ta papia inglés? ( ?)
Help! 
 ! ( !)
Look out! 
 ! ( !)
Good morning. 
Bon dia. ( )
How have you slept? 
Kuma ku bu mansi?
I slept well, thank you. 
N mansi bem, obrigado.
Good afternoon. 
Boa tarde. ( )
Good night. 
Boa noite. ( )
Good night (to sleep) 
Boa noite. ( )
I don't understand. 
N ka persibi. ( )
Where is the toilet? 
Nunde i kasa de banho? ( ?)

Problems

Numbers

Time

Clock time

Duration

Days

today 
aos
yesterday 
aonti
tomorrow 
amanha
this week 
es semana
last week 
semana passada
next week 
próssima semana
Sunday 
dumingu
Monday 
segunda-fera
Tuesday 
tersa-fera
Wednesday 
kuarta-fera
Thursday 
kinta-fera
Friday 
sesta-fera
Saturday 
sabadu

Months

Writing time and date

Colors

Transportation

Bus and train

Directions

Taxi

Lodging

Money

Eating

Creole phrasebook nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Shopping

Driving

Authority

Learning more

This page was last edited by Nick Roux. Based on work by David and Wikitravel user(s) Pis bus. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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