🇲🇿 Mozambican Portuguese
Talk like a maputense — Mozambican Portuguese, as Maputo speaks it
chapa, machimbombo, maningue. The in-app «Talk like a maputense» guide, in full: 32 words, phrases and habits of speech the Maputo characters use in conversation, so you recognise them when they come at you at speed. Each entry says what it means and what the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world says instead.
Mozambican vs. European / Brazilian Portuguese
| They say | It means | You'll hear |
|---|---|---|
| chapa | shared minibus taxi (elsewhere: carrinha / autocarro) | Apanho o chapa para a Costa do Sol. THE way Maputo moves — a white minibus on a fixed route for a fixed fare. It is «o chapa» (masculine). Portugal has no equivalent; Brazil says «lotação» or «van». |
| machimbombo | bus (elsewhere: autocarro / ônibus) | O machimbombo passa de meia em meia hora. The big city bus. Mozambique (and Angola) say «machimbombo»; Portugal «autocarro»; Brazil «ônibus». |
| maningue | very / a lot (elsewhere: muito) | Está maningue calor hoje. The signature Mozambican intensifier — «maningue bom», «maningue gente», «maningue longe». Everyone uses it; it is not slang. |
| txopela | motorised three-wheeler taxi (elsewhere: tuk-tuk / mototáxi) | Vou de txopela até à Baixa. The auto-rickshaw. The «tx» is said like English «ch». |
| capulana | printed wrap cloth (elsewhere: pano / tecido estampado) | Comprei duas capulanas no Xipamanine. The printed cotton cloth worn as a wrap, headscarf or baby sling and used as a tablecloth. No standard equivalent — say «capulana» everywhere in Mozambique. |
| machamba | family field or garden plot (elsewhere: horta / campo) | Aos fins-de-semana vamos à machamba. A cultivated plot, usually outside town. From Swahili «shamba». Universal in Mozambique. |
| xima | stiff maize porridge (elsewhere: papa de milho) | Camarão com xima, se faz favor. The staple — eaten with the hand alongside a stew or grilled fish. The «x» is said like English «sh». |
| matapa | cassava-leaf stew with peanut and coconut (elsewhere: —) | A matapa da minha avó leva camarão pequeno. The national dish of the south. No standard equivalent. |
| piri-piri | hot chilli / chilli sauce (elsewhere: malagueta / pimenta) | Quer muito piri-piri ou pouco? Portugal also says «piri-piri»; Brazil says «pimenta». In Maputo it is on every table. |
| refresco | soft drink (elsewhere: refrigerante) | Uma 2M e um refresco, por favor. In Mozambique a «refresco» is any fizzy soft drink; Portugal and Brazil say «refrigerante». |
| geleira | fridge (elsewhere: frigorífico / geladeira) | Põe a cerveja na geleira. Mozambique «geleira»; Portugal «frigorífico»; Brazil «geladeira». Also the cool box at a barraca. |
| bicha | queue (elsewhere: fila) | Há uma bicha grande no banco. As in Portugal. Do NOT use it in Brazil, where it is a slur — say «fila» there. |
| madala | elder man (respectful) (elsewhere: senhor de idade / velhote) | O madala ali ao fundo é pescador. From Changana/Zulu. Respectful, not rude — the way you refer to or address an older man. |
| mamana | older woman (respectful), esp. a market woman (elsewhere: senhora) | As mamanas do mercado vendem a melhor fruta. From Changana. Respectful and everyday; the women who run the markets. |
| dumba-nengue | informal street market (elsewhere: mercado informal) | No dumba-nengue encontras de tudo. Ronga/Changana: literally «trust your feet» — vendors who can move fast. The everyday word for the informal market. |
| xitique | rotating savings circle (elsewhere: grupo de poupança rotativa) | Paguei o tecto com o dinheiro do xitique. A group who each pay into a pot that goes to one member in turn. A Mozambican institution. |
Everyday phrases
- Está tudo bem? — how are you? / all good?
—Boa tarde, filho. Está tudo bem? —Tudo bem, obrigado.
Courtesy comes BEFORE business in Maputo: you greet and ask how someone is before you order or ask for anything. - Estamos juntos. — we're together — thanks / take care / goodbye
—Obrigado pela ajuda. —Estamos juntos.
Solidarity as a farewell. The most Mozambican way to close a conversation. - Kanimambo. — thank you
—Aqui tem o troco. —Kanimambo!
Ronga/Changana for «thank you», used by everybody in Maputo alongside «obrigado». Also written «khanimambo». - Lixile. — good morning (Changana)
—Lixile, mamana! —Lixile.
A Changana greeting you will hear in the markets and on the chapa. Answer it back, or with «bom dia». - Epá! — hey / well / oh (interjection)
Epá, o camarão acabou.
Opens half the sentences in Maputo, as does its short form «pá». Surprise, emphasis, sympathy — anything. - Paragem! — stop! (to get off a chapa)
Paragem, por favor! Saio aqui.
What you call out when the chapa reaches your stop. The cobrador bangs the roof and the driver pulls over. - Vou ali e já venho. — I'll be right back
Vou ali e já venho — fica aí.
Said constantly, and «já» is elastic. - Maningue nice. — really nice / great
—Gostaste da praia? —Maningue nice.
The Mozambican intensifier plus the English loan «nice» — one of the most recognisable Maputo phrases. - Bem-haja. — thank you / bless you (formal)
Bem-haja pela sua ajuda, senhor director.
A formal thanks you will hear from elders and in speeches. Everyday thanks is «obrigado» or «kanimambo».
Slang & flavour
- mano / mana — bro / sis
Entra, mano, há lugar atrás.
Slang. How anyone your own age addresses you on the street or the chapa; warm, not rude. - chefe — boss (to a man you don't know)
Chefe, este chapa vai para o Museu?
Slang address. Friendly and neutral — the way you call a waiter, a cobrador or a stranger. «Boss» (from English) is heard too. - nice — nice / cool
Que nice, esse sítio.
Slang. The English word, used as an ordinary adjective — «tá nice», «maningue nice». - fixe — cool / great
O concerto foi fixe.
Slang, shared with Portugal. Pronounced «feesh». - tás a ver? — you see? / you know?
É longe, tás a ver?
Slang tag question checking you are following — «estás a ver» with the first syllable dropped. - um conto — a thousand meticais (colloquial)
O prato são dois contos? Não, seiscentos.
Slang for money: «conto» = 1,000 meticais in casual talk. If in doubt, ask for the number in meticais and watch the fingers. - mulungo — white person / foreigner
Chegou um mulungo a perguntar pelo mercado.
From Changana «mulungu». You may hear it said about you; it is descriptive rather than an insult, but it is not a word for a learner to use.
Practise it with someone from Maputo
Maputo keeps the European consonants — the final -s leans toward «sh», the progressive is «estou a grelhar» — and then gives every vowel its full beat, the way Changana speakers do, so a learner who found Lisbon a wall of consonants hears every syllable here. Célia's barraca is a tin roof on posts on the beach side of the Avenida Marginal, out toward the Costa do Sol: charcoal, peri-peri prawns from the Bairro dos Pescadores, a 2M kept «maningue» cold — and a greeting that always comes before the order.
Meet Célia in Maputo →