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Portuguese translation services deliver Portuguese ⇄ German for authorities and certificates, produced by sworn, court-authorised German translators who are Portuguese native speakers. The variety — European Portuguese (PT-PT) for Portugal and the PALOP countries or Brazilian Portuguese (PT-BR) — is fixed in advance, and translations are certified on request for registry offices and courts here. Portuguese ⇄ English covers international business. Prices start from €0.89 per standard line.
Native Portuguese specialists · PT-PT or PT-BR · certified translations recognised by German authorities
Short & clear
With around 260 million speakers Portuguese is the most widely spoken language of the southern hemisphere — and for translation it splits into two clearly separate worlds: European Portuguese (PT-PT) of Portugal and the African PALOP countries, and Brazilian Portuguese (PT-BR). Whether it is a birth certificate for naturalisation, a supply contract with a Lisbon partner or a diploma from São Paulo: recognition and legal certainty turn not only on the language but on the right variety. The work is done by native Portuguese specialists with a proven field.
We work in both directions and both pairings. Portuguese ⇄ German is what German authorities and courts need when Portuguese or Brazilian documents are submitted certified. Portuguese ⇄ English covers international business, for addressees in Portugal, Brazil or Africa or partners who work in English.
Who it's for
Most people who search for this in English are fluent Portuguese speakers dealing with a German system — or companies using English with partners in Portugal or Brazil. Both are covered.
Birth, marriage and family certificates, diplomas and police records for a registry office (Standesamt), the immigration office or recognition of qualifications — as a certified German translation, in the variety of the issuing country.
Supply contracts, company papers and technical or medical documentation exchanged with partners in Portugal or Brazil in English rather than German. Same specialists, same care with the variety and terminology.
German certificates, contracts and documentation for authorities or partners in Portugal, Brazil or an African PALOP country — PT-PT or PT-BR, in the form valid there.
Companies trading with Lisbon or São Paulo, whose contracts and documentation must land in the right variety, kept consistent by translation memory and a style guide.
Language & script
Between European and Brazilian Portuguese lie differences that go well beyond accent: in vocabulary (comboio/trem for train, telemóvel/celular for mobile phone, pequeno-almoço/café da manhã for breakfast), in grammar (Portugal forms the progressive with estar a fazer, Brazil with the gerund estar fazendo) and in address (in Brazil você is neutral, in Portugal it can sound distant — there one uses tu or o senhor). The 1990 Orthographic Agreement (Acordo Ortográfico) did not unify the varieties; it merely aligned some spellings.
We fix the target variety before the project and hold it consistent through translation memory and a style guide. The numerous diacritics are characteristic too — the cedilla ç and the nasal vowels ã and õ (as in coração or São Paulo); on names and in certificates a missing mark changes the pronunciation and sometimes the meaning. For official use, an authorised translator issues a certified translation; whether an apostille is also required, we check in advance — Portugal and Brazil are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, and it is issued by the competent authority in the country of origin, not by the translation agency.
Quality you only notice at the receiving end
Portuguese looks like one language — and the trap is the variety, the address and the diacritics. These pitfalls separate a native professional translation from a generic one; each is DE⇄PT-specific and demonstrable.
| Pitfall | Why it goes wrong | How the FÜD solves it |
|---|---|---|
| PT-PT and PT-BR confused | Vocabulary, grammar and register differ (comboio/trem, estar a fazer/estar fazendo). The wrong variety reads as foreign to the target audience and, for an authority, misses the brief. | We fix the target variety before the project and hold it consistent through translation memory and a style guide. |
| Address wrong (você / tu / o senhor) | In Brazil você is neutral; in Portugal it can sound distant, where tu or o senhor is used. The wrong form of address strikes the wrong tone in a contract or letter. | We set the register and address to the target variety and the document type deliberately. |
| Nasal vowels ã / õ and cedilla ç dropped | ç, ã and õ carry meaning (coração, São Paulo); a missing mark changes the pronunciation and sometimes the word — critical on names and certificates. | Diacritics are set correctly and checked against the source, so names and terms are preserved. |
| Acordo Ortográfico misapplied | The 1990 Agreement aligned some spellings but did not unify the varieties. Applied wholesale, it produces inconsistent or wrong forms for the target. | We apply the current orthography correctly for the chosen variety, not as a blanket switch. |
| False friends between DE and PT | Terms that look familiar diverge in law and administration; a literal rendering imports the wrong legal concept. | A specialist checks the terminology and keeps legal and administrative terms demonstrable, not literal. |
| PALOP usage overlooked | The African PALOP countries (Angola, Mozambique and others) use European Portuguese with local administrative terms. Treated as generic PT-PT, some references miss. | We set the terminology for the specific target country, including the PALOP states, not a generic European default. |
| Certification abroad ≠ German authorisation | A German court-authorised translator is not automatically admitted in Portugal or Brazil, and the apostille and local forms differ by country. | We clarify which country the document is for and set the right form; Portugal and Brazil are Hague parties, so we check the apostille in advance. |
None of these is a simple typo — most survive any spell-check. They arise where two clearly separate varieties, distinct registers and meaning-bearing diacritics meet German administrative practice, and they only surface at the receiving end: the registry office, the Portuguese or Brazilian authority, the recognition body. That is where native professional translation earns its place.
One language, two worlds — the variety decides whether it lands.
So: native speakers with a field, the target variety fixed in advance, and diacritics set right.
Certification & recognition
For submission to German authorities and courts, a court-authorised translator (in German, ermächtigter Übersetzer, publicly authorised under German state law) produces a certified translation with stamp, signature and certification note — recognised nationwide, in the variety of the issuing country.
For use in Portugal, Brazil or a PALOP country, the local body sets the form; we clarify before the project which country the document is for and apply the valid route — following FÜD's documented quality process; where the service is delivered under DIN EN ISO 17100, the required second-person revision is included. Whether an apostille is additionally required (Portugal and Brazil are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention) we check in advance. The apostille itself is issued by the competent authority in the country of origin — the FÜD does not issue apostilles.
Use cases
Variety, target country and diacritics decide the terminology and the form of certification. Three common jobs — from the starting point to the result.
Registry office & family
Trade in English
Recognition
Quote & price
We review volume, field, language direction and variety and name a binding fixed price. Standard certificates are usually a flat fee per document; longer texts are priced per standard line — certification on request, advance PDF and postal delivery included.
| Native Portuguese professional translation | ✓included |
| Target variety (PT-PT/PT-BR) fixed in advance & diacritics preserved | ✓included |
| Certification by an authorised translator on request | ✓included |
| Advance PDF & postal delivery of the original | ✓included |
| Quality management & final check | ✓included |
Portuguese is priced in language Group 1, from € 0.89 per standard line (55 characters incl. spaces); we name the exact amount after a brief review. How the price is made up →
Portuguese documents & texts
We translate Portuguese – German and Portuguese – English – from certified records to specialist texts. Commonly requested from Portuguese: Certidão de nascimento (birth certificate), Certidão de casamento (marriage certificate), Certidão de antecedentes criminais (diploma), Diploma (diploma), Certidão de divórcio (divorce decree).
FAQ
I needed Brazilian Portuguese for São Paulo, not the European variety the last agency delivered — they fixed it before starting and kept the terminology consistent. Everything was accepted first time.
R. Oliveira · diploma recognition, Cologne
Next
Work with us
Our Portuguese translations are produced by native-speaker specialists — the reason German authorities, universities and courts accept them without queries. Beyond the language itself, that rests on German at C2 level, a specialist field the translator can defend, and — for certified work — court authorisation. If you bring that combination rather than bilingualism alone, we work with Portuguese translators employed and freelance, and the way in is also open through an internship.
The path
Native Portuguese is your starting capital; the market rewards what you build on top. German at C2 — the level at which you read a German ruling or medical report without hesitation — is the real gate, because certified work means rendering official German with precision. Add a field you can defend (law, medicine, technology, finance) and its terminology. That combination, not language alone, is what a registry office or a Portuguese body actually relies on.
Why it holds up
For certified translations you apply to the competent Regional Court (Landgericht) to be authorised under state law. And Portuguese is exacting, specialist work: it mixes the European and Brazilian varieties and flattens register, where an authority needs one variety held cleanly. Careful human work here is what the receiving authority requires.
FÜD