Common Mistakes in Spanish & Portuguese Business Communication — and how to avoid them
Spanish and Portuguese feel “closely related”, but that closeness can mislead. In B2B settings, small linguistic slips can create misunderstandings, slow decisions or even void proposals and contracts. This practical guide lists the most frequent pitfalls and offers simple ways to avoid them — with direct impact on trust, speed and compliance.
Why this matters in B2B
• Trust & speed: clear messages = faster decisions.
• Compliance: misused terms in contracts, ISO policies and specifications create risk.
• Customer experience: tone, courtesy and regionalisms affect perceptions of professionalism.
1) False friends
Look‑alike words with different meanings.
Examples
• PT “pasta” (folder) × ES “pasta” (pasta/cash, colloquial).
• PT “escritório” (office) × ES “escritorio” (desk/secretary).
• PT “atrasar” (to delay) × ES prefers “retrasar” in formal registers.
How to avoid: a validated PT↔ES glossary and cross‑review by a native speaker.
2) Tone, formality and address
Choosing tu/você (PT) and tú/usted/ustedes (ES), plus openings and closings.
Typical issue: starting informal and switching to formal in the same email; addressing a committee with “tú”.
Good practice:
• PT‑PT: default “Você” in B2B until rapport is built; opening “Exmo.(a) Sr.(a)…”, closing “Com os melhores cumprimentos”.
• ES‑ES: default “usted/ustedes”; opening “Estimado/a…”, closing “Atentamente/Saludos cordiales”.
3) Message structure
Portuguese tends to contextualise before the ask; Spanish business writing favours clarity up front.
Risk: long, indirect emails in ES lose punch; overly direct asks in PT may sound curt.
Fix: inverted pyramid in ES; “context‑ask‑next steps” in PT.
4) Dates, numbers and formats
• Dates: 31/12/2025 in both, but avoid EN‑style 12/31.
• Numbers: comma as decimal separator (1,5 M€ / 1.5M€ localised); standardise abbreviations (M€, MM€).
• Thousands: non‑breaking space vs period — define in your style guide.
• Currency: place symbol according to internal standard (e.g., 1,5 M€).
5) Punctuation and accents
• Titles: Spanish avoids excessive capitals; Portuguese capitalisation is stricter than English.
• Accents: “información/gestión/calidad” (ES); “informação/gestão/qualidade” (PT).
• Pitfall: copy English punctuation habits (ALL CAPS; comma between subject and verb).
6) Regional variation (ES & PT)
• Spanish: ES‑ES ≠ ES‑LATAM (lexicon, tu/vos/ustedes, culture).
• Portuguese: PT‑PT ≠ PT‑BR (technical lexicon, register, spelling).
Best practice: define the target variety per market (ES‑ES; country‑specific ES‑LATAM; PT‑PT for Portugal).
7) Technical and legal terminology
Traps
• “Licitação/Concurso Público” (PT) × “Licitación/Concurso” (ES) — requirements and acronyms change.
• ISO: “controlos” (PT) × “controles” (ES); “registos” × “registros”.
Mitigation: a domain‑specific termbase (ISO, legal, technical, HSE) with ownership and continuous updates.
8) Email subjects and CTAs
Issue: vague subjects (“Request”) and weak CTAs (“Waiting for feedback”).
Better:
• PT: “Pedido de proposta — Projeto X — prazo 15/11”.
• ES: “Solicitud de propuesta — Proyecto X — plazo 15/11”.CTA com verbo + prazo e responsável.
CTA with verb + deadline and owner.
9) Literal translation vs localisation
Example:
• Literal PT→ES: “Feiras internacionais com método” → may sound odd.
Better: “Ferias internacionales con metodología y seguimiento”.
Rule: prioritise naturalness and real‑market usage.
10) Insufficient review and QA
Cause: haste and lack of a native second pass.
Countermeasures: native review, checklist, linguistic QA (ISO 17100) and back‑translation for critical clauses.
Quick examples (before/after)
Ex. 1 — Subject line
Before (PT→ES literal): “Solicitud información feria”
After: “Solicitud de información — Feria [Name] — reunión 12/11”
Ex. 2 — Closing
Before (PT): “Obrigado, fico a aguardar”
After (PT): “Fico a aguardar a sua confirmação até 15/11. Obrigado.”
Ex. 3 — Contract/ISO
Before (PT): “Controlos de acesso documentais”
After (ES): “Controles de acceso a la documentación” (ISO 27001)
How to avoid these errors (recommended process)
1. PT & ES style guide (tone, address, formats, capitalisation, CTA).
2. Domain termbase (ISO, legal, technical) with owner and approval cycle.
3. Email and proposal templates per market (PT‑PT, ES‑ES, ES‑LATAM).
4. Native review & QA (ISO 17100) and back‑translation for sensitive clauses.
5. CAT tools & translation memory for consistency and efficiency.
6. Team training (false friends, address forms, CTAs).
7. Short pilots: test with 2–3 accounts and measure impact (response time, time‑to‑decision, rework).
Checklist for your company
• Target variety defined (PT‑PT / ES‑ES / ES‑LATAM).
• Approved style guide and templates.
• Domain termbase with owner and SLA for updates.
• Native review + QA flow (ISO 17100).
• Communication KPIs (response time, proposal approval rate, errors found).
How Consenso Global can help
• Terminology management & professional translation (ISO 17100): PT↔ES glossaries, termbase and QA.
• Native review & coaching: tone, address and templates for sales teams.
• Proposal & tender support: PT & ES structure, ISO compliance and quality documentation.
• Internationalisation & trade fairs: multilingual outreach, agendas and follow‑up for PT/ES markets.
Conclusion
In Iberian and Lusophone/Hispanic markets, “linguistic proximity” is an advantage only if well managed. With a solid style guide, terminology and QA, communication becomes a real growth lever.
