Talk About Volleyball in Brazilian Portuguese: Court, Teams, and Score
Go beyond football vocabulary with practical words and questions for following or discussing volleyball in Brazil.
Real Life Portuguese · 6 min read · Updated October 15, 2026
The short answer
Volleyball is vôlei in everyday Brazilian Portuguese. A volleyball match is a jogo de vôlei, a team is a equipe or time, and the court is the quadra. Praia means beach, so vôlei de praia is beach volleyball.
Use the core volleyball words
Use partida for a match and placar for the score. These words also appear in other sports, which makes them useful beyond volleyball.
Você acompanha vôlei?
Do you follow volleyball?
O jogo começa às sete.
The match starts at seven.
Qual é o placar?
What’s the score?
Ask about a point or a team
A point is a ponto. A set is a set; Brazilians also use set when talking about volleyball. Use quem está ganhando? to ask who is winning and quem você está apoiando? to ask who someone supports.
Brazil has a strong volleyball tradition, but people’s interests vary. These phrases let you join a conversation without assuming every Brazilian watches the sport.
Quem está ganhando?
Who’s winning?
Foi ponto do Brasil?
Was that a point for Brazil?
Eu gosto mais de vôlei de praia.
I prefer beach volleyball.
Put it into practice
Start with vôlei, jogo, equipe, quadra, ponto, and placar. Add de praia when you mean beach volleyball, then use simple questions to follow the conversation.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “Who’s winning”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
Keep practicing with the Real Life Portuguese app
Build on this guide with everyday expressions and native Brazilian audio. Choose iPhone, Android, or the web app.