I always understood that men will use obrigado and women obrigada, when they say “thank you”. However, I frequently hear Portuguese women use obrigado. We live in Madeira and there are a few differences between the way some things are said here and the mainland. Might this be the reason for this?
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This is pretty common actually. They are absolutely incorrect since as you know, the word refers to yourself being “obliged”. So males should say “obrigado” and females “obrigada”.
For foreigners learning the language I think the concept is pretty simple. But for natives who have spoken the language their whole lives, they don’t think about the language as analytically as us, and sometimes won’t follow this rule. When asked, they may even be in doubt about what the rule is. They just go with what they’ve heard their whole lives and might not consciously be aware of a difference.
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Thanks for the clarification Joel
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Any time, appreciate the great question and excited to see more! 
I’ve also heard both women and men say “brigad”. Or at least that’s what it sounds like to me. Almost like a quick, gender-neutral thank you.
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I hear people saying ‘brigad’ (or as you say that is what it sounds like) all the time when visiting my Girlfriends family in Portugal. Always taken it to be a short informal way of saying ‘thank you’. A bit like saying ‘thanks’ rather than ‘thank you’.
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Yes, when we speak fast, it sounds like ‘brigad’, but we’re not truly abbreviating the word, just being lazy with the pronunciation, since we know we’ll be understood anyway. We have a tendency to drop quite a few starting/final vowels when talking 
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I’m very glad I came upon this question. I’ve been living in the Azores now for over two years and hadn’t gotten any clarification on this question until today. Much obliged! Obrigado!
@joelrendall We love your videos and the PP website tools!
We have been in PT for 5 years, and constantly learning the language. In November, we will take the A2 test.
Today, I heard that now there is a push to have both men and women shift to BOTH using ObrigadO (not having women use obrigada). I cannot find any info on google about this shift.
Have you heard this? Is this an official thing, or maybe a shift in local/slang?
Thanks much!
Olá, @roger_sheehy! Thanks for posting.
There are academic discussions about the classification of obrigado, with some noting that if considered an interjection, it’s also logical to treat it as invariable and to accept that everyone uses the same form. Personally, I’m not sure if I would classify those discussions as a push, since I have also not seen any actual rejection of the typical use of obrigado/a as a variable adjective, aligned with the gender of the speaker. As far as I know, both classifications coexist to some extent (with clear predominance of the latter, at least in real-world use), and allow grammarians to frame different patterns of use without necessarily prescribing one over the other. But if you/anyone has any more information, please share 
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Yes! You can say that again!!! One of the many reasons why it’s so difficult (I.e. virtually impossible) to understand the Portuguese when they speak to you at their normal speed 
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O Marco Neves tratou aquele assunto aqui no Spotify
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