Levamos ao vosso conhecimento

You’ll mostly find this phrase at the very beginning of a formal letter, email, or internal memo. It acts as a 'header' for the rest of your message. Because it uses the second-person plural possessive vosso (your), it is almost always addressed to a group—like a set of clients, a department of employees, or a community of residents. In European Portuguese, even though people rarely say vós (you plural) in the street anymore, the possessive vosso remains the king of formal writing. To use it, simply drop it at the start: Levamos ao vosso conhecimento que... followed by your news. It’s like putting on a blazer before a Zoom call; it instantly makes your message look more 'adult.' If you use it to tell your roommates you ate their yogurt, they might think you've been hacked by a 19th-century lawyer.

This phrase lives at the top of the formality scale. We are talking C1/C2 level stuff here. It’s 'very formal' bordering on 'institutional.' You will never, ever hear a teenager say this while playing Roblox. You won't find it in a casual WhatsApp group unless someone is being extremely sarcastic. It belongs in the world of banks, law firms, government agencies, and high-level corporate communication. Using it correctly shows you have a deep grasp of Portuguese business etiquette. It signals that you know how to navigate the traditional, often rigid hierarchies of Lusophone professional life. It’s the 'Sir/Madam' of introductory phrases. If formality were a spice, this would be a very expensive, aged balsamic vinegar—use it where it fits, but don't pour it on your cereal.

Imagine you are a property manager in Lisbon. You need to tell all the residents that the elevator will be broken for a week. You’d write: Levamos ao vosso conhecimento que o elevador estará em manutenção. It sounds much more professional than 'Hey guys, use the stairs.' Or maybe you're at a tech startup sending a formal 'Terms of Service' update to your users. Levamos ao vosso conhecimento as alterações na nossa política de privacidade. Even though the startup might have beanbags and a ping-pong table, when legal stuff happens, they switch to this 'grown-up' language. You might also see it in a formal invitation to a gala or a university lecture. It’s the phrase that tells the reader: 'This is not spam; this is a formal record of information transfer.'

Use this when you need to be the 'voice of the company' or a formal representative. It’s perfect for announcing policy changes, schedule updates, or legal results. If you are writing to a board of directors, this is your best friend. It’s also great for when you need to sound serious to get a result—like complaining to a utility company about a wrong bill. Using this phrase tells them, 'I know the rules of engagement, and I am not playing around.' It’s also the safe choice for any 'cold' professional email where you are contacting a group for the first time and want to ensure you don't offend anyone with accidental over-familiarity. When in doubt, go formal.

Do not use this with your friends, your spouse, or your cat. If you say Levamos ao vosso conhecimento que o jantar está pronto to your partner, they will likely ask if you’ve had a stroke or if you’re trying to break up via a legal merger. It is also quite rare in Brazil, where seu or vocês is preferred over the more 'continental' vosso. In a casual Brazilian setting, this phrase would sound incredibly foreign and stiff. Also, avoid using it for minor, trivial news. If you’re just letting people know there are cookies in the breakroom, a simple Informamos que... or Há bolachas... is much better. Using this for cookies is like hiring a symphony orchestra to play a ringtone.

The most frequent error is mixing up the 'person.' People often try to use seu (your/his/her) instead of vosso because they find vosso intimidating. While Levamos ao seu conhecimento is technically correct for one person, the 'power' of the phrase is usually tied to the collective vosso. Another mistake is using it in spoken conversation. It is almost exclusively a written-word beast. If you say it out loud in a meeting, you might sound like you’re reading a script from a period drama. Also, watch out for the 'que'—people often forget to include the conjunction que before the main news. ✗ Levamos ao vosso conhecimento a reunião mudou → ✓ Levamos ao vosso conhecimento QUE a reunião mudou.

If Levamos ao vosso conhecimento feels a bit too 'heavy,' you can try Vimos por este meio informar. This is another classic that basically means 'We are writing to inform you.' If you want to be slightly less 'stuffy' but still professional, you can use Gostaríamos de vos informar que... (We would like to inform you that...). In Brazil, you are much more likely to see Levamos ao seu conhecimento or simply Comunicamos que.... If you’re on Slack and want to be 'semi-formal,' you might just say Para vossa informação (For your information). Each of these is like a different setting on a thermostat—adjust the heat based on how many suits are in the room.

Is this used in Brazil? It’s much rarer there. Brazilians tend to find the use of vós and vosso very archaic or overly 'Portuguese-from-Portugal.' They would use seu or vocês. Is it only for emails? Mostly, yes. It can appear in physical letters, official reports, or government gazettes, but 99% of your encounters with it will be in your inbox. Can I use it for one person? Yes, you could say Levamos ao seu conhecimento, but the specific construction with vosso is the classic 'C1 level' form often tested in exams. It implies you are addressing 'the office' or 'the family.' Why 'carry' (levar)? It’s an old-fashioned way of thinking about news as a physical object being brought to someone's door.