Portuguese · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 3 of 12
At the café
No café
Order breakfast in a Brazilian bakery café, ask for the bill, and learn when to say você and when to say o senhor or a senhora.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Order food and drink politely
- Ask for the bill and the price
- Choose between você and o senhor / a senhora
- Use o / a and um / uma
Listen
Cláudia, in her forties, has breakfast at a bakery café (padaria) in Belo Horizonte. The waiter is younger than her. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Waiter
Bom dia. Pois não?
Good morning. What can I get you?
Cláudia
Bom dia. Eu queria um pão na chapa, por favor.
Good morning. I'd like a toasted buttered roll, please.
Waiter
E a senhora vai querer um cafezinho?
And would you like a coffee?
Cláudia
Não, obrigada. Vou querer um suco de laranja e uma água sem gás.
No, thank you. I'll have an orange juice and a still water.
Waiter
Mais alguma coisa?
Anything else?
Cláudia
Sim, um pão de queijo. Só isso, obrigada.
Yes, a cheese bread roll. That's all, thanks.
Waiter
Pois não.
Certainly.
Cláudia
A conta, por favor. Quanto fica?
The bill, please. How much is it?
Waiter
Fica vinte e dois reais e cinquenta.
That's twenty-two reais fifty.
Cláudia
Aqui está. Obrigada.
Here you are. Thank you.
Understand
Você or o senhor / a senhora?
In Brazil, is the everyday “you”: with friends, family, colleagues and people your age. To show respect, for example to older people and to customers, say to a man and to a woman.
All three take the same verb form as and , so only the word changes: and both mean “Would you like a coffee?”. In short answers you can drop the or : (Yes, madam), (Thank you, sir).
| Word | Use it with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| friends, family, colleagues, people your age | ||
| an older man, a customer, formal situations | ||
| an older woman, a customer, formal situations |
Ordering: eu queria… and vou querer…
To order politely, say … (I'd like…) or … (I'll have…), and add . Both are very common in cafés and restaurants.
Use (with) and (without) to say what you want: (sparkling water), (still water), (a coffee without sugar). To ask for the total, say (How much does it come to?).
- Eu queria um cafezinho, por favor.I'd like a small black coffee, please.
- Vou querer um suco de laranja.I'll have an orange juice.
- Uma água com gás, por favor.A sparkling water, please.
O or a, um or uma
Every Portuguese noun is either masculine or feminine, even for things. Masculine nouns take (the) and (a). Feminine nouns take (the) and (a). Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and most ending in -a are feminine, but not all: and are masculine. Nouns ending in -ção and -dade are feminine. For other endings, such as , learn each noun with its or .
In the plural, becomes and becomes , and most nouns just add -s: , . and mean “some”. Chapter 8 shows the other plural patterns.
Two sounds from this chapter: ão is a nasal “ow”, as in and . Before e and i, qu usually sounds like “k”: (“KAY-zhoo”).
| English | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| the (one) | ||
| the (more than one) | ||
| a / an | ||
| some |
More in the grammar: Articles and contractions: o, a, no, do, pelo · Nouns and adjectives: gender and plural · Subject pronouns: eu, você, a gente… · The alphabet and pronunciation
New words
- Pois não?Can I help you? / What can I get you? · as an answer, means “certainly”
- eu queria…I'd like… · polite
- o pão na chapaa bread roll, buttered and toasted on the griddle · masculine
- a senhora / o senhoryou (polite, to a woman / a man)
- o cafezinhosmall black coffee · masculine; = coffee
- vou querer…I'll have…
- o suco de laranjaorange juice · masculine
- a água com gás / sem gássparkling / still water · feminine
- Mais alguma coisa?Anything else?
- o pão de queijocheese bread roll · masculine; plural:
- só issothat's all
- a contathe bill · feminine
- por favorplease
- Quanto fica?How much is it? (the total)
Practise
1.A young waiter asks an older man what he'd like. Which question does he use?
2.Write “a” in Portuguese: or ?
A still water, please.
3.Ask for sparkling water: “with gas”.
A sparkling water, please.
4.You want a coffee without sugar. What do you say?
5.Put the words in order to order politely.
Tap the words below in the right order.I'd like a cheese bread roll.
6.Match the Portuguese with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Eu queria um pão de queijo, por favor.
I'd like a cheese bread roll, please.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.