Portuguese · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 8 of 12
Food and shopping
Comida e compras
Buy fruit and vegetables at a Brazilian street market: ask for quantities, ask prices with custa and custam, and make nouns plural.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Ask for food in quantities: a kilo, half a kilo, a dozen
- Ask how much things cost
- Say what you want with querer, politely with eu queria
- Make nouns plural
Listen
Dona Lúcia, in her sixties, shops at the weekly street market (feira livre) in Fortaleza. The stallholder knows her well. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Stallholder
Bom dia, dona Lúcia. Pois não?
Good morning, Dona Lúcia. What can I get you?
Lúcia
Bom dia. Eu queria um quilo de tomate e meio quilo de cebola.
Good morning. I'd like a kilo of tomatoes and half a kilo of onions.
Stallholder
Pois não. A senhora vai querer mais alguma coisa?
Certainly. Would you like anything else?
Lúcia
Quanto é o quilo da manga?
How much is a kilo of mangoes?
Stallholder
Oito reais o quilo.
Eight reais a kilo.
Lúcia
Pode ser. Um quilo, por favor. E os ovos, quanto custam?
That's fine. A kilo, please. And the eggs, how much are they?
Stallholder
Doze reais a dúzia.
Twelve reais a dozen.
Lúcia
Uma dúzia, por favor. E meio quilo de limão.
A dozen, please. And half a kilo of limes.
Stallholder
Fica trinta e três reais, dona Lúcia.
That's thirty-three reais, Dona Lúcia.
Lúcia
Aqui está. Obrigada.
Here you are. Thank you.
Understand
Querer: eu quero and eu queria
means “to want”. In the present it's regular except for (you want, he / she wants). It's followed by a noun or by a verb in the infinitive: (Do you want to eat now?)
… (I'd like…) is a past form of that Brazilians use as the polite way to ask for something, like … (I'll have…) from chapter 3. … (I want…) is also normal in shops and markets, especially with , but always sounds friendlier.
| Person | (to want) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| / / | ||
| / / |
Quantities
For quantities, use the amount + + the food. With fruit and vegetables sold by weight, Brazilians usually keep the food in the singular: , . To ask the price by weight, say (How much is a kilo?).
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| a kilo of tomatoes | |
| half a kilo of onions | |
| a hundred grams of cheese | |
| a dozen eggs | |
| a box of strawberries | |
| a bottle of water |
Plurals
As you saw in chapter 3, nouns ending in a vowel add -s in the plural, and , become , : → . Nouns ending in other letters change a little more; the table shows the main patterns.
Nouns ending in -ão have three possible plurals. -ões is the most common (), but some take -ães () or -ãos (, the hands). Learn these with the noun.
The verb changes too: (How much is the pineapple?) but (How much are the eggs?).
| Ending | Plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| vowel | add -s | → |
| -m | -ns | → (man) |
| -l | -is | → |
| -r, -z | add -es | → (flower) |
| -ão | usually -ões | → |
| -ão | sometimes -ães or -ãos | → , → |
More in the grammar: Nouns and adjectives: gender and plural · Present tense of irregular verbs
New words
- a feirastreet market · feminine; = open-air market
- o quilokilo · masculine
- o tomatetomato · masculine
- meio quilohalf a kilo
- a cebolaonion · feminine
- a mangamango · feminine
- pode serthat's fine, OK
- o ovoegg · masculine; plural , with an open “o”: “OH-voos”
- a dúziadozen · feminine
- o limãolime · masculine; plural
- eu queroI want
- a bananabanana · feminine
- o mamãopapaya · masculine; plural
- o abacaxipineapple · masculine
Practise
1.Which is the most polite way to ask for something?
2.Write the plural of .
three limes
3.Complete with or .
How much are the bananas?
4.How do you say “two pineapples”?
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.How much is a kilo of mangoes?
6.Match the quantities.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Eu queria um quilo de manga, por favor.
I'd like a kilo of mangoes, 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.