Asking for things in Brazilian Portuguese

Level A1

Asking for things in Brazilian Portuguese

By the end of this lesson you can ask for a drink or an object, offer one to a friend, and accept or turn down an offer. You'll use two forms of one verb, quero and quer, plus one polite formula, gostaria de. There are two scenes: a friend's home and a café.

The words you need

The new word is água, water: a água. Go over the others with their articles: o café, o chá, a mesa, a cadeira. Por favor goes at the end of a request. To say thank you, a man says obrigado and a woman says obrigada: it depends on who is speaking, not on who you're thanking.

At Ana's place: offering and answering

Ana has Leo over. Listen twice before you read on. Notice that neither of them says eu (I) or você (you).

Ask with Quero…

Quero means "I want", and the -o ending already says "I", so eu is usually left out. "I want" can sound blunt in English, but in Brazil Quero água, por favor is an ordinary request as long as your tone is friendly. You don't need a word for "some": quero água is enough. For a single thing, use um or uma: um café, uma mesa. Pointing at something you can't name? Say Quero isso, por favor.

Quero água, por favor.

Offer with Quer…? and answer with the verb

Quer goes with você, ele and ela: Quer um café? is "Do you want a coffee?" and Ela quer um chá is "She wants a tea." There's no "do" in the question, just the same words with your voice going up. To accept, Brazilians often repeat the verb rather than saying a bare sim: Quero, sim. To decline, say Não, obrigado (a woman says obrigada).

Gosto de, quero or gostaria de?

Eu gosto de café says what you like in general, so it won't get you a coffee. To order one now, say Quero um café, por favor. Gostaria de um café, por favor orders the same thing more carefully, like "I would like": it suits strangers, restaurants and shops, and can sound stiff with friends. For now, learn gostaria de as one fixed chunk; you don't need the rest of that verb form. Watch the de: gostaria keeps it and quero never takes it, so quero de café is wrong.

Your turn at the café

Leo is at a café and doesn't know the server. One of his lines is new: Queria um café, por favor. You'll hear this a lot at a counter, and it's a soft request for right now, so don't read it as "I wanted". You only need to understand it. Listen once, then cover Leo's lines and say them yourself; for this one, say Gostaria de um café, por favor or Quero um café, por favor.

What to remember

To ask: Quero…, por favor. To offer: Quer…? To ask more carefully: Gostaria de…, por favor. To answer: Quero, sim or Não, obrigado/obrigada. If you hear Queria…, someone is simply asking politely.

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