O que você come?
Chapter Overview
Talking about food is one of the most frequent things people do in everyday Portuguese conversation, from ordering a coffee to describing what you like to eat. This chapter opens Unit II by teaching you to name common foods and drinks, say what you like and want using gostar de and querer, and place a simple order in a café or restaurant. You will also begin using regular -ar verbs in the present tense, which opens the door to describing everyday actions in the chapters ahead.
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Name common foods and drinks using correct articles and gender.
- Conjugate regular -ar verbs in the present tense for everyday actions.
- State likes and dislikes using gostar de.
- Express wants using querer.
- Order simply in a café or restaurant using Eu queria... and ..., por favor.
- Ask someone else about their food preferences and respond to the same questions.
Communication Scenario
After the conversation group's first video call, several members decide to meet in person at a small café before their next session. Before the group arrives, each member needs to be able to look at a simple menu, say what they like and want to eat or drink, and place an order with the server.
- This chapter activates regular -ar verbs, gostar de, articles with food nouns, querer, and the ordering formula N, por favor.
- You may invent your own food preferences if you prefer not to describe your real diet.
- Chapters 1–5 systems (greetings, ser, ter, days and times) continue to recycle throughout this chapter.
Core Vocabulary
Portuguese nouns are learned with their article and gender from the start. Notice that food nouns are not always the gender you might expect from English.
| Portuguese | Article / Gender | English |
|---|---|---|
| o pão | masc. | bread |
| o arroz | masc. | rice |
| o feijão | masc. | beans |
| a fruta | fem. | fruit |
| o queijo | masc. | cheese |
| a salada | fem. | salad |
| o frango | masc. | chicken |
| o peixe | masc. | fish |
| a sobremesa | fem. | dessert |
| a água | fem. | water |
| o suco | masc. | juice |
| o café | masc. | coffee |
| o leite | masc. | milk |
| o refrigerante | masc. | soda |
Diacritics such as the tilde in pão and feijão mark nasal vowels; keep them in every written form.
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| o restaurante | restaurant |
| o café (place) | café |
| o cardápio | menu |
| o garçom / a garçonete | waiter / waitress |
| gostar de | to like |
| querer | to want |
| por favor | please |
| a conta | the bill |
Vocabulary is receptive for the restaurant scene beyond what appears in the model dialogue and practice tasks below; only the ordering formula N, por favor is required for independent production this chapter.
Pronunciation Focus
Several common food words contain nasal vowels, where m or n signals that the vowel is pronounced through the nose rather than as a full consonant. Practice these words aloud: pão, feijão, também (also), and um pão. This production model reflects contemporary Brazilian Portuguese.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns
Regular -ar verbs in the present tense
Regular -ar verbs are the largest group of Portuguese verbs and let you describe everyday actions such as eating, drinking, and working.
- Eu tomo café de manhã. I drink coffee in the morning. tomar → tomo
- Ela toma suco de laranja. She drinks orange juice. tomar → toma
- Nós compramos pão no mercado. We buy bread at the market. comprar → compramos
Gostar de for likes and dislikes
Gostar de is the standard way to say you like something in Portuguese. The preposition de is a fixed part of the expression and does not change.
- Eu gosto de arroz e feijão. I like rice and beans.
- Você gosta de café? Do you like coffee?
- Ela não gosta de peixe. She doesn't like fish.
Contraction with a definite article, such as gostar do café for a specific coffee already mentioned, is receptive only this chapter; production stays with the simple gostar de + noun pattern.
Querer for wants and ordering
Querer lets you say what you want, and its polite past-tense form queria is the standard soft way to order in a restaurant.
- Eu quero uma água, por favor. I want a water, please.
- Eu queria um café, por favor. I would like a coffee, please. formulaic softened order
Eu queria is taught here as a formulaic, memorized politeness pattern for ordering. Its underlying imperfect-tense grammar is not activated until Chapter 18.
The simplest way to order in a Brazilian café or restaurant is to name the item followed by por favor: Um café, por favor. / Uma água, por favor. This pattern is fully productive from this chapter forward.
Model Dialogue: No restaurante
Context: A server and a customer at a small café. Informal, everyday service register.
This dialogue combines querer (Ch. 6), gostar de (Ch. 6), and courtesy language recycled from Chapter 1.
Guided Practice
- Complete each sentence with the correct form of gostar de: Eu ______ café. / Você ______ frango? / Ela não ______ peixe.
- Complete each sentence with the correct form of falar or tomar: Nós ______ português. / Ele ______ suco de manhã.
- Order the following items using N, por favor: a coffee; a water; rice and beans.
Listening Practice
If no audio recording is available, ask a partner, instructor, or text-to-speech tool to read the script below aloud, or read it aloud to yourself slowly.
- List two foods that Marcos likes.
- List one food that Marcos does not like.
- What does Marcos drink in the morning?
Speaking Practice
Prática controlada — Controlled practice: three sentences
Say each sentence aloud about yourself, in order: Eu gosto de ______. (a food); Eu não gosto de ______. (a food); Eu quero ______, por favor. (a food or drink)
Tarefa comunicativa — Communicative task: ordering role-play
With a partner, take turns playing the server and the customer from the Model Dialogue. Use at least two food or drink items from the vocabulary list and the pattern N, por favor.
Prática individual — Solo alternative
Record yourself naming three foods or drinks you like, one you do not like, and placing one simple order using Eu queria..., por favor.
Reading Practice
Um cardápio simples — A simple menu
Café da manhã: pão, queijo, café, suco de laranja. Almoço: arroz, feijão, frango ou peixe, salada. Sobremesa: fruta.
Tarefa de leitura — Reading task:
- Name two items available for breakfast (café da manhã).
- Name two items available for lunch (almoço).
- What dessert (sobremesa) does the menu offer?
Writing Workshop
Complete the following linked writing tasks in order to build a short note about your food preferences for the conversation group's café meetup.
Tarefa 1 — Likes: Write one or two sentences about foods or drinks you like, using gostar de.
Tarefa 2 — Dislikes: Write one sentence about a food or drink you do not like, using não gostar de.
Tarefa 3 — Order: Write one sentence placing an order for the café meetup, using Eu queria... or N, por favor.
Tarefa 4 — Full note: Combine Tarefas 1–3 into one short note of three to four sentences for the group chat.
- Draft each section separately. Write the likes, dislikes, and order sentences one at a time before combining them.
- Combine the sections into one note. Add a greeting at the start, recycled from Chapter 1.
- Check every verb form. Confirm that gostar de and querer are conjugated correctly for the subject.
- Check articles and gender. Confirm that food nouns have the correct article and gender.
- Check diacritics. Confirm that nasal vowels such as those in pão and feijão are written correctly.
Lista de revisão — Editing checklist:
- The note includes a greeting, at least one like, one dislike, and one order.
- gostar de and querer are used correctly for their taught functions.
- Food nouns include the correct article and gender.
- All diacritics, including nasal vowels, are preserved.
- The ordering pattern N, por favor is used at least once.
Culture and Communication
In many Brazilian households, almoço (lunch) is the largest meal of the day and commonly includes rice, beans, and a protein such as chicken or fish. This pattern is common but not universal; meal timing and composition vary by region, household, and lifestyle.
Eu queria... is a common, polite way to order across Brazilian Portuguese contexts. In some settings, speakers may instead use the direct Eu quero... or simply name the item with por favor. All three remain within the productive Brazilian model used in this course.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Error: Saying eu gosto café, omitting the required preposition.
Correction: gostar always requires de: eu gosto de café.
Error: Saying o água or a suco, guessing gender from the English equivalent.
Correction: Learn each noun with its article: a água, o suco. Portuguese gender is a property of the noun, not of the object itself.
Error: Saying nós fala português, using the third-person singular ending with a plural subject.
Correction: Match the ending to the subject: nós falamos português.
Chapter Summary
O que você aprendeu — What you learned
This chapter activated regular -ar present-tense verbs, gostar de for likes and dislikes, querer and formulaic Eu queria... for wants and polite ordering, and the ordering pattern N, por favor, along with food, drink, and restaurant vocabulary.
Chapter Review
Parte A — Compreensão (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- What two items does the customer order?
- Why does the customer decline juice?
Parte B — Escrita (Writing)
1. Write one sentence with gostar de and one sentence with querer.
2. Conjugate falar for eu and for nós.
Parte C — Leitura (Reading)
1. Return to the Um cardápio simples passage in Reading Practice, and identify one item from each meal category.
Parte D — Fala (Speaking)
1. Order two items from a partner playing the server, using N, por favor.
Practical Performance Task
Chapter 6 Practical Check
O que você come?: Ordering at the Café Meetup
Complete the following connected tasks, in order, as one integrated performance.
- Read the Um cardápio simples passage. Answer the comprehension questions above before continuing.
- State three likes and one dislike. Use gostar de and não gostar de.
- Role-play placing an order. Use Eu queria... or N, por favor for at least two items.
- Write your café note. Apply the editing checklist from the Writing Workshop.
- Check your note against all required content. Confirm that likes, a dislike, and an order are all present and accurate.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary use | The learner names foods and drinks with correct articles and gender. |
| Likes and dislikes | The learner uses gostar de correctly for at least one like and one dislike. |
| Wants and ordering | The learner uses querer or Eu queria... and the pattern N, por favor. |
| Verb agreement | The learner conjugates regular -ar verbs correctly for the subject used. |
| Diacritics and spelling | The learner preserves diacritics, including nasal vowels, throughout. |
This checkpoint uses only material activated in Chapter 6 together with recycled Chapters 1–5 systems.
Answer Key
Guided Practice
- gosto / gosta / gosta
- falamos / toma
- Sample: Um café, por favor. / Uma água, por favor. / Arroz e feijão, por favor.
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- The customer orders a coffee (um café) and a cheese bread (um pão de queijo).
- The customer declines juice because they do not like it much and prefer water instead.
Writing
- Sample: Eu gosto de café. / Eu quero água, por favor. (other accurate sentences following the same patterns are also correct)
- eu falo / nós falamos
Reading
- Sample: breakfast includes pão and café; lunch includes arroz and feijão; dessert is fruta.
Looking Ahead
O que você já sabe fazer — What you can do now
You can name foods and drinks, say what you like and want, and place a simple order in a café or restaurant — combining these new patterns with the greetings and identity language from Unit I.