Quanto custa?
Chapter Overview
Now that you can talk about where places are, this chapter teaches you what to do once you get there: shopping. You will learn to point things out with demonstratives such as este and esse, to place descriptive adjectives correctly, to say what you need with precisar de, to ask what is possible with poder, and to handle numbers and prices in everyday transactions. By the end of the chapter, you will be able to shop for clothing and everyday items, ask how much something costs, and compare simple options.
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Ask Quanto custa? and understand answers involving prices.
- Point out items using este, esse, and aquele in their basic forms.
- Place common adjectives correctly, including color and size adjectives.
- State what you need using precisar de.
- Ask what is possible or allowed using poder.
- Use numbers to state prices, sizes, and quantities.
Communication Scenario
A conversation-group member is shopping for clothes and everyday items at a small shop and needs to ask about prices, sizes, and colors, and decide what to buy.
- This chapter activates demonstratives, adjective position, precisar de, poder, and numbers and prices.
- You may invent your own shop, items, and prices if you prefer not to describe a real purchase.
- Chapters 1–8 systems (greetings, ser, estar, ter, days and times, gostar de, querer, ficar, contractions no/na/do/da) continue to recycle throughout this chapter.
Core Vocabulary
The following words describe stores, clothing, colors, and sizes used when shopping.
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| a loja | the store |
| a loja de roupas | the clothing store |
| o preço | the price |
| o dinheiro | the money |
| o cartão | the (credit/debit) card |
| o troco | the change (money returned) |
| caro / cara | expensive |
| barato / barata | cheap, inexpensive |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| a camisa | the shirt |
| a calça | the pants |
| o vestido | the dress |
| o sapato | the shoe |
| a bolsa | the bag |
| pequeno / pequena | small |
| médio / média | medium |
| grande | large |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| azul | blue |
| vermelho / vermelha | red |
| verde | green |
| amarelo / amarela | yellow |
| preto / preta | black |
| branco / branca | white |
Color adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe, like other adjectives activated this chapter.
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| cem, cento e um, duzentos | one hundred, one hundred and one, two hundred |
| mil | one thousand |
| real, reais | real, reais (Brazilian currency) |
| quanto / quanto custa | how much / how much does it cost |
Numbers 0–100 were activated in Chapter 3. This chapter extends numbers to hundreds and thousands for prices, and activates real/reais as the currency term for this production model.
Pronunciation Focus
Numbers such as cinquenta, cem, and duzentos follow the stress patterns you have already practiced, with stress usually falling on the second-to-last syllable unless marked otherwise. When saying a price aloud, group the number and the currency word together in one smooth phrase rather than pausing between them: trinta reais, not trinta... reais. Practice these price phrases aloud: dez reais, cinquenta reais, cem reais.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns
Demonstratives: este, esse, aquele
Portuguese demonstratives point out specific items by distance from the speaker. This chapter activates only their basic singular and plural forms for shopping contexts; the full distance system is developed further in later chapters.
- Quanto custa esse vestido? How much does that dress cost?
- Eu prefiro aqueles sapatos pretos. I prefer those black shoes (over there). aqueles → plural, masculine, far from speaker and listener
This chapter activates demonstratives only as pointing words with concrete, visible items. Their use as pronouns referring to ideas or unstated nouns is not activated yet.
Adjective position: size, color, and description
Descriptive adjectives, including size and color, normally follow the noun in Portuguese and agree with it in gender and number.
- Eu preciso de uma calça azul, tamanho médio. I need blue pants, medium size.
- Estes sapatos são pequenos para mim. These shoes are small for me. pequenos agrees with sapatos: masculine plural
This chapter activates post-nominal adjective position for size, color, and description. Pre-nominal position and meaning shifts by position are introduced beginning this chapter but developed further in Chapters 11–14.
Precisar de and poder
Precisar de expresses need and is followed by a noun with de, or directly by an infinitive without de. Poder expresses possibility, permission, or ability and is followed by an infinitive.
- Nós precisamos de sapatos novos. We need new shoes.
- Eu posso pagar com cartão? Can I pay with a card? poder + infinitive: possibility/permission
This chapter activates poder for simple questions about possibility and permission in shopping contexts. Broader uses of poder, saber, and conseguir together are scheduled for Chapter 13.
Quanto custa? is the formulaic core question for prices. With plural items, Brazilian speakers commonly say Quanto custam?, agreeing the verb with the plural item; both forms are acceptable, and Quanto custa? remains fully understandable and common even with plural items in everyday speech.
Model Dialogue: Na loja de roupas
Context: A customer is shopping for a shirt in a small clothing store. Polite, everyday service register.
This dialogue combines demonstratives, adjective position, precisar de, poder, and numbers and prices (Ch. 9) with greetings and preferir-style preference language recycled from earlier chapters.
Guided Practice
- Complete each sentence with the correct form of este, esse, or aquele: Eu quero ______ camisa (near me). / Você prefere ______ sapatos (near you)? / Nós gostamos de ______ bolsa (far away).
- Rewrite each phrase placing the adjective correctly with agreement: camisa / azul. calça / grande. sapatos / pequeno.
- Complete each sentence with the correct form of precisar de or poder: Eu ______ um vestido novo. / Você ______ me ajudar? / Nós ______ pagar com dinheiro.
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.
- What two items does the speaker need?
- How much does the green dress cost?
- What size does the speaker ask for?
Speaking Practice
Prática controlada — Controlled practice: three sentences
Say each sentence aloud about a shopping situation, real or invented: Eu preciso de ______. (an item); Quanto custa ______? (an item with a demonstrative); Eu prefiro ______, porque ______. (an item and a reason)
Tarefa comunicativa — Communicative task: shop role-play
With a partner, take turns playing customer and salesperson. The customer names an item, a color, and a size, and asks the price; the salesperson answers with a price and offers a second option using mais barato or mais caro.
Prática individual — Solo alternative
Record yourself describing three items you would like to buy, including a demonstrative, a color or size adjective, and a price for each.
Reading Practice
Uma lista de compras — A shopping list
Rafael precisa de roupas novas para o trabalho. Ele vai à loja perto de casa. Primeiro, ele vê uma camisa branca; ela custa cinquenta reais. Depois, ele vê uma calça azul; ela custa noventa reais. Rafael também precisa de sapatos, mas os sapatos pretos são muito caros. Ele pergunta: "O senhor tem sapatos mais baratos?" O vendedor mostra um sapato marrom, que custa setenta reais. Rafael compra a camisa, a calça e o sapato marrom. Ele paga com cartão.
Tarefa de leitura — Reading task:
- What two items does Rafael see first, and how much does each cost?
- Why doesn't Rafael buy the black shoes?
- How does Rafael pay for his purchases?
Writing Workshop
Complete the following linked writing tasks in order to build a short shopping note for a friend.
Tarefa 1 — What you need: Write one sentence using precisar de to state one item you need.
Tarefa 2 — Describing items: Write two sentences describing items using a color or size adjective in correct position and agreement.
Tarefa 3 — Asking and comparing: Write one question with Quanto custa? and one sentence comparing two items with mais caro or mais barato.
Tarefa 4 — Full note: Combine Tarefas 1–3 into one short note of four to five sentences for a friend about your shopping trip.
- Draft each section separately. Write the need, description, and comparison 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 adjective agreement. Confirm that gender and number match the noun in every description.
- Check demonstratives. Confirm that este/esse/aquele forms agree with the noun and fit the context.
- Check numbers and diacritics. Confirm that prices are written correctly and that accented forms such as é and está are preserved.
Lista de revisão — Editing checklist:
- The note includes a greeting, a need, at least two described items, and a price question or comparison.
- Adjectives agree in gender and number with their nouns.
- Demonstratives are used correctly and agree with their nouns.
- precisar de and poder are used correctly for their functions.
- All diacritics and number spellings are preserved.
Culture and Communication
In many Brazilian shops, salespeople often greet customers warmly and offer help quickly, and brief small talk before or during a purchase is common and expected rather than rushed past. Bargaining is not generally expected in ordinary retail stores, though it may occur in informal markets or with larger purchases; this varies by setting, city, and store type.
This chapter uses the Brazilian real (real, reais) as the default currency term, since it matches the declared Brazilian production model. Other Portuguese-speaking countries use different currencies and, in some cases, different everyday clothing vocabulary. These forms are recognition only unless a later chapter labels and activates them.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Error: Saying uma camisa branco, leaving the adjective in the masculine form with a feminine noun.
Correction: Agree the adjective with the noun: uma camisa branca.
Error: Saying Eu preciso um vestido, omitting de before a noun.
Correction: Include de before a noun: Eu preciso de um vestido. (No de is needed before an infinitive: Eu preciso pagar.)
Error: Saying este sapatos, mixing a singular demonstrative with a plural noun.
Correction: Match number and gender: estes sapatos.
Chapter Summary
O que você aprendeu — What you learned
This chapter activated demonstratives (este/esse/aquele), adjective position and agreement for size, color, and description, precisar de, poder, and numbers and prices, along with vocabulary for stores, clothing, colors, and sizes, and continued pronunciation practice for stress in number phrases.
Chapter Review
Parte A — Compreensão (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- How much does the blue shirt cost?
- How does the customer pay?
Parte B — Escrita (Writing)
1. Write one sentence with precisar de and one sentence with poder.
2. Write one sentence with a demonstrative and a color adjective in correct agreement.
Parte C — Leitura (Reading)
1. Return to the Uma lista de compras passage in Reading Practice, and list the three items Rafael buys with their prices.
Parte D — Fala (Speaking)
1. Ask a partner Quanto custa ______? about an item and respond with a price and a color or size.
Practical Performance Task
Chapter 9 Practical Check
Quanto custa?: Shopping for Everyday Items
Complete the following connected tasks, in order, as one integrated performance.
- Read the Uma lista de compras passage. Answer the comprehension questions above before continuing.
- State what you need. Use precisar de with at least one clothing item.
- Describe three items. Use demonstratives and color or size adjectives with correct agreement.
- Ask and answer about price. Include at least one Quanto custa? question and one price in reais.
- Write your shopping note. Apply the editing checklist from the Writing Workshop.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Demonstratives | The learner uses este/esse/aquele forms correctly with gender and number agreement. |
| Adjective position and agreement | The learner places and agrees color and size adjectives correctly. |
| Precisar de / poder | The learner uses both verbs correctly for need and possibility/permission. |
| Numbers and prices | The learner states at least one price accurately using numbers and reais. |
| Diacritics and spelling | The learner preserves diacritics throughout, including é and está. |
This checkpoint uses only material activated in Chapter 9 together with recycled Chapters 1–8 systems.
Answer Key
Guided Practice
- esta / esses / aquela
- a camisa azul / a calça grande / os sapatos pequenos
- preciso de / pode / podemos
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- The blue shirt costs eighty reais (oitenta reais).
- The customer pays by card (com cartão).
Writing
- Sample: Eu preciso de uma calça nova. / Eu posso pagar com dinheiro? (other accurate sentences following the same patterns are also correct)
- Sample: Esta bolsa vermelha é muito bonita. (other accurate demonstrative-plus-adjective sentences are also correct)
Reading
- Sample: Rafael buys a white shirt (fifty reais), blue pants (ninety reais), and brown shoes (seventy reais).
Looking Ahead
O que você já sabe fazer — What you can do now
You can shop for everyday items, ask about prices, describe what you need, and compare options — combining these new patterns with locating places, daily routines, food preferences, identity, and greetings from earlier chapters.