No Mercado: Compras do Dia

Literal Good day, have tomatoes fresh today?

A natural opener combining a greeting with a product question. 'Tem' (third-person singular of 'ter') doubles as a polite 'do you have' when addressing a shopkeeper.

• 'Tem' is the third-person singular of 'ter' (to have); in European Portuguese, this form is used as a polite 'you have / do you have'
• 'Frescos' is the masculine plural adjective, agreeing in gender and number with 'tomates'

Literal Where are the fruits and the vegetables?

Uses 'estão' (plural of 'está') to locate items. In Portuguese, definite articles are required before nouns, so both 'as frutas' and 'os legumes' carry their articles.

• 'Onde estão' = 'where are' (plural); use 'onde está' for a single item
• Definite articles 'as' (feminine plural) and 'os' (masculine plural) are obligatory before nouns in standard Portuguese

Literal How much costs this kilo of oranges?

'Quanto custa' is the go-to phrase for asking the price of a single item or unit. 'Este quilo' points to the specific quantity being purchased.

• 'Quanto custa' is used for singular units; 'quanto custam' is used when asking about multiple items
• 'Custar' is the verb meaning 'to cost'; 'custa' is its third-person singular present

Literal Could give-me half kilo of cheese, please?

'Podia' (imperfect of 'poder') softens the request into a polite conditional. The clitic pronoun 'me' attaches to 'dar' with a hyphen — the standard European Portuguese word order.

• 'Podia' + infinitive expresses a polite request ('could you...'); more deferential than 'pode'
• In European Portuguese, clitic pronouns attach after the verb with a hyphen: 'dar-me', not 'me dar'

Literal These strawberries are ripe?

A practical freshness check. Portuguese uses 'estar' (not 'ser') for ripeness because it is a temporary, changeable state. Yes/no questions are formed by rising intonation alone.

• 'Estão' (estar) is used rather than 'são' (ser) because ripeness is a temporary condition — a key ser/estar distinction
• 'Maduros' is masculine plural, agreeing with 'morangos'

Literal Can make a price better?

A friendly phrase for negotiating at a traditional market stall. 'Pode' + infinitive is direct but polite, suitable for everyday market haggling.

• 'Pode' + infinitive = 'can you...', a direct polite request
• 'Melhor' is an invariable comparative adjective meaning 'better'; it does not change for gender or number

Literal I need of a dozen of eggs, please.

'Precisar de' means 'to need' and always takes the preposition 'de'. 'Dúzia' similarly requires 'de' before the counted noun — a double preposition structure.

• 'Precisar de' always requires the preposition 'de' before its object
• 'Dúzia de ovos' = 'dozen of eggs'; Portuguese keeps the preposition where English drops it

Literal Accepts card of credit or only money?

A useful checkout question. The third-person singular 'aceita' serves as a polite 'do you accept' in European Portuguese. 'Dinheiro' covers cash/physical money.

• Third-person singular verb used as a polite address — a standard European Portuguese convention at service counters
• 'Ou' = 'or'; 'só' = 'only' — both common connectors in practical speech

Literal The change is correct?

A polite way to verify the money returned after paying. 'Estar' is used because whether the amount is correct is a verifiable, temporary state.

• 'Estar' (está) is used for states that can be checked and corrected, following the ser/estar distinction
• Yes/no question formed by intonation alone — word order remains the same as a statement

Literal Obliged, until the next!

'Obrigado' is used by male speakers; women say 'obrigada'. 'Até à próxima' is a warm, natural farewell meaning 'until the next time'.

• 'Obrigado/a' agrees with the speaker's gender, not the listener's — a unique feature of this Portuguese expression
• 'Até à próxima' = 'until the next (time)' — 'à' is the contraction of preposition 'a' + definite article 'a'