I like…
The most important verb to learn when talking about likes and dislikes in Portuguese is gostarto like . Let’s start with a simple example:
Eu gosto de caféI like coffee
It’s important to remember that the preposition deof, from, by goes along with the verb gostar. Adding de may seem strange at first to English speakers because we don’t use a preposition in this context. If it helps you remember to add de, you could also think of it as “I’m fond of“.
So to form this sentence, I just conjugated the verb gostar…
Indicativo
Ela gosta de manteigaShe likes butter
- eu gostoI likeindicativo > presente tu gostasYou sing.,inf. likeindicativo > presente ele / ela gostaHe / She likesindicativo > presente você gostayou sing.,formal likeindicativo > presente nós gostamosWe likeindicativo > presente eles / elas gostamthey likeindicativo > presente vocês gostamyou pl. likeindicativo > presente
…then I added de and the thing I like ( ☕️ ). It works the same way if you’re talking about an action. For example:
Tu gostas de viajarYou(sing.,inf.) like traveling Nós gostamos de cozinharWe like to cook
Note: As you may recall, including the subject pronoun at the beginning is optional, so it’s fine to leave out eu, tu, and nós.
I don’t like…
To talk about what you don’t like in Portuguese, you simply add nãono, not , as we discussed in the Learning Note on Saying No.
Não gosto de caféI don't like coffee
Ela não gosta de cozinharShe doesn't like to cook
What do you like?
We’ll cover asking and answering questions in more detail later. For now, let’s just take a moment to see some simple questions related to likes and dislikes within a simplified dialogue:
👨🏽🦱 O que é que gostas de beber?What do you (sing.,inf.) like to drink?
🧑🏻 Eu gosto de caféI like coffee
🧑🏻 Gostam de café?Do you (pl.) like coffee?
👨🏽🦱 👩🏻🦰 Sim, gostamosYes, we do (like it)
Note: In the last sentence, the de is not actually spoken, but it is implied: “Sim, gostamos (de café)” – “Yes, we like (coffee)”
Keeping it grammatically correct…
Remember the definite articles we learned about earlier? (The words o, a, os, and as, which all mean “the”.) If you’re talking about a more specific thing that you like, and it starts with a definite article, you’ll need to combine the definite article with the preposition de like this:
de + o = do de + os = dos
de + a = da de + as = das
For example, if you wanted to say I like the books, you would NOT say Gosto de os livros. Instead, you would combine de and os to make dos:
Gosto dos livrosI like the books
We’ll learn about contractions like this in more depth later (or you can click that link to learn now 🙂 ).
Good or Bad?
There’s another way to talk about about likes and dislikes without using gostar de. Instead, you could simply describe something using an adjective.
We’ll learn much more about Portuguese adjectives in an upcoming unit, but from the start, it’s helpful to at least know how to say that something is good or bad using these 2 words:
- bomgood (masc. sing.) → O livro é bomThe book is good
- maubad (masc. sing.) → O livro é mauThe book is bad
Now you’re ready to practice talking about likes and dislikes in the next lesson!
I found that some of the phrases were missing the hearing and tortoise icons to click.
It’s for your own good! 😉
I noticed several of the examples in this section could not be played back so I could hear them spoken. For example, the phrase:
O que é que gostas de beber?
would have been useful to hear to know how to pronounce it properly.
Ditto on the above two comments. Plus I don’t understand the explanation of the contraction.
Sorry about the audio! These are on the list to be recorded. We record audio in batches, so we typically publish the written version of an article first, and then add audio to the written examples later.
As for the contractions, there’s a more in-depth explanation of contractions here: Contractions. Basically, it’s just showing you how the preposition “de” combines with definite articles (i.e. the Portuguese words for “the”, which are “o”, “a”, “os”, and “as”).
So if you wanted to say “I like the books”, instead of saying “Gosto de os livros”, you would have to form a contraction and say “Gosto dos livros”. Similarly, “I like the house” would be “Gosto da casa” (not “Gosto de a casa”). Does that help? Let me know if I can clarify further.
But why is it then Diario de noticias and not Diario das noticias?
As the Learning Note says, we usually add the definite articles when we want to be more specific, when we want to narrow the focus. So, we’d say “Gosto de café” to talk about coffee in general, but if we were, say, talking specifically about the cup of coffee we were holding, we’d probably say “Gosto do café”. For the same reason, it’s “Diário de Notícias”, because it’s referring to news in general. On the other hand, we have a “Diário da República”, becauase it refers specifically to the Portuguese Republic.
Thank you for your clarifications; they help a lot!
Thank you Molly, I think your contraction explanation should be part of the lesson, it’s very helpful.
Thanks for that clarification. It helps 🙂
Well stated – thanks!
I have a pet. His name is PEEVE. He pops in with every language app whenever “YOU” comes up. I was very happy when I watched an earlier video where you discussed the use of the formal pronoun and the reason it was more important to know. Finally, someone understood the odds! Buuuuut … I keep seeing informal vocabulary. Now, I’m not 80 years old and I don’t want someone breaking out into a resounding rendition of Aretha Franklin’s song R-E-S-P-E-C-T… if ya know what I mean. So could ya…?
You’re right, when in doubt, or if you’re trying to streamline what you need to learn to prepare for a trip (for example), it’s probably best to stick to the formal version.
However, we use both informal and formal forms throughout the site to make sure you get a mix of both. Everybody has different reasons for learning the language and learning when/how to use the different forms is a good skill to have if you plan to use Portuguese in the long-term.
The “tu” version is also less common in Brazilian Portuguese, so we think it’s important to give exposure to “tu” since you’ll hear it often in European Portuguese.
If you think you’ll be sticking to the formal version more, a good exercise is to challenge yourself to change the sentence to be formal whenever you see an informal sentence. 🙂
Again, THANK YOU for explaining the de do da contractions! It makes for a much better zippitDE DO DA day!
Also I just wanted to add that you’ll start seeing a more even mix of both forms once you get past the informal vs formal unit. 🙂
I like the challenge suggestion, thank you!
I was surprised by the audio examples given for Bom and Mau. The é is preceded by a vowel and followed by a consonant in both cases, but pronounced differently – are they both acceptable? Thanks so much!
Olá, Howard! The pronunciation of É is the same in both audio examples. However, the first example (O livro é bom) is pronounced more slowly, with a small pause just after the word ‘livro’. The second example (O livro é mau) is pronounced more rapidly, with no gaps between the words, so the words ‘livro’ and ‘é’ are kind of fused together. I think this is what is sounding different for you 🙂
Absolutely! I was worried I was misunderstanding a rule for pronunciation. Thanks so much Joseph!
Is gostar the only verb the “de” variations are added to? Or are there other verbs where they are always added?
Olá Melinda!
That’s a very good question!
Gostar is probably the only common verb that always needs the preposition “de” after it.
But then you have the verb “Precisar” (to need) which needs the preposition “de” when it’s followed by a noun. When it’s followed by another verb you may or may not use the preposition “de”!
Examples:
Preciso de um livro. (Also: Preciso dum livro.) – I need a book.
Preciso de comprar um livro. OR Preciso comprar um livro. – I need to buy a book.
On the other hand, the verb “Ter” (to have) needs the preposition “de” if followed by a verb and not if followed by a noun.
Examples:
Tenho um livro. – I have a book.
Tenho de comprar um livro. – I have to buy a book.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Cheers,
Luís
First of all – thank you for this great site! My husband and I searched around for, and tried quite a few other courses until we found you. One of the features i find great, is that one easily finds explanations for grammatical questions such as the one above. Now my suggestion – following the explanation you gave for when to use de after certain verbs: Could you fit in this information on the smart-review-flash-cards? Like that a learner could memorize that while learning the vocabulary. e.g.: to like – gostar de ….. or to need – precisar de (can be omitted before verbs)…. to have – ter (add de before following verbs).
Bom dia,
Anna
Adoro a aula
Is the m silent in sim?
I wouldn’t say it’s silent, because it changes the sound of the letter i, but it’s not pronounced like a single m.
So, sim is pronounced sin as in sing (sin-g) and not sim as in similar (sim-ilar).
The titie is ‘gostos and desgostos’ but we had only examples for gostar and nao gostar. I was waiting to see how to use desgostos and the difference to ‘nao gostos.’
Sorry for the confusion! The title “Gostos e Desgostos” is just a translation of “Likes and Dislikes”. These are the noun forms of the words — gostos are likes and desgostos are dislikes, as in “Tell me about your likes and dislikes”.
In the Learning Note we are teaching you how to talk about your likes and dislikes, which is by using the verb gostar:
Gosto de… – I like…
and
Não gosto de… – I don’t like…
We don’t mention gostos or desgostos again because those were just words used to translate the title, not the words you use to say I like / I don’t like.
Does that help?
Hello! Thank you for a great resource!
I have a question about the sentence:
O que é que gostas de beber? The definite masculine article in front of the question word que. Does the masculine form of the article refer to a masculine noun (eg drink?) or is masculine “neutral” here? And can you leave it out or does a que question always have to have a definite article?
Olá! Thank you for your feedback 🙂 In the sentence you mentioned, “O” is used in a non-specific manner, almost like a preposition would. Although it’s more common to keep it (especially in speech), it is grammatically correct to leave it out and just say “Que é que gostas de beber?”.
I love these grammar notes as they are so well-thought out and the examples (with audio!) are so great for practicing later in the Smart Review! But just as much, I also appreciate (and look forward to) the comments sections. The questions are often ones I have myself (or wasn’t smart enough to think of myself, lol) and the fact that a real human from the PP team takes the time to answer them so knowledgeably is really golden. Muito obrigada for all your hard work, I just love this app (more a program than a mere ‘app’) so much. 🙂
Random comment: where do you get all the beautiful photos that are the backgrounds for the Smart Review? I always look forward to what will pop up next and it’s a good motivation for a future trip to Portugal.
Muito obrigado, Emily! Glad you’re liking what you see and that you’re putting these powerful Smart Review features to good use. We license our photos from a major stock photo site. Interestingly, we had one of the photographers discover one of her own pics while learning Portuguese with our app! 😂
Well, you are talented at picking out striking photos from the stock site that really work with the Smart Review layout. I work with stock photos too as part of my job and sometimes it’s no easy task to grab good ones that fit what you’re trying to do.
Small world about the photographer, I bet she was thrilled to see it! 😁
Olá, tenho uma pergunta. 😀
It sounds like there is a different sound for primeira letra “o” for “gostamos” than for “gosto, gostas, gosta, e gostam”. Primeira letra (image there is an audio clip like you have 😀) “o” sounds more like the “o” in the English word “open” when used in “gosto, gostas, gosta, e gostam”, but sounds more like the “oo” in the English word “boot” when used in “gostamos”. Is that correct or are my ears tricking me?
Obrigado,
-Eric
That is correct, Eric! Your ears are fine. 🙂 It’s just that the sound of letters vary a lot. That’s why it’s so important to practice a lot and get familiar with words and verbs’ conjugations so you can learn the different pronunciations! The “o” in gostamos is a closed sound as in the English “bOOk”. The “o” in gosto and gostas is an open sound as in the English “cAUght”.
Here’s a Pronunciation Guide for Portuguese vowels: https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/pronunciation-guide-for-european-portuguese-vowels/
🙂
This lesson was very helpful for me to understand the preposition “de”. Up until this learning note, I was always confused as to why some sentences used ‘de’, while others used ‘do’, ‘da’, etc. Obrigado!
I really need to learn European Portuguese and your website is awesome! I love the explanations at the beginning of the units.
I don’t understand why there are 2 ‘que’ in this question:
O que é que gostas de beber?
Thanks for your comment 🙂 Hope Practice Portuguese helps you make good progress!
About your question, only the first “que” is essential to form the question. The second “que” is part of “é que”, which is an optional element commonly added to questions. Not necessarily for extra emphasis; it’s just an idiomatic thing. More on that here: Using “é que” in European Portuguese Questions | Practice Portuguese