At the Table: Food Expressions

Brazilian table language runs almost entirely on set phrases. You don't describe your hunger in elaborate sentences — you say tô com fome. You don't search for an adjective to praise the cooking — you say tá uma delícia. And you don't bark orders at a waiter — you soften the request with me vê or eu queria. This page gives you the chunks that get you fed, fed politely, and complimentary about the food.

Hunger and thirst: "estar com"

The single most important pattern here is estar com + noun for physical states. Portuguese says you "are with" hunger, thirst, sleep, or cold — not that you "are" or "have" them.

Tô com fome (from estou com fome) is the only natural way to say "I'm hungry." The literal-looking translation estou faminto ("I am famished") exists but sounds dramatic or literary — no one says it at lunch. Likewise tô com sede for thirst. Morrendo de ("dying of") is a common, harmless intensifier.

Before eating: "bom apetite"

Wishing others a good meal before eating is close to obligatory in Brazil. Say it to tablemates and even to strangers eating nearby.

There's no real English equivalent in everyday use (English borrows the French "bon appétit" only half-seriously), but in Brazil omitting it can feel a little cold.

Complimenting the food: "tá uma delícia"

The all-purpose food compliment is tá uma delícia ("it's delicious"). It works for anything edible and is the phrase you'll use most.

Note the structure tá uma delícia — está + indefinite article + noun, literally "it's a delicacy." You can also say tá delicioso/deliciosa (adjective, agreeing with the food), or simply tá muito bom. Tava is the spoken past of estava (it was).

Offering and accepting more

Hosts press more food on guests; the ritual offer is mais um pouquinho? ("a little more?"), heavy on the affectionate diminutive -inho.

The diminutive pouquinho (from pouco) softens the offer and the request alike — it's not literally "a tiny bit," it's warmth.

Being full: "tô satisfeito" vs "tô cheio"

To decline more food politely, say tô satisfeito/satisfeita ("I'm satisfied / I've had enough"). This is the courteous "I'm full."

Tô cheio ("I'm full," literally "I'm full/loaded") is blunter and more casual — fine among friends, less polished at a formal table or someone else's home. Tô satisfeito is the safe, gracious choice. Both agree in gender: satisfeito/satisfeita, cheio/cheia.

Snacks, killing hunger, and craving

Fazer um lanche ("to have a snack / light meal") and matar a fome (literally "to kill the hunger," i.e. to take the edge off hunger) are fixed. Água na boca ("mouth-watering") describes craving:

Ordering: "me vê" and "eu queria"

Two softeners dominate restaurant ordering. Me vê (literally "see me," i.e. "get me") is casual and very common in bars and lanchonetes:

Eu queria ("I would like," literally the imperfect "I wanted") is the polite, all-purpose ordering frame. The imperfect tense here is a politeness device — it distances the request, softening it just as English "I'd like" softens "I want."

To go vs. for here:

Pra viagem ("for the trip") = "to go / takeaway"; pra comer aqui = "to eat in." On a menu, de comer contrasts dishes with de beber (drinks).

The last one and slang

Saideira is the famous "one for the road" — the final drink before leaving:

And to ask for the bill: a conta, por favor.

Food slang you'll hear (and should recognize, but use cautiously): rango and bóia both mean "grub / chow" — very informal words for food/a meal (informal/slang). Don't use them in any formal setting.

How this differs from English

The biggest shift is estar com for hunger and thirst — neither English's "to be" nor Spanish's "to have." Second, ordering politeness lives in the imperfect tense: eu queria is literally "I wanted," yet it's the polite present-time request, mirroring English "I'd like" but achieved through tense rather than a modal. Third, the food compliment is fixed and gradable: tá uma delícia is the default, not a literal hunt for adjectives. Finally, the pre-meal bom apetite is a genuine social obligation in Brazil in a way the half-borrowed English "bon appétit" never is.

Common Mistakes

Portuguese uses estar com, not ter (have). Tenho fome is comprehensible but marks you as a learner transferring from Spanish.

Faminto ("famished") is for emphasis or writing, not a normal "I'm hungry."

The imperfect queria is the politeness softener. Bare present quero can sound curt to a server.

Satisfeito is the gracious "I'm full"; cheio is fine with friends but can read as complaint at a formal or hosted meal.

Use either tá uma delícia (noun) or tá deliciosa (adjective, agreeing) — not a blend of the two.

Key Takeaways

• Estar com fome/sede (be with hunger/thirst), never ter fome.
• Order with eu queria (polite imperfect) or casual me vê; quero alone can sound blunt.
• Tá uma delícia is the default food compliment; tô satisfeito is the polite "I'm full," tô cheio the blunter one.
• Bom apetite before eating is near-obligatory; rango/bóia are slang to recognize, not deploy formally.