Making Requests in Portuguese

Asking someone for something is a minefield for learners. In English, you can get by with could you pass the salt? in almost any situation — at a family dinner, at a café, asking a stranger for directions. European Portuguese has no such universal form. The same request requires a different construction depending on who you're talking to, how big the favour is, and what setting you're in. Saying passa-me o sal! to a stranger at a café is rude; saying era possível passar-me o sal? to your mother at Sunday lunch is comically over-formal.

This page lays out the full PT-PT request continuum — ten main constructions, graded from most direct to most indirect — and explains when each one fits. The single most important thing to internalise is that in service encounters (cafés, shops, restaurants), the imperfect is the standard politeness form. You do not say quero um café ("I want a coffee"); you say queria um café ("I would like a coffee"). Using the present tense in these contexts sounds demanding to the point of rudeness.

The ten-point request continuum

Here is the full spectrum, from direct to indirect, using the same underlying request ("pass me the salt") as a baseline:

1. Bare imperative — intimates only

The most direct form: just the imperative verb. Reserved for close family, close friends, or urgent situations. With anyone else, it is rude.

2. Imperative + por favor / se faz favor

Adding a politeness marker to the imperative softens it. This is still mostly intimate territory, but the tag makes it usable with people you know well but aren't close with.

A note on por favor vs se faz favor: both mean "please," but they have different distributions. Se faz favor (often shortened to sff) is the distinctively PT-PT marker, especially in service encounters — hailing a waiter, asking for a bill, getting a shop assistant's attention. Por favor is universally acceptable but slightly less warm in café contexts. Among intimates, both work.

3. Modal question: podes / pode

The present tense of poder ("to be able") in question form — podes...? (informal), pode...? (formal) — is the everyday polite request. This is the default register with acquaintances, colleagues, and in many service encounters.

4. Modal question in the imperfect: podias / podia

The single most important form for learners to master. The imperfect of poder — podias (informal), podia (formal) — is the PT-PT default polite request with strangers and in formal situations. English "could you..." maps directly onto this. The imperfect is softer than the present because it frames the request hypothetically: "were you able to...?"

5. Modal question in the conditional: poderia

The morphological conditional poderia / poderias is grammatically the "correct" conditional form, but in everyday PT-PT speech it sounds slightly stiff or written. You'll hear it in formal speeches, customer service scripts, or very elaborate polite exchanges.

In ordinary conversation, switch to podia / podias.

6. Importa-se de / importas-te de...?

Literally "does it bother you to...?" — the PT-PT equivalent of English "would you mind...?" This is high-politeness and works well when you're asking for a slightly inconvenient favour from someone you don't know well.

7. Era possível...?

A very PT-PT construction using the imperfect era ("was") to frame the request hypothetically: "would it be possible to...?" Common in service encounters when asking about something that might not be available — changing a reservation, swapping an item, getting a discount.

This construction is slightly more elaborate than podia...?, and is especially appropriate when the request might be denied. By framing it as era possível, you preemptively acknowledge that the answer could be no.

8. Indirect hint

Stating a problem or need, without explicitly asking. The listener is expected to infer the request and offer a solution. This works only with intimates, and it's a test of how well they know you.

Indirect hints can backfire — if the listener doesn't pick up on them, you either have to repeat with a more direct form or go without. They're a sign of intimacy and shared context, not a universal politeness strategy.

9. Desired-state: gostaria de / desejaria

Formal expressions of preference. Gostaria de... ("I would like to...") and the more formal desejaria... ("I would wish to...") are written or formal spoken Portuguese. You'll see gostaria on signs ("os clientes que gostariam de..."), in written requests, in customer emails, and in formal speech — rarely in a café.

10. Conditional desire: queria / gostava de

This is the form you will use every day at cafés, bakeries, restaurants, and shops. The imperfect of querer ("to want") — queria — and the imperfect of gostar ("to like") — gostava — both function as polite expressions of desire: "I would like..." These are the PT-PT service-encounter defaults.

Using the present — quero um café — literally means "I want a coffee," and in a café it sounds curt to the point of demanding. The imperfect queria softens the want into a wish, and that softness is what PT-PT politeness demands. Using quero won't get you refused service, but it will mark you as foreign and abrupt.

Hailing service: faz favor

A special note on faz favor vs por favor. In PT-PT, you hail a waiter or staff member by calling out faz favor! or se faz favor! — literally "do me the favour." This is the standard way to catch someone's attention from across the room. Por favor exists but sounds stilted in this role.

Scaling politeness up and down

Choosing the right form is a function of three variables:

1. Relationship — intimate (family/close friends) → acquaintance → stranger
2. Size of favour — trivial (pass the salt) → moderate (help me move) → major (lend me €500)
3. Setting — home → casual → service encounter → formal/official

Rough rules:

• Intimate + trivial: bare imperative or podes...?
• Intimate + major: importas-te de...? or era possível...? even with family
• Acquaintance + trivial: podes...? or podias...?
• Stranger + anything: podia...?, importa-se de...?, or era possível...?
• Service encounter (ordering): queria... or gostava de...
• Service encounter (asking for something extra): era possível...?
• Formal / written: gostaria de..., poderia..., desejaria...

The same underlying request ("do something for me") takes five different forms across five different settings. Flexibility here is what fluent PT-PT politeness looks like.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• In service encounters, use the imperfect (queria, gostava), never the present (quero, gosto). This is the single most important politeness rule for tourists and new residents.
• The imperfect (podia, podias) is the default polite modal question. The morphological conditional (poderia) is more formal and sounds written in conversation.
• Hail service staff with faz favor, not por favor. Faz favor is the distinctly PT-PT opener.
• Bare imperatives are for intimates only. Used with strangers or staff, they sound rude.
• The full continuum runs from passa-me (intimate) to era possível... (formal). Match the form to relationship, size of favour, and setting.