O hábito de consumo faz o gasto supérfluo crescer.

Hábito de consumo literally means consumption habit, but in natural English it often corresponds to spending habits, consumer behavior, or patterns of consumption, depending on context.

In this sentence, it suggests the way people usually consume or spend, not just a single act of buying something.

In Portuguese, de is very often used to connect two nouns, where English might use of or turn one noun into an adjective.

So:

• hábito de consumo = habit of consumption
• gasto de energia = energy expenditure / spending of energy
• hábitos de estudo = study habits

English and Portuguese do this differently, so it is normal that Portuguese uses de where English may not.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English. So O hábito de consumo is very natural, even where English might simply say Consumption habits or The habit of consumption depending on context.

Here, o marks hábito as a specific or general concept being discussed. Portuguese often uses the definite article to talk about something in a general sense.

This is the verb fazer used in a causative structure.

• fazer = to make / cause
• crescer = to grow / increase

So:

• faz o gasto supérfluo crescer = makes superfluous spending grow
• more naturally in English: causes unnecessary spending to increase

This structure is very common in Portuguese:

• Isso me faz pensar. = That makes me think.
• A chuva faz a planta crescer. = The rain makes the plant grow.

Because after causative fazer, Portuguese commonly uses another verb in the infinitive.

Structure:

• fazer + someone/something + infinitive

So in this sentence:

• faz = causes / makes
• o gasto supérfluo = the thing being affected
• crescer = to grow

The same pattern appears in:

• Ela faz o filho estudar. = She makes her son study.
• O remédio faz a dor passar. = The medicine makes the pain go away.

Because it is the thing that is being made to do something.

Structure:

• [subject] + faz + [object] + [infinitive]

So:

• O hábito de consumo = subject
• faz = makes
• o gasto supérfluo = object
• crescer = infinitive

A very literal breakdown is:

• The consumption habit makes the superfluous spending grow

This word order is normal in Portuguese with fazer + infinitive.

Gasto means spending or expense, and supérfluo means superfluous, unnecessary, or non-essential.

So gasto supérfluo means:

• unnecessary spending
• wasteful spending
• non-essential expense

In many contexts, wasteful spending sounds most natural in English, even though the Portuguese is more literally superfluous spending.

Yes. In Portuguese, gasto in the singular can refer to spending in a general or abstract sense, much like English spending.

So:

• o gasto supérfluo = wasteful spending in general

If the sentence were talking about separate individual expenses, plural forms might appear, such as gastos supérfluos.

The accents show stress.

• hábito → stress on há
• supérfluo → stress on pér

Without getting too technical, both words are pronounced with stress earlier than an English speaker might expect, so the accents are important.

Approximate pronunciation:

• hábito ≈ AH-bee-too
• supérfluo ≈ soo-PER-floo

The accents do not just decorate the word; they help tell you where the stress goes.

Yes. A very close alternative would be:

• O hábito de consumo aumenta o gasto supérfluo.

This means almost the same thing: Consumption habits increase unnecessary spending.

The difference is small:

• aumenta is more direct: increases
• faz ... crescer is slightly more descriptive: makes ... grow

Both are natural, but faz ... crescer emphasizes the idea of causing a process of growth.

Not always. Consumo can mean consumption in a broad sense, including the use of goods, services, resources, or products.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• consumer spending
• purchasing behavior
• use of products
• overall consumption patterns

In this sentence, it most likely relates to consumer/spending behavior, not just physical consumption.

Normally, no. In this case, the natural order is:

• gasto supérfluo

In Portuguese, many adjectives usually come after the noun. Some adjectives can go before the noun, but that often changes tone, emphasis, or sounds literary. With supérfluo, the post-noun position is the standard and natural one here.

It sounds natural, but somewhat formal or analytical, the kind of sentence you might see in an article, report, discussion of economics, or social commentary.

In more casual speech, a person might say something simpler like:

• Esse hábito de consumir faz a gente gastar mais à toa.

That is more conversational, while O hábito de consumo faz o gasto supérfluo crescer sounds more polished and abstract.