Você gosta do livro?

you

Breakdown of Você gosta do livro?

• gostar de: to like
• livro: book
• o: the

Questions & Answers about Você gosta do livro?

Why do we see the contraction do in Você gosta do livro?

In Portuguese, the verb gostar is typically followed by the preposition de. When de comes before the masculine article o, they combine into do. So de + o becomes do.

Can I just say Você gosta de o livro instead?

Technically, you would be understood, but it would sound unnatural. Native speakers almost always contract de + o into do.

Why do we use você here instead of other pronouns like tu?

In Brazil, você is the standard way to address someone in an informal or neutral context. Tu is more common in some regions (especially in parts of the South and Northeast), but in most of Brazil, you’ll hear você used for “you.”

What about subject-verb agreement? Should it be gosta or gostas with você?

When using você, the verb conjugation is the same as with ele/ela (third-person singular). Hence, we say você gosta. Using tu would require tu gostas, but that’s less common in standard Brazilian Portuguese.

Is it mandatory to use the article before livro in this kind of sentence?

Usually, yes. In Portuguese, if you’re talking about a specific book (rather than books in general), you include the article. Without it, you might say Você gosta de livro?, but that implies “Do you like books in general?” rather than focusing on a specific book.