Breakdown of Essa criança quer comer um sanduíche de salada e queijo.
comer
to eat
querer
to want
um
a
e
and
de
of
essa
that
a salada
the salad
o queijo
the cheese
a criança
the child
sanduíche
sandwich
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Questions & Answers about Essa criança quer comer um sanduíche de salada e queijo.
Why is essa used instead of esta when referring to the child?
In Brazilian Portuguese, essa is often used to indicate someone or something that’s not immediately next to the speaker but still relatively close or just mentioned. Esta is used for something very close to the speaker. In everyday speech, however, Brazilians frequently use essa more loosely to mean this, so it's quite common to use essa criança instead of esta criança.
Why is it um sanduíche de salada e queijo instead of just um sanduíche de queijo e salada?
In Portuguese, it’s common to list ingredients with the most defining or prominent ingredient first, which can be a personal choice or just the speaker’s habit. Um sanduíche de salada e queijo emphasizes that the main part of the sandwich is the salad (often some kind of mix of lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) along with cheese. You could also say um sanduíche de queijo e salada; both are acceptable.
What does the structure quer comer signify compared to just quer?
Quer means wants. When you add comer (to eat), you’re specifying what is desired. In Portuguese, to express wants to do something, you normally use quer + the infinitive form of the verb: quer comer, quer beber, etc.
Why is um used before sanduíche?
Um is the indefinite article in Portuguese meaning a or an. Since sanduíche is a masculine noun, we use um (masculine form). If it were a feminine noun, you would use uma.
Does quer have any other forms in the present tense?
Yes. The verb querer (to want) in the present tense has these forms:
• eu quero (I want)
• você/ele/ela quer (you/he/she wants)
• nós queremos (we want)
• vocês/eles/elas querem (you/they want)
In the example sentence, essa criança is treated like ele/ela, so it uses quer.
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