Eu gosto de caminhar para o mercado.

I like to walk to the market.

Breakdown of Eu gosto de caminhar para o mercado.

• eu: I
• gostar de: to like
• caminhar: to walk
• o mercado: the market
• para o: to the

Questions & Answers about Eu gosto de caminhar para o mercado.

Why do we have de after gosto in Eu gosto de caminhar para o mercado?

In Portuguese, the verb gostar is almost always followed by the preposition de when referring to things or actions one likes. So, whenever you say Eu gosto…, you need to add de before the noun or verb that you like, for example:
• Eu gosto de música
• Eu gosto de viajar

Why is para o mercado used here instead of something else like ao mercado or no mercado?

Para indicates direction or destination (like “to” in English). So, para o mercado focuses on the idea of going “toward” or “to” the market. If you said ao mercado or no mercado, it would change the meaning slightly:
• ao mercado sometimes appears in more formal contexts; it still implies direction, but it's less common in everyday speech.
• no mercado means “at the market,” implying you are already there or talking about something happening at that location rather than going there.

Can I replace caminhar with andar?

Yes, you could say Eu gosto de andar para o mercado. Both caminhar and andar mean “to walk.” However, caminhar often implies a more purposeful or leisurely walk, while andar is slightly more general, meaning “to go by foot” or “to walk around.” In everyday conversation, they can usually be interchanged without much difference.

Why do we say para o mercado and not para ao mercado?

In Portuguese, you don’t stack two articles back-to-back in a construction like this. Para plus o (the article “the”) simply join to form para o, meaning “to the.” Saying para ao would be grammatically incorrect. You also commonly see the contraction pro in informal speech, which comes from para + o.