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Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.

Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.
I want to leave the car at home.

Breakdown of Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.

eu
I
o
the
a casa
the house
querer
to want
o carro
the car
em
at
deixar
to make
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Questions & Answers about Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.

Why is it “quero deixar” and not something like “quero deixo”?

In Portuguese, verbs like querer (to want) are followed by another verb in the infinitive form, not a conjugated form.

  • Correct:
    • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa. – I want to leave the car at home.
  • Incorrect:
    • Eu quero deixo o carro em casa. (two conjugated verbs together)

So the pattern is:

  • Eu quero + [infinitive]
    • Eu quero comer. – I want to eat.
    • Eu quero viajar. – I want to travel.
    • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa. – I want to leave the car at home.
Can I drop the “eu” and just say “Quero deixar o carro em casa”?

Yes. In Portuguese (especially in Brazil), subject pronouns like eu are often omitted when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.
  • Quero deixar o carro em casa.

Both mean the same thing. Quero deixar… is completely natural and common in speech and writing.

What exactly does “deixar” mean here? Is it like “leave” or “let”?

Deixar is a very flexible verb. In this sentence, it means “to leave (something somewhere)”:

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.
    → I want to leave the car at home.

Common meanings of deixar:

  1. To leave (behind / somewhere)

    • Deixa a chave na mesa. – Leave the key on the table.

  2. To let / allow

    • Minha mãe não me deixa sair. – My mom doesn’t let me go out.

  3. To stop doing something (with “deixar de”)

    • Deixei de fumar. – I stopped smoking.

Here it’s clearly meaning to leave (the car) at home, not to allow or to let.

Why is it “em casa” and not “na casa”?

Both em casa and na casa are grammatically correct, but they’re used differently.

  • em casa (no article) usually means “at home” (your home, in general):

    • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa. – I want to leave the car at home.
    • Estou em casa. – I’m at home.

  • na casa = em + a casa (with the article) usually means “in/at the house”, a specific house, often not necessarily your home:

    • Eu quero deixar o carro na casa da Maria. – I want to leave the car at Maria’s house.
    • Ele está na casa ao lado. – He is in the house next door.

So in this sentence, em casa is the natural choice if you mean your own home / home in general.

Why do we say “o carro” and not just “carro”?

In Portuguese, nouns are usually used with a definite article (o, a, os, as) much more often than in English.

  • o carro – the car
  • a casa – the house
  • o livro – the book

Even when English would say:

  • “I want to leave the car at home.” → Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.
  • “I like coffee.” → Eu gosto de café (here no article, but often with abstract/generic nouns you might see one; patterns differ from English).

In this sentence, you’re talking about a specific car (your car), so o carro is natural and expected.

Can I change the word order to “Eu quero deixar em casa o carro”?

You can, and it’s grammatically possible, but it sounds a bit marked or less natural in everyday speech.

Most natural:

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.

Alternative orders may be used for emphasis or in more literary style:

  • Eu quero deixar, em casa, o carro. (strong emphasis on “at home”)
  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa. (neutral, standard)

For everyday Brazilian Portuguese, stick with the original order.

Is there a difference between “Eu quero deixar o carro em casa” and “Quero deixar o carro em casa” in terms of politeness or formality?

No real difference in formality. The meaning and tone are essentially the same.

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.
  • Quero deixar o carro em casa.

Omitting eu is very normal and not less polite. Politeness in Portuguese is expressed more through word choice, intonation, and using things like por favor, se puder, etc.:

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa, se puder.
  • Quero deixar o carro em casa, por favor.
Could I use “desejar” instead of “querer”, like “Eu desejo deixar o carro em casa”?

You can, but it sounds more formal, distant, or written. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, querer is far more common for “want”:

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa. – Normal, natural, everyday.
  • Eu desejo deixar o carro em casa. – Formal, could sound like written language, an announcement, or a very polite request.

So in daily conversation, stick with querer.

How would I say “I’m thinking of leaving the car at home” in Brazilian Portuguese? Is “Estou querendo deixar o carro em casa” okay?

Yes, Estou querendo deixar o carro em casa is natural in Brazilian Portuguese, and it often means something like:

  • I’ve been wanting / I feel like / I’m inclined to leave the car at home.

Possible translations:

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa. – I want to leave the car at home. (simple statement of desire)
  • Estou querendo deixar o carro em casa. – I’m kind of wanting / I’ve been wanting to leave the car at home. (more ongoing or tentative)

Brazilian Portuguese uses estar + gerúndio (estou querendo) very often to talk about ongoing or developing intentions.

How do you pronounce “deixar” and “carro”? Any tricky sounds for English speakers?

Yes, there are a couple of common pronunciation challenges:

  1. deixar – /dej-ʃar/

    • The “x” here is pronounced like English “sh”: day-SHAH (approx).
    • Stress is on the second syllable: deixar → deixar.

  2. carro – /ˈkaʁu/ (Brazilian R varies by region)

    • The “rr” is a guttural sound in most of Brazil, similar to the French r or a harsh h: KA-hoo (approx).
    • Make sure you roll or guturalize the rr, not like the English “r”.

Also note the rhythm:

  • Eu QUE-ro dei-CHAR o CAR-ro em CA-sa.
    Main stresses: QUER, CHAR, CAR, CA.
Could this sentence ever mean “I want to let the car at home” in the sense of “allow the car” to do something?

No. While deixar can mean “to let / allow” with people or animate subjects, here “o carro” is just an object being left somewhere.

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa.
    → I want to leave the car at home.

For the “let/allow” meaning, you usually have a person or at least something capable of acting:

  • Eu quero deixar meu filho sair. – I want to let my son go out.
  • Não vou deixar você dirigir. – I’m not going to let you drive.

With carro, the natural reading is “leave the car”, not “let the car”.

How would I say “I want to leave my car at home” instead of “the car”?

You just add the possessive:

  • Eu quero deixar o meu carro em casa.
    – I want to leave my car at home.

In Brazilian Portuguese:

  • Eu quero deixar o carro em casa. often already implies my car from context.
  • But Eu quero deixar o meu carro em casa. makes the possession explicit.

Both are correct; use meu carro if you need to be clear that it’s your car, not just the car.