No café da manhã, eu comi pão com ovo.

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Breakdown of No café da manhã, eu comi pão com ovo.

• comer: to eat
• com: with
• o pão: the bread

Questions & Answers about No café da manhã, eu comi pão com ovo.

What does no mean here?

No is a contraction of em + o, so it literally means in the.

• em = in / at / on
• o = the

So:

• no café da manhã = at breakfast / literally in the breakfast

In Portuguese, contractions like this are very common:

• em + o = no
• em + a = na
• de + o = do
• de + a = da

So no is not the English no meaning not.

Why is it café da manhã? What does that literally mean?

Café da manhã is the normal Brazilian Portuguese expression for breakfast.

Literally, it means something like morning coffee or coffee of the morning:

• café = coffee
• da = de + a = of the
• manhã = morning

Even though it literally contains coffee, the whole expression means breakfast, not just the drink.

So:

• tomar café da manhã = to have breakfast
• no café da manhã = at breakfast / for breakfast

Why is it da manhã and not just de manhã?