Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Eu não coloco açúcar no café, mas minha mãe coloca açúcar no bolo. - I don’t put sugar in coffee, but my mother puts sugar in the cake.

Word

Eu não coloco açúcar no café, mas minha mãe coloca açúcar no bolo.

Meaning

I don’t put sugar in coffee, but my mother puts sugar in the cake.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Breakdown of Eu não coloco açúcar no café, mas minha mãe coloca açúcar no bolo.

Why does the sentence start with Eu? I thought Portuguese often drops subject pronouns.

That is true: Portuguese often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

So Eu não coloco açúcar no café could also be just Não coloco açúcar no café.

Here, Eu may be included for emphasis or clarity, especially because the sentence contrasts I with my mother:

So it sounds natural and helps highlight the contrast.

Why is não placed before the verb?

In Portuguese, the normal way to make a sentence negative is to put não directly before the conjugated verb.

That is the standard pattern in simple sentences:

What is the verb here, and why do we have coloco in one part and coloca in the other?