No restaurante, eu pedi sopa de cebola.

At the restaurant, I ordered onion soup.

Breakdown of No restaurante, eu pedi sopa de cebola.

• eu: I
• a sopa: the soup
• de: of
• no: at the

Questions & Answers about No restaurante, eu pedi sopa de cebola.

What does no mean here?

No is a contraction of em + o:

• em = in / at
• o = the (masculine singular article)

So no restaurante literally means in the restaurant or at the restaurant.

In natural English, at the restaurant is often the best translation, but Portuguese commonly uses em where English might use either in or at.

Why is it no restaurante and not just em restaurante?

In Portuguese, nouns like restaurante usually take an article when you mean a specific place or a place understood from context.

So:

• no restaurante = at the restaurant / in the restaurant
• em um restaurante = in a restaurant / at a restaurant (non-specific)

Saying em restaurante by itself is generally not natural in standard Portuguese.

Why is there a comma after No restaurante?