Eu gosto de fritar alho no óleo antes de cozinhar o arroz.

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Breakdown of Eu gosto de fritar alho no óleo antes de cozinhar o arroz.

• gostar de: to like
• cozinhar: to cook
• antes de: before

Questions & Answers about Eu gosto de fritar alho no óleo antes de cozinhar o arroz.

Why is there a de after gosto?

Because gostar normally takes the preposition de in Portuguese.

So:

• gostar de algo = to like something
• gostar de fazer algo = to like doing something

That is why you say:

• Eu gosto de fritar alho not
• Eu gosto fritar alho

This is one of those verb-preposition combinations you just have to learn as a unit: gostar de.

Is Eu necessary here?

Not always. In Brazilian Portuguese, subject pronouns are often included, but they can also be omitted when the meaning is clear.

So both are possible:

• Eu gosto de fritar alho no óleo antes de cozinhar o arroz.
• Gosto de fritar alho no óleo antes de cozinhar o arroz.

Because gosto is clearly I like, the sentence still makes sense without eu.

In Brazil, using eu is very common and natural, especially in speech, so the full sentence does not sound strange at all.

Why are fritar and cozinhar in the infinitive?