O garçom trouxe o pedido da cliente para outra mesa.

the table

Breakdown of O garçom trouxe o pedido da cliente para outra mesa.

• para: to
• da: of the
• outra: another

Questions & Answers about O garçom trouxe o pedido da cliente para outra mesa.

Why is it o garçom but da cliente?

Because Portuguese nouns have grammatical gender, and the articles must match.

• o garçom = the waiter
  
  • garçom is masculine, so it takes o
• a cliente = the customer (female customer, in this sentence)
  
  • cliente can refer to a man or a woman, and the article shows which one
  • da cliente = de + a cliente = of/from the female customer

So here:

• o garçom = the waiter
• da cliente = of the female customer / the customer’s

Why is it da cliente and not de a cliente?

Because Portuguese usually contracts the preposition de with the definite article.

Here are the common contractions:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• de + os = dos
• de + as = das

So:

• o pedido da cliente literally = the order of the customer
• not de a cliente, because that would sound unnatural in standard Portuguese

This kind of contraction is extremely common in Portuguese.

What tense is trouxe?