Breakdown of Eu vou fazer o pedido depois de olhar o cardápio.
eu
I
o
the
ir
to go (future auxiliary)
depois de
after
Questions & Answers about Eu vou fazer o pedido depois de olhar o cardápio.
Why is eu included? I thought Portuguese often drops the subject pronoun.
That’s true: in Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often omitted when the verb already makes the subject clear.
So this sentence could also be:
Vou fazer o pedido depois de olhar o cardápio.
Both are correct.
Including eu can:
- add emphasis
- make the sentence clearer in context
- sound a little more explicit
In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, dropping eu is very common if there is no risk of confusion.
What does vou fazer mean here? Is it literally I am going to make?
Yes, literally vou fazer means I am going to do/make, but in this sentence it works like a very natural future expression:
- vou fazer = I’m going to do / I’m going to make
- vou fazer o pedido = I’m going to place the order
This is one of the most common ways to talk about the future in Brazilian Portuguese:
- vou comer = I’m going to eat
- vou sair = I’m going to leave
- vou ligar = I’m going to call
It is often more common in speech than the simple future form.
Why does Portuguese use fazer o pedido instead of just pedir?