Word
Quando estou com dor de garganta, eu prefiro beber água quente com mel.
Meaning
When I have a sore throat, I prefer to drink hot water with honey.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of Quando estou com dor de garganta, eu prefiro beber água quente com mel.
eu
I
estar
to be
beber
to drink
a água
the water
Questions & Answers about Quando estou com dor de garganta, eu prefiro beber água quente com mel.
Why does Portuguese say estou com dor de garganta instead of something more literally like I have a sore throat?
In Brazilian Portuguese, estar com is a very common way to talk about temporary physical conditions or symptoms.
So:
- estou com dor de garganta = I have a sore throat
- literally, it is closer to I am with a sore throat
This pattern is extremely natural in everyday speech:
- Estou com febre = I have a fever
- Estou com dor de cabeça = I have a headache
- Estou com gripe = I have the flu
You may also hear tenho dor de garganta, but estou com dor de garganta sounds very natural for a current condition.
What does dor de garganta mean literally, and why is it de?
Literally, dor de garganta is pain of throat or throat pain.
Portuguese often uses noun + de + noun to describe a type of pain:
- dor de cabeça = headache
- dor de dente = toothache
- dor de garganta = sore throat / throat pain
The de here works a bit like of in English, but the full expression is best learned as a chunk: dor de garganta.
Could I also say dor na garganta? Is that different from dor de garganta?