Na barraca da esquina, a moça vende milho quente com manteiga.

Na is a contraction of em + a.

• em = in / at / on (depending on context)
• a = the for a feminine singular noun

So:

• em a barraca → na barraca

In this sentence, na barraca means at the stand or in the stand, but in natural English at the stand is usually the best translation.

Barraca often means a stand, stall, or booth, especially a small place selling food or goods on the street, at a market, or at a fair.

Depending on context, it can also mean tent, but here it clearly means a food stand/stall.

So na barraca da esquina is something like at the stand on the corner.

Da is a contraction of de + a:

• de = of / from
• a = the (feminine singular)

So:

• de a esquina → da esquina

Literally, barraca da esquina means the stand of the corner, but in natural English that becomes the stand on the corner or the corner stand.

Portuguese often uses de where English uses other prepositions or adjective-like structures.

Because esquina is a feminine noun in Portuguese. That is just part of the word’s grammatical gender.

You can see that in:

• a esquina = the corner
• da esquina = of the corner / on the corner

Grammatical gender in Portuguese does not always match any logical rule, so it usually has to be learned with the noun.

Not exactly. Moça can mean:

• young woman
• girl
• sometimes lady in a casual everyday sense

In Brazilian Portuguese, a moça often refers to a young woman and can sound natural and polite. In this sentence, the young woman is probably the most accurate choice, though the woman or the girl may also work depending on context.

Vende is the present tense, third person singular, of vender (to sell).

So:

• eu vendo = I sell
• você/ele/ela vende = you/he/she sell(s)

Here, a moça vende means the young woman sells or, depending on context, the young woman is selling.

Portuguese present tense can often translate to either the simple present or the present progressive in English, depending on context.

Because Portuguese does not need an extra helping verb here.

English often uses:

• she sells
• she is selling

Portuguese can simply use the present tense:

• ela vende

That can mean either she sells or she is selling, depending on the situation.

If you want to be very explicit about is selling, Portuguese can also say:

• ela está vendendo

But the simpler vende is very common.

In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun.

So:

• milho quente = hot corn
• literally, corn hot

This is a very normal word order in Portuguese.

Some adjectives can come before the noun, but quente usually comes after it in a basic descriptive phrase like this one.

No. Quente here means hot/warm in temperature, not spicy.

If you want to say spicy, Portuguese usually uses words like:

• apimentado
• picante

So:

• milho quente = hot corn (served warm/hot)
• not spicy corn

Com manteiga means with butter.

Portuguese often leaves out the article in expressions like this when talking about an ingredient or accompaniment in a general way.

So:

• milho quente com manteiga = hot corn with butter

You may also hear articles in other contexts, but here com manteiga sounds natural and standard.

The phrase Na barraca da esquina is setting the scene: it tells you where the action happens.

Putting a comma after it helps separate that introductory location phrase from the main clause:

• Na barraca da esquina, a moça vende milho quente com manteiga.

The sentence could sometimes appear without the comma in informal writing, but the comma is very natural and helps readability.

Yes, to some extent. The original order is very natural:

• Na barraca da esquina, a moça vende milho quente com manteiga.

You could also say:

• A moça vende milho quente com manteiga na barraca da esquina.

Both are correct. The difference is mainly focus:

• starting with Na barraca da esquina emphasizes the location
• starting with A moça emphasizes the person

In Brazilian Portuguese, roughly:

• vende sounds like VEN-jee or VEN-djee in many regions
• quente sounds roughly like KEN-chee or KWEN-chee, depending on accent and how carefully someone speaks

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• d before e often sounds like j/dj in much of Brazil
• t before e often sounds like ch/tch in much of Brazil
• unstressed final e often sounds like ee

Pronunciation varies by region, but those approximations help many English speakers get closer to Brazilian pronunciation.