Minha mãe costuma cozinhar espinafre com alho para o jantar.

My mother usually cooks spinach with garlic for dinner.

Breakdown of Minha mãe costuma cozinhar espinafre com alho para o jantar.

• com: with
• minha: my
• para: for
• o jantar: the dinner

Questions & Answers about Minha mãe costuma cozinhar espinafre com alho para o jantar.

What does costuma mean in this sentence?

Costuma comes from the verb costumar, which is used to talk about a habit or something that usually happens.

So Minha mãe costuma cozinhar... means something like:

• My mother usually cooks...
• My mother tends to cook...
• My mother habitually cooks...

It does not mean she is cooking right now. It describes what she normally does.

Why is it costuma cozinhar and not costuma cozinha?

After costumar, Portuguese uses another verb in the infinitive form.

So:

• costuma cozinhar = usually cooks
• literally: is accustomed to cook / tends to cook

This is very common in Portuguese:

• Eu costumo estudar à noite. = I usually study at night.
• Eles costumam sair cedo. = They usually leave early.

So cozinhar stays in the infinitive because it follows costuma.

Why is it minha mãe and not meu mãe?