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Nós temos muita comida para o jantar.

Nós temos muita comida para o jantar.
We have a lot of food for dinner.
FromLesson 23inHardcore Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Nós temos muita comida para o jantar.

nós
we
ter
to have
o jantar
the dinner
para
for
a comida
the food
muita
a lot of

Questions & Answers about Nós temos muita comida para o jantar.

Why is the subject pronoun nós included? Is it mandatory?
In Portuguese, the verb ending in -mos (like temos) already indicates “we.” Including nós isn’t mandatory—it adds clarity or emphasis. In everyday speech you’ll often hear simply Temos muita comida para o jantar.
What’s the difference between temos and tem?
Both come from ter (to have). Temos is first‐person plural (“we have”), while tem is third‐person singular (“he/she/it has”) or the formal “you have” in Portugal. Since nós means “we,” you need temos to match.
Why do we say muita comida and not muito comida?
Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Comida is feminine and (in this context) singular/uncountable, so the correct form is muita (feminine singular) rather than muito (masculine singular).
Could we say muitas comidas instead of muita comida?
You could say muitas comidas if you’re talking about many different dishes (countable items). But when you mean “a lot of food” in general (an uncountable mass), you say muita comida.
What does para o jantar literally mean? Why not just say jantar?
Para means “for,” so para o jantar = “for dinner.” It specifies the purpose or occasion. If you just said para jantar, you’d be using an infinitive construction (“for eating dinner”) but that sounds more like “in order to dine” rather than “for dinner.”
Can I drop the article and say para jantar?
Yes, dropping o gives para jantar, which is still correct. It’s a bit more informal or general (“for dinner”) and emphasizes the action of dining rather than the event. Both are used in everyday speech.
Why is jantar preceded by o? Isn’t it a verb?
Here jantar is a noun meaning “dinner,” not the verb “to dine.” All Portuguese nouns have gender; jantar is masculine, so it takes o. The verb “to dine” is jantar without an article (e.g., Vamos jantar = “Let’s have dinner”).
Why is comida singular? Can we say comidas?
As an uncountable noun (meaning “food” in general), comida stays singular. If you mean individual meals or dishes, you’d use the plural comidas, but that changes the nuance to “different foods” rather than “food” as a whole.
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