Traz mais talheres para a mesa, por favor.

Bring more cutlery to the table, please.

Breakdown of Traz mais talheres para a mesa, por favor.

• por favor: please
• mais: more
• para: to
• trazer: to bring
• a mesa: the table
• os talheres: the cutlery

Questions & Answers about Traz mais talheres para a mesa, por favor.

What does traz mean, and is it an imperative or a regular present tense?

traz can be both the 3rd-person singular present indicative of trazer (“he/she/it brings”) and the affirmative imperative for tu (“you bring!”). Here, because it’s a command softened by por favor, it functions as the 2nd-person informal imperative: “Bring more cutlery to the table, please.”

Why use traz instead of traga?

Portuguese has different imperative forms for tu (informal “you”) and você (formal “you”):

• traz = informal imperative for tu
• traga = formal imperative for você
  Since this sentence addresses someone as tu, you say Traz mais talheres…. If you wanted to sound more formal or speak to você, you’d say Traga mais talheres para a mesa, por favor.

Who is the implied subject, and why is there no pronoun like tu or você?

Portuguese is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb form indicates the person. Here, traz shows it’s a command to tu. You could add tu (“Tu traz mais talheres…”) but it usually sounds redundant or overly emphatic.

What does talheres refer to?

talheres means cutlery or silverware—the set of utensils such as forks, knives, and spoons. It’s used in the plural when asking for more than one piece.

Could you use talher in the singular form instead?

Not in this context. Asking for mais talheres implies you want multiple pieces. If you only needed one piece, you’d say mais um talher.

Why is it para a mesa and not na mesa or à mesa?

• para a mesa (to the table) emphasizes the action of bringing something toward the table.
• na mesa (on the table) emphasizes location (you’d more likely use it with pôr: “colocar na mesa”).
• à mesa is a contraction of a + a (“to the table”) and is also correct: “traz os talheres à mesa”. All three are grammatically possible, but para a mesa is very common in European Portuguese for “bring to the table.”

Can por favor go at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. You can place por favor at the start to soften the request:
“Por favor, traz mais talheres para a mesa.”
Whether you put it at the beginning or end is a matter of style and emphasis.

How could I make this request more polite or formal in a restaurant?

Use modal or conditional forms to soften the tone:

• “Pode trazer mais talheres para a mesa, por favor?” (Could you bring more cutlery to the table, please?)
• “Seria possível trazer mais talheres para a mesa?” (Would it be possible to bring more cutlery to the table?)
  For a formal você imperative, you could also say:
  “Traga mais talheres para a mesa, por favor.”

Why do we use trazer here and not levar?

• trazer means “to bring” toward the speaker or the location of the table.
• levar means “to take” away from the speaker’s location.
  Since you’re requesting someone to bring cutlery to your table (where you are), you use trazer.