Breakdown of Há muito desperdício de comida nos restaurantes.
de
of
em
in
muito
much
a comida
the food
o restaurante
the restaurant
haver
there to be
o desperdício
the waste
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Questions & Answers about Há muito desperdício de comida nos restaurantes.
What is the function of há in this sentence?
Há is the impersonal present‐tense form of the verb haver, used existentially to mean “there is” or “there are.” It tells us that something exists or occurs.
Why is há used instead of tem?
While ter (so you could say tem) can colloquially express existence—especially in Brazilian Portuguese—in Portugal the standard and more neutral way to express “there is/are” is with haver (i.e. há). Using tem in Portugal may sound informal or regional.
Why is it muito desperdício in the singular and not muitos desperdícios?
Here desperdício (“waste”) is treated as a mass noun (uncountable), so you quantify it with the singular muito: “a lot of waste.” If you said muitos desperdícios, you’d be treating each “waste” as a separate countable item, which changes the meaning.
Why is there a de before comida?
Portuguese uses de to link two nouns in a genitive or “of” relationship. Desperdício de comida literally means “waste of food.”
Could you say desperdício da comida instead of desperdício de comida?
Yes. Da is a contraction of de + a (“of the”), so desperdício da comida means “waste of the food”, implying specific or previously mentioned food. Desperdício de comida remains more general: “food waste.”
What does nos stand for in nos restaurantes?
Nos is the contraction of em + os, meaning “in the restaurants.” The definite article os makes it refer to restaurants as a general category.
Why not just say em restaurantes without the article?
You can say em restaurantes, but omitting the article tends to sound less natural when you’re talking about an entire category. Nos restaurantes (“in the restaurants”) is more idiomatic for referring broadly to all restaurants.
Can há also be used to talk about the past?
Yes. When used with a time expression, há means “ago.” For example, há dois dias means “two days ago.” In your sentence, however, há is expressing existence in the present.