Breakdown of Toda a gente precisa de café para começar o dia.
o dia
the day
o café
the coffee
precisar de
to need
para
to
começar
to start
toda a gente
everyone
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Questions & Answers about Toda a gente precisa de café para começar o dia.
What does toda a gente mean in English, and why does it take a singular verb?
Toda a gente means everybody or everyone. Grammatically in European Portuguese it’s a feminine singular expression, so you use a singular verb form (precisa, not precisam).
Why is there a de after precisar?
In Portuguese, the verb precisar (to need) requires the preposition de before its object. You always say precisar de algo (to need something), not precisar algo.
Can we omit the article before café, or use an indefinite article like um café?
Saying precisar de café (no article) means you need coffee in general (mass noun). Saying precisar de um café means you need one (cup of) coffee, a specific serving.
Why is para used before começar?
The construction para + infinitive expresses purpose or in order to in Portuguese. So para começar o dia literally means in order to start the day.
Why is the definite article o used before dia? Could you say começar dia?
In Portuguese you normally use the definite article with a general countable noun when talking about routines or generic events. Começar o dia is the standard way to say start the day. Omitting the article (começar dia) would sound ungrammatical.
Could we replace toda a gente with todas as pessoas? Is there any nuance?
Yes. Todas as pessoas literally means all the people and carries the same basic meaning. It’s slightly more formal than toda a gente, which is very common in spoken European Portuguese.
What about todo o mundo — can we use that instead of toda a gente?
In Brazilian Portuguese, todo mundo (often without the article) is the everyday way to say everyone. In Portugal you might hear todo o mundo, but toda a gente remains the more typical choice in European Portuguese.