Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O sabor das especiarias fez‑me lembrar a minha viagem à Índia. - The taste of the spices made me remember my trip to India.

In European Portuguese, unstressed object pronouns (like me) usually attach to the verb with a hyphen after the verb when there is no special “attracting” word before it.

So, at the start of a sentence, the normal order is:

Fez‑me lembrar … (EP – natural)
Me fez lembrar … (sounds Brazilian, not natural in Portugal)

In Brazilian Portuguese, pronouns often come before the verb (me fez lembrar), but in European Portuguese the enclitic form (fez‑me) is the default in this kind of sentence opening.

What exactly does the structure fez‑me lembrar mean, and why not just say lembrei‑me?

Fazer + pronoun + infinitive (fez‑me lembrar) literally means “made me remember”. It presents the taste as the cause of the remembering.

Alternatives:

O sabor das especiarias lembrou‑me a minha viagem à Índia.
→ The taste of the spices reminded me of my trip to India.
Lembrei‑me da minha viagem à Índia por causa do sabor das especiarias.
→ I remembered my trip to India because of the taste of the spices.

So:

Fez‑me lembrar = something caused me to remember.
Lembrei‑me = I remembered (focus on the act of remembering, not as explicitly on the cause).

All are correct; the original just highlights the idea of being made to remember.

Is lembrar reflexive in Portuguese? Why is it fez‑me lembrar and not fez‑me lembrar‑me?

Portuguese has two main patterns:

Lembrar‑se de algo
- Lembro‑me da viagem. – I remember the trip.
Lembrar algo a alguém
- A viagem lembra‑me a minha infância. – The trip reminds me of my childhood.

In fez‑me lembrar a minha viagem, lembrar is used in pattern 2 (non‑reflexive), so you must not add ‑se:

✅ Fez‑me lembrar a minha viagem.
❌ Fez‑me lembrar‑me a minha viagem. (incorrect)

Here, the structure is:
[O sabor] fez [me] [lembrar a minha viagem].

Why is it a minha viagem and not just minha viagem?

In European Portuguese, possessives usually take a definite article:

a minha viagem – my trip
o meu carro – my car
a tua casa – your house

In Brazil, speakers often drop the article:

minha viagem, meu carro, tua casa

In Portugal, a minha viagem sounds more natural and neutral; minha viagem without the article can sound either poetic, emphatic, or Brazilian‑influenced, depending on context.

So in European Portuguese, you normally say a minha viagem.

What does the à in à Índia mean, and why is there a grave accent?

À is the contraction of the preposition a + the feminine definite article a:

a (to) + a (the) = à

The grave accent (`) shows that two a’s merged into one syllable.

So:

à Índia = a (to) + a Índia (India) → to India / in India (depending on the verb).

The accent does not change pronunciation very much; it mainly signals this contraction in writing.

Why is the preposition a used in viagem à Índia instead of para?

With the noun viagem, both a and para are possible, but they have typical patterns:

viagem a + país/cidade
Very common, especially in set phrases describing trips:
- a minha viagem à Índia
- a viagem a Paris
- a viagem aos Estados Unidos
viagem para + lugar
Also correct, but often feels more like “in the direction of / going to” and is common in everyday speech:
- a viagem para a Índia foi cansativa.

In this sentence, viagem à Índia is a very natural and idiomatic way to refer to a specific trip whose destination was India.

Why is it das especiarias and not de as especiarias?

Das is simply the contraction of de + as:

de (of / from) + as (the, feminine plural) → das

So:

o sabor das especiarias = the taste of the spices

In Portuguese, prepositions often contract with definite articles:
de + o = do, de + a = da, de + os = dos, de + as = das, etc.

Writing de as especiarias is grammatically wrong; you must use the contracted form das.

What does especiarias mean exactly? Is it the same as temperos?

Especiarias are spices in the strict sense: plant‑based aromatic substances used for flavoring food, often dried, and historically traded (pepper, cinnamon, cloves, etc.).

Temperos is broader and more informal: it means seasonings in general, including:

especiarias (spices),
ervas aromáticas (herbs),
sometimes sal, molhos (sauces), etc.

In this sentence, especiarias evokes exotic, aromatic spices that could realistically remind someone of India, which fits the context very well.

What is the difference between sabor and gosto?

Both can relate to “taste,” but they are not always interchangeable:

sabor
- More formal/neutral for flavour.
- Refers to the sensory quality of food or drink:
  - O sabor das especiarias – the flavour of the spices
  - Tem um sabor forte.
gosto
- Can mean taste (preference) or sometimes the physical taste:
  - Tenho gosto por comida picante. – I have a liking for spicy food.
  - Não gosto do gosto disto. – I don’t like the taste of this. (very informal)

In this context, o sabor das especiarias is the standard and most idiomatic choice. O gosto das especiarias is understandable, but less natural here.

Could I say O sabor das especiarias lembrou‑me a minha viagem à Índia instead of fez‑me lembrar?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and natural:

O sabor das especiarias lembrou‑me a minha viagem à Índia.

Here you use lembrar algo a alguém directly:

[O sabor] lembrou [me] [a minha viagem].

The nuance:

fez‑me lembrar – highlights a causing action: made me remember.
lembrou‑me – directly reminded me.

Both are fine; the choice is stylistic. Fez‑me lembrar may sound a bit more vivid or emphatic.

Why is fez used here and what tense is it?

Fez is the pretérito perfeito do indicativo (simple past) of fazer:

fazer (to do / to make)
→ ele/ela fez (he/she/it did / made)

It refers to a completed action in the past:

At that moment (when I tasted the spices), the taste made me remember.

Other tenses would change the nuance:

fazia‑me lembrar – it used to / would make me remember (repeated or ongoing in the past).
tinha‑me feito lembrar – it had made me remember (before another past moment).

In the given sentence, we just need a simple, completed past event, so fez‑me is the natural choice.

How do you pronounce especiarias and Índia in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation:

especiarias → / (ɨʃ.pɨ.sjɐ.ˈɾi.ɐʃ) /
Roughly: ish-pɨ-sya-REE-ash
- Initial es‑ sounds like ish‑.
- The final ‑as is often a weak ‑ash sound.
Índia → / (ˈĩ.djɐ) /
Roughly: EEN-dya
- Í is stressed and nasal: like een, but with air through the nose.
- The final ‑ia in European Portuguese here is a reduced ‑ya / ‑yɐ sound.

Note that in natural speech, many unstressed vowels (like the final ‑as and ‑ia) are quite reduced and not pronounced as clearly as in Spanish or Brazilian Portuguese.