Breakdown of Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta do professor.
Questions & Answers about Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta do professor.
In Portuguese, the verb gostar almost always takes the preposition de before what you like.
- Correct: Eu gosto *de receber…*
- Incorrect: Eu gosto receber…
This is true whether what follows is:
- a verb: gosto de ler, gosto de viajar
- a noun: gosto de café, gosto de música clássica
So you can think of gostar de as a fixed expression meaning “to like (something / doing something)”.
Yes, and in Portuguese that’s very natural.
Subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person:
- Eu gosto → the ending -o already tells you it’s “I”
- So: Eu gosto de receber… = Gosto de receber…
Use “eu” mainly:
- for emphasis: Eu gosto de receber respostas diretas (but others don’t)
- to contrast with someone else: Eu gosto, mas ele não gosta.
Both translations are fine. Portuguese “gostar de + infinitive” covers both English patterns:
- Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta…
→ I like to receive a direct answer…
→ I like receiving a direct answer…
There is no real difference in meaning in Portuguese; it’s just the normal way to talk about what you like doing.
Because “resposta” is a feminine noun in Portuguese:
- the article: uma (feminine)
- the adjective: direta (feminine form of direto)
Everything has to agree in gender and number with resposta:
- Singular, feminine: uma resposta direta
- Plural, feminine: respostas diretas
Masculine would be, for example:
- um comentário direto (“a direct comment”)
In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:
- uma resposta direta
- um livro interessante
- uma casa bonita
You can place some adjectives before the noun, but that often changes the nuance (more subjective, emotional, or poetic). Here, “direta resposta” would sound strange or marked; the normal, neutral order is “resposta direta”.
Yes. “Uma resposta direta” is:
- a clear, straightforward answer
- without avoiding the issue
- without being too vague or indirect
Natural English equivalents:
- “a straight answer from the teacher”
- “a direct answer from the teacher”
It’s not about “direct” as in “not via someone else”, but direct in communication style.
No, that would be wrong here.
- direto/direta = direct, straightforward
- uma resposta direta = a direct/straight answer
- direito/direita = right (side), straight (physically), law (as a noun)
- mão direita = right hand
- estar direito = to be upright
So for “direct answer”, you must use direta, not direita.
“Do” is a contraction of “de” + “o”:
- de (from/of) + o (the, masculine singular) → do
So:
- de o professor → do professor
- meaning: “from the teacher” / “of the teacher”
Other common contractions:
- de + a → da (da professora – “from the (female) teacher”)
- de + os → dos
- de + as → das
Literally it’s “from the teacher”, but in context it often means “from my teacher”, especially if it’s clear who you’re talking about.
If you want to be explicit:
- do meu professor = from my (male) teacher
- da minha professora = from my (female) teacher
So:
- Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta do professor
= I like getting a straight answer from the teacher (the one we both know / my teacher).
You only need to change “professor” to “professora”, and the article/contraction follows:
- masculine: do professor = de + o professor
- feminine: da professora = de + a professora
Full sentence:
- Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta *da professora.*
Everything else stays the same.
That sounds odd or unnatural in this specific sentence.
More natural options:
With “uma” (singular, specific/generic event):
Eu gosto de receber *uma resposta direta do professor.*
(“I like it when I get a straight answer from the teacher.”)In the plural (general habit):
Eu gosto de receber *respostas diretas do professor.*
(“I like getting direct answers from the teacher.”)
Leaving out the article in this kind of everyday sentence is not typical Portuguese.
Yes, a very natural alternative is:
- Eu gosto *quando o professor me dá uma resposta direta.*
= “I like it when the teacher gives me a straight answer.”
Here:
- gosto quando… = “I like it when…”
- o professor me dá = “the teacher gives me”
Your original sentence focuses on receiving the answer (gosto de receber), while this one focuses more on what the teacher does (o professor me dá). Both are correct and idiomatic.
Very roughly in English-friendly terms (European Portuguese):
- Eu ≈ “eh-oo” (often reduced, sometimes almost just “ô”)
- gosto ≈ “GÓSH-too” (the s sounds like “sh”)
- de ≈ very short “d(ɨ)”
- receber ≈ “hruh-se-BEHR” (initial r is guttural)
- uma ≈ “OO-mɐ”
- resposta ≈ “hruh-SHPOSH-tɐ”
- direta ≈ “dee-REH-tɐ”
- do ≈ “doo” (short)
- professor ≈ “pru-fɨ-SÔR”
Spoken naturally, it all runs together: > Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta do professor.
(And very often the “Eu” is dropped: Gosto de receber…)
“Gosto” is present indicative, 1st person singular:
- It expresses a general preference or habit, not a single moment:
- Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta do professor
= In general, I like getting direct answers from the teacher.
- Eu gosto de receber uma resposta direta do professor
If you wanted to talk about a past, single situation, you’d change the verb:
- Eu *gostei de receber uma resposta direta do professor.*
= I liked (that I received) a direct answer from the teacher (on that occasion).