Hoje vamos fazer arroz com feijão e ervilhas para o jantar.

Today we are going to make rice with beans and peas for dinner.

Breakdown of Hoje vamos fazer arroz com feijão e ervilhas para o jantar.

• hoje: today
• ir: to go
• o jantar: the dinner
• e: and
• para: for
• com: with
• fazer: to make
• o arroz: the rice
• o feijão: the bean
• a ervilha: the pea

Questions & Answers about Hoje vamos fazer arroz com feijão e ervilhas para o jantar.

Why isn’t nós included? How do you know vamos means we?

European Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb ending.

Here, vamos is the 1st person plural form, so it already means we go / we are going. Because of that, nós is not necessary.

• Hoje vamos fazer... = natural, normal
• Hoje nós vamos fazer... = also correct, but adds emphasis or contrast

So the sentence already clearly means we without needing nós.

Why does the sentence use vamos fazer instead of a single future-tense verb?

Vamos fazer is a very common way to talk about the future in Portuguese. It uses:

• vamos = we go
• fazer = to make / to do

Together, ir + infinitive means going to do something or simply will do.

So:

• Hoje vamos fazer... = Today we’re going to make... / Today we’ll make...

A simple future like faremos is also possible, but it usually sounds more formal, more written, or less conversational.

Does fazer really mean make here, or does it mean cook?

Here fazer means something like make, prepare, or cook.

With food, Portuguese very often uses fazer where English might use make or cook:

• fazer arroz = cook/make rice
• fazer o jantar = make dinner
• fazer uma sopa = make a soup

You could also use cozinhar in some contexts, but fazer is extremely natural when talking about preparing a dish or a meal.

Why is it arroz com feijão and not arroz e feijão?

Com means with, and here it presents the beans as something served with the rice, or mixed into the same overall dish idea.

• arroz com feijão = rice with beans
• arroz e feijão = rice and beans

Both are possible, but they are not exactly identical in feel:

• com often sounds more like a combination
• e sounds more like a simple list of separate items

So arroz com feijão e ervilhas naturally suggests rice with beans and peas as one dish or one combined plate idea.

Why are there no articles before arroz, feijão, and ervilhas?

When Portuguese talks about food in a general way, especially as ingredients or dishes being prepared, it often leaves out the article.

So this is natural:

• fazer arroz
• com feijão
• e ervilhas

If you add an article, it often sounds more specific:

• o arroz = the rice
• o feijão = the beans / the bean dish already known in context
• as ervilhas = the peas, a specific batch or serving

In this sentence, the speaker is just naming what they are going to make, so the article is not needed.

Why is feijão singular, but ervilhas is plural?

This is a very common learner question.

In Portuguese, feijão can be used as a mass noun when talking about beans as a food in general, especially in expressions like arroz com feijão. In that use, singular is very normal.

• feijão = beans as food, bean dish, beans in general
• feijões = individual beans or different types of beans

By contrast, ervilhas is usually used in the plural, because peas are more naturally thought of as many small individual items.

So this combination is perfectly normal:

• arroz com feijão e ervilhas

Does arroz com feijão e ervilhas mean one dish, or could it mean several separate foods?

The most natural reading is:

• rice with beans and peas

In other words, com applies to both feijão and ervilhas.

If the speaker wanted to list three more separate items, they would more likely say something like:

• arroz, feijão e ervilhas

So in your sentence, it most likely refers to one combined meal idea, not just a random list.

Why is it para o jantar? Could I also say para jantar?

Yes, both are possible, but there is a small nuance.

• para o jantar = for dinner, for the dinner meal
• para jantar = for dinner / to eat for dinner, often a bit more compact and general

In your sentence, para o jantar sounds very natural and explicit.

Also, jantar as a noun is masculine, so the article is o:

• o jantar = dinner

A different expression, no jantar, means at dinner or during dinner, so it is not the same thing here.

In fast speech, para o is often reduced, and you may hear something like prò or pro, but in careful standard writing para o is completely normal.

Is jantar a verb or a noun here?

Here it is a noun, because it is preceded by the article o:

• o jantar = dinner

But jantar can also be a verb in Portuguese:

• Vamos jantar. = We’re going to have dinner.
• Depois do jantar... = After dinner...

So the word itself can be either a verb or a noun, and the grammar around it tells you which one it is.

Why is Hoje placed at the beginning? Can it go elsewhere?

Yes, it can go elsewhere, but putting Hoje first is very natural because it sets the time frame right away.

• Hoje vamos fazer arroz com feijão e ervilhas para o jantar.
  This sounds very natural and gives today special prominence.

You could also say:

• Vamos fazer arroz com feijão e ervilhas hoje para o jantar.

That is grammatical too, but the emphasis is a little different. In the original sentence, Hoje at the front works well because the speaker is starting by saying what is happening today.

How would a speaker of European Portuguese pronounce the trickiest words in this sentence?

A few parts are especially worth noticing:

• Hoje: the h is silent. In European Portuguese, the final -e is very reduced.
  Roughly: OH-zhih

• vamos: the final -os often sounds like -oosh in European Portuguese.
  Roughly: VAH-moosh

• feijão: the ending -ão is nasal, which is hard for English speakers at first.
  Roughly: fuhy-ZHOWN, but with a nasal ending

• ervilhas: lh is a special Portuguese sound, similar to the lli in some pronunciations of million.
  Roughly: air-VEEL-yash

Also, in European Portuguese, final -s often sounds like sh before a pause, which is why words like vamos and ervilhas may sound different from what an English speaker expects.