Breakdown of Não gosto de gente mal-educada.
gostar de
to like
a gente
we / people (colloquial)
mal-educado
rude, bad-mannered
Questions & Answers about Não gosto de gente mal-educada.
Why is it mal-educada (singular) when it translates to "rude people" (plural)?
Does mal-educada mean "poorly educated" or "uneducated"?
It looks like it should, but this is a common false friend! In Portuguese, mal-educado (and its feminine form mal-educada) means "rude" or "impolite", referring to a person's manners and upbringing rather than their formal schooling. If you want to say someone lacks academic schooling, you would describe them as having pouca instrução.
Why do we say gosto de instead of just gosto?
The verb gostar (to like) requires the preposition de right after it to connect to the thing you like. You can think of it as saying "I am fond of" in English. Therefore, "I don't like" becomes Não gosto de.
Why isn't there a word for "the" before gente? Shouldn't it be da gente?
When you are talking about a collective noun in a broad, general sense, like "rude people in general" rather than a specific group of rude people you just met, you leave out the definite article. Since we only need the preposition de, it stays as de gente rather than combining into da gente (which would mean "of the people").
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