Breakdown of A mistura de hoje sabe a hortelã fresca?
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
hoje
today
a
to / at (direction)
fresco
cool, fresh
saber a
to taste like
a mistura
the mixture
a hortelã
the mint
Questions & Answers about A mistura de hoje sabe a hortelã fresca?
Wait, doesn't saber mean to know? Why does it mean taste here?
You are right that saber usually means to know. However, when paired with the preposition a, it becomes a sensory verb meaning to taste like or to taste of. The same rule applies to the verb cheirar (to smell), which becomes cheirar a (to smell like).
Why is it just a hortelã instead of the contracted à hortelã?
When describing a general flavor or ingredient with saber a, Portuguese typically drops the definite article and just uses the preposition a. You would only use the contraction à (a + a) if you were referring to a specific, previously mentioned batch of mint, such as tasting like the specific fresh mint we picked earlier.
I've also seen the word menta for mint. Why use hortelã here?
In Portugal, hortelã refers to the natural, fresh herb (spearmint or peppermint) that you grow in a garden and use in cooking or tea. Menta is usually reserved for artificial mint flavorings, like in chewing gum or toothpaste. Since the sentence specifies fresca (fresh), hortelã is the natural and culturally accurate choice.
How do we know de hoje refers to the mixture and not the mint?
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