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Nós gostamos de jogar com o cão.

Nós gostamos de jogar com o cão.
We like to play with the dog.
From Lesson 42:The verb to like (gostar de)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Nós gostamos de jogar com o cão.

nós
we
o cão
the dog
com
with
gostar de
to like
jogar
to play

Questions & Answers about Nós gostamos de jogar com o cão.

Why is there a de between gostamos and jogar?
In Portuguese, the verb gostar (to like) almost always needs the preposition de right after it. While in English we just say 'we like to play', in Portuguese you literally say 'we like of to play' (gostamos de jogar).
I thought brincar meant 'to play'. Why does this sentence use jogar?
Jogar usually means to play a sport or a structured game, while brincar means to play in a more free or childlike way. Using jogar com o cão suggests you are playing a specific game with the dog, like fetch. If you were just goofing around with the dog, you would say brincar com o cão.
Can I drop the word Nós and just say Gostamos de jogar com o cão?
Yes! Because the verb ending in -amos tells us the subject is 'we', the word Nós is completely optional. People often leave it out in everyday conversation unless they want to emphasize exactly who likes playing with the dog.
Do the words com and o combine into a single word here?
No, com (with) and o (the) stay as two separate words: com o cão. Unlike prepositions such as de or em, which often shrink and combine with the words that follow them (for example, de + o = do), the word com usually stays independent.

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