Deves comer o pequeno-almoço.

Breakdown of Deves comer o pequeno-almoço.

comer
to eat
o pequeno-almoço
the breakfast
dever
should / ought to

Questions & Answers about Deves comer o pequeno-almoço.

Why is there an "o" before pequeno-almoço?
In Portuguese, we use definite articles like o (the) before the names of meals. While in English you say "eat breakfast", in Portuguese you literally say "eat the breakfast".
What does pequeno-almoço literally mean?
It literally translates to "small lunch". Pequeno means small or little, and almoço means lunch. It is always written with a hyphen to form the word for breakfast.
Why does the word comer end in -er instead of being conjugated?
When you use two verbs together like this, only the first verb is conjugated to match the person doing the action. The first verb is deves (you should), and the second verb comer (to eat) stays in its base dictionary form, which is called the infinitive.
How do we know this means "you should" if the word for "you" isn't there?
In Portuguese, the verb ending usually tells you exactly who is doing the action. Deves is the informal "you" form of the verb dever. Because the ending "-es" already points to tu (you), the actual word tu can be dropped.

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