Breakdown of Frita o peixe na frigideira.
na
in the / on the / at the (f.sg)
o peixe
the fish
a frigideira
the frying pan
fritar
to fry
Questions & Answers about Frita o peixe na frigideira.
Why does the sentence use Frita instead of Frite or the infinitive Fritar?
Frita is the informal command (imperative) for tu (you). In Portuguese recipes or casual instructions, you will often see the informal tu command, the formal você command (frite), or the infinitive (fritar). This sentence uses the informal tu form to tell someone to fry the fish.
Could Frita mean something else in a different context?
Yes. Besides being a command, frita is also the normal present tense for he, she, or it, meaning "fries" (as in ele frita - he fries). It can also be the feminine adjective for "fried", like in batata frita (french fry). Here, the English translation tells us it is a direct command.
Why do we use na for "in the"?
The word na is a mandatory combination of the preposition em (in/on/at) and the feminine article a (the). Because frigideira (frying pan) is a feminine noun, you must combine them into na instead of saying em a.
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