As refeições (The meals)

 

Today we’re going to talk about meals. First of all, nutritionists say that breakfast is the most important meal in the whole day, and, maybe because of that, in Portuguese we call it  pequeno-almoço, literally “little-lunch”. If we want to say “To have breakfast” we use the regular verb “tomar” (to take) and we say “tomar o pequeno-almoço”.

 Example:

• Eu tomo o pequeno-almoço em casa. (I have breakfast at home)
• Nós tomamos o pequeno-almoço no café. (We have breakfast at the coffee shop)

Then, lunch is  almoço, and “to have lunch” is almoçar, again a regular –AR verb.

Example:

• Tu almoças no restaurante hoje? (Do you have lunch at the restaurant today?)
• Ele almoça com os amigos. (He has lunch with his friends).

If you want to eat something in the middle of the afternoon, between lunch and dinner (a very important one to children), a snack, is, in Portuguese, lanche. This word actually came from the English word “lunch”. The verb we use is another regular –AR verb: lanchar.

 Example:

• As crianças lancham às cinco horas. (Children have a snack at five o’clock).
• Nós lanchamos todos os dias. (We have a snack everyday).

Finally, dinner is jantar and “to have dinner” is the verb jantar, also a regular -AR verb.

Example:

• Vocês jantam às oito horas? (Do you have dinner at eight o’clock?)
• Ele janta sempre em casa. (He always has dinner at home).

So… Bom apetite or Bom proveito! (Enjoy your meal!)