A1 (Beginner)Lesson 8: Travel Prep
Polite requests, prices, and payment chunks cover food, shopping, and everyday purchases in Brazil. Forms like queria..., quanto custa...?, and aceita cartão? appear constantly in cafés, restaurants, stores, and markets.
Use queria for polite requests
Use quanto custa...? to ask the price
Use aceita cartão? and vou pagar em dinheiro for payment
Key service verbs: querer, poder, precisar, comprar, pagar
Key nouns: cardápio, conta, caixa, cartão, dinheiro, troco
These chunks work in restaurants, cafés, shops, and markets
Prices, requests, and payment methods show up every day on a trip to Brazil: water, coffee, transport, snacks, medicine, and hotel extras. Knowing how to ask the price, request something politely, and handle card or cash makes everyday interactions much smoother.
queria... | pode trazer...? | quanto custa...? | aceita cartão? | vou pagar em dinheiro / com cartão
Sign up to save your progress, practice exercises and unlock all grammar content.
| Chunk | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Queria... | polite request | Queria ver o cardápio. |
| Quanto custa...? | ask the price | Quanto custa o café? |
| Aceita cartão? | payment method | Aceita cartão? |
| Vou pagar em... | how you will pay | Vou pagar em dinheiro. |
In restaurants, cafés, stores, and markets, short request chunks come up all the time:
Queria ver o cardápio.
Queria ver o cardápio e pedir um café com leite.
Pode trazer a conta para a mesa, por favor?
Quanto custa o prato do dia?
Tem mesa para dois perto da janela?
Quero comprar água e protetor solar.
Quanto custa essa garrafa de água?
Onde fica o caixa desta loja?
Vou pagar em dinheiro porque estou sem cartão.
Quero is direct and understandable.
Queria sounds softer and more polite in service situations.
A direct translation from English often produces Posso ter...?. Brazilians understand it, but Queria... is usually more natural for orders.
For a restaurant bill, conta is the key word. Nota often means a school grade, so it is not the best beginner default for paying.
Caixa may mean a physical box or the cashier. In shops and supermarkets, context usually makes the payment meaning clear.
Get full access to grammar lessons, exercises, vocabulary and personalized review with a free Falando account.