How this lesson works
After this lesson you can survive a restaurant, ask real questions, and even talk about tomorrow.
Today you will learn to say:
"Eu quero arroz com feijão, por favor. Amanhã vou comer no restaurante — você pode ir também?"
"I want rice and beans, please. Tomorrow I'm going to eat at the restaurant — can you come too?"
📐 Grammar in this lesson
| Regular -ER verbs — present | -o, -e, -emos, -em (comer, beber, escrever) |
| Regular -IR verbs — present | same endings, nós = -imos (abrir) |
| The four power verbs | irregular querer, poder, fazer, ir |
| Question words | onde, quando, como, por quê, quanto, o que, quem |
| ir + infinitive | your first future tense (preview — full lesson in Lição 4) |
| a gente | spoken "we", takes the ele/ela verb form |
The 8 steps (±40 min)
| 1 | Review — 6 quick questions from Lesson 2 | 2 min |
| 2 | Words — 28 new words: food, drink, time, question words | 5 min |
| 3 | Grammar — -er/-ir verbs, the 4 power verbs, question words, contractions | 7 min |
| 4 | Cards — flashcards, multiple choice, typing | 9 min |
| 5 | Dialogue — order lunch at a Brazilian restaurant | 3 min |
| 6 | Summary — the cheat-sheet | 1 min |
| 7 | Test — 30 questions, with L1 + L2 comebacks | 8 min |
| 8 | Results — your scores, saved automatically | 1 min |
Step 1 · Warm-up — Lesson 2 check
No looking back. Honest answers = a smarter next lesson.
Step 2 · 60 new words
Food and drink (the fun part), time words, and the question words that unlock every conversation.
Food & drink 🍚
Time ⏰
Question words & glue
Story words 📖 — every one of these turns up in this lição’s história
Don’t drill these like the lists above. Read them once, then meet them again in the story — that second meeting is what makes them stick.
Step 3 · The rest of the verb kingdom
Two more verb families, four power verbs, question words, your first future, and the real Brazilian "we".
1 · Regular -ER verbs — machine number two
Verbs ending in -er conjugate with -o / -e / -emos / -em: comer (to eat) → como, come, comemos, comem. Same music as -AR, different vowel.
| Eu como arroz todo dia. | com + o |
| Ele bebe muito café. | beb + e |
| Nós comemos juntos. Eles escrevem bem. | -emos · -em |
2 · Regular -IR verbs — machine number three
Verbs in -ir are nearly identical to -ER: -o / -e / -imos / -em. Only the nós form differs (-imos): abrir (to open) → abro, abre, abrimos, abrem.
| Eu abro a janela. | abr + o |
| A loja abre cedo. | abr + e |
| Nós abrimos o restaurante às oito. | nós → -imos (the one difference) |
3 · The four power verbs — querer, poder, fazer, ir
Four irregular verbs unlock most daily sentences: querer (want) → quero, quer; poder (can) → posso, pode; fazer (do/make) → faço, faz; ir (go) → vou, vai, vamos, vão. They are irregular precisely because they are used constantly — worth every minute of drilling.
| Eu quero um suco, por favor. | querer → ordering anything |
| Posso perguntar uma coisa? | poder → permission |
| O que você faz? — Eu vou ao mercado. | fazer + ir in real life |
4 · Question words — the interrogation kit
o que = what · quem = who · onde = where · quando = when · como = how · quanto = how much, how many · por que = why. No word-order gymnastics: question word + normal sentence + "?" — done.
| Onde você mora? | onde + normal sentence |
| O que você quer comer? | o que = what |
| Por que você estuda português? — Porque eu quero! | question → por que · answer → porque · alone or before punctuation → por quê? |
5 · ir + infinitive — your first future
The future you will actually use: a form of ir (vou/vai/vamos/vão) + any verb in the dictionary form. "I am going to eat" = vou comer. English does exactly the same thing — you already know this grammar!
| Eu vou comer agora. | vou + infinitive |
| Ela vai trabalhar amanhã. | vai + infinitive |
| Vamos beber um café? | vamos + verb = let's… |
6 · a gente — how Brazil really says "we"
Alongside nós, spoken Brazil loves a gente (literally "the people") for "we". The trap: it takes the ele/ela verb form, not the nós form — a gente come, never "a gente comemos".
| A gente come fora no sábado. | a gente + ele-form |
| A gente vai ao restaurante? | a gente vai (not vamos!) |
| Nós vamos. / A gente vai. | nós = neutral · a gente = casual |
7 · The power verbs in other persons — mix and match
You met querer, poder, fazer and ir mostly through eu and você. Watch them work across all persons — this is what the test will throw at you:
| Ela quer suco, nós queremos cerveja. | quer / queremos |
| Nós podemos ir amanhã. | podemos |
| Eles fazem comida em casa. | fazem |
| Vocês vão para o mercado? | vão |
8 · The classic slips of Lesson 3
| ❌ Eu fazo | ✅ Eu faço — fazer is irregular in the eu-form |
| ❌ Eu vou a comer | ✅ Eu vou comer — ir + verb glues directly, no word between |
| ❌ Quando você come? (asking "what time") | ✅ Que horas você come? — quando = broad "when", que horas = clock time |
| ❌ Eu quero ir? (rising = asking permission) | ✅ Eu posso ir? — permission is poder, desire is querer |
Step 4 · Cards — the repetition engine
Three rounds. Cards you miss come back until you get them.
Round 1 · Flashcards
Step 5 · At the restaurant
You're ordering lunch in São Paulo. Listen first WITHOUT translations — you know every word in this dialogue.
Did you understand?
Step 6 · Resumo — Lesson 3 on one page
Your cheat-sheet. (Ctrl+P saves it as PDF.)
📐 New grammar
| Regular -ER verbs | drop -er → -o, -e, -emos, -em (como, come, comemos, comem) |
| Regular -IR verbs | drop -ir → -o, -e, -imos, -em (only nós differs from -er) |
| ir + infinitive | = going to (future): Vou comer amanhã. |
| Question words | onde · quando · por quê · como · quanto · o que · quem — normal word order, question word in front |
| a gente | spoken "we", takes ele/ela form: a gente vai |
🔧 New verbs (8)
| Verb | eu | você/ele/ela | nós | eles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| comer (eat) | como | come | comemos | comem |
| beber (drink) | bebo | bebe | bebemos | bebem |
| escrever (write) | escrevo | escreve | escrevemos | escrevem |
| abrir (open) | abro | abre | abrimos | abrem |
| querer (want) ⚠ | quero | quer | queremos | querem |
| poder (can) ⚠ | posso | pode | podemos | podem |
| fazer (do/make) ⚠ | faço | faz | fazemos | fazem |
| ir (go) ⚠ | vou | vai | vamos | vão |
💬 New words (28)
Step 7 · Final test — 30 questions
Lesson 3 material plus Lesson 1 & 2 comebacks. No peeking at the summary.
Step 8 · Your results
Your progress is saved automatically. Sign in and it follows you to any device — phone, laptop, wherever you study next.
Needs more repetition
- Complete the drills and test first.