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How to Say ‘There were fewer customers’ in Portuguese

Houve menos clientes

OH-veh MEH-noosh klee-EN-tsh

[OH-veh MEH-noosh klee-EN-tsh]

💬 Usage Tip: houve means "there was" or "there were" and stays the same whether one thing or many follows it. In the present you'd use há: há menos clientes "there are fewer customers".

Phrase Breakdown

Houve

[OH-veh]

there was

Past tense of impersonal 'haver' (there is).

Example

Houve um problema ontem.

There was a problem yesterday.

menos

[MEH-noosh]

less

Opposite of 'mais'.

Example

Quero menos açúcar.

I want less sugar.

clientes

[klee-EN-tsh]

customers

Plural of 'cliente', people who buy or use a service.

Example

Os clientes estão satisfeitos.

The customers are satisfied.

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