Small talk with coworkers: Talking about lunch plans in the break room

💬 à is a "to" merged with a "the". The accent marks that two words have fused. For a masculine place, a + o becomes ao: vou ao café "I'm going to the café".

💬 ao is a + o fused together. aqui ao lado literally means "here at the side". Swap in ali ao lado "over there, next door".

🇵🇹 A tasca is a cheap, no-frills family eatery with paper tablecloths and home cooking. It's the classic weekday lunch spot for office workers.

💬 do is de "of" plus o "the". For feminine words it becomes da: a sopa da casa "the house soup".

🇵🇹 The prato do dia is the go-to lunch order. It's a cheap set dish, often bundled with soup, a drink and coffee as a menu "set lunch deal".

💬 The h is silent, the j sounds like the s in "measure", and the final e nearly vanishes: (OHZH).

💬 lh sounds like the lli in "million", and ão-style nasal aside, au rhymes with "cow": (ba-ka-LYOW).

💬 comigo is a single word meaning "with me", not com mim. Likewise, contigo means "with you".

💬 Portuguese usually answers yes by repeating the verb instead of saying sim. Queres? gets Quero!, and Podes? gets Posso!.

💬 The plain present guardo "I save" is used here for a plan, just like English "I'm saving it". Portuguese often skips a separate future form for near plans.

💬 In casual speech, para o usually shrinks to something like (proo): pro jantar.

💬 Clock times use à for one o'clock and às for the rest, because hours count as feminine: às duas "at two".

🇵🇹 Pode ser literally means "it can be". It's the everyday relaxed way to agree to a plan, and it doesn't sound hesitant to Portuguese ears.

💬 The ending follows the speaker, not the listener: men say obrigado and women say obrigada.

💬 pelo is por "for" fused with o "the". For feminine words, use pela: obrigado pela ajuda "thanks for the help".

🇵🇹 Até já is for when you'll see the person again within minutes, like a colleague you'll be back beside shortly. For later in the day, people say até logo.