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How to Say ‘Can I have water, please?’ in Portuguese

Pode ser água, por favor?

POH-duh sehr AH-gwah poor fuh-VOR

[POH-duh sehr AH-gwah poor fuh-VOR]

💬 Usage Tip: [Pode ser...] is a very common soft way to say [that'll do] or [I'll have]. You can reuse it with lots of orders: [Pode ser um café?] [Pode ser sem gelo?]

Phrase Breakdown

Pode

[POH-duh]

can it be / could it be

Polite expression used when making a choice or accepting an option.

Example

Pode ser água, por favor, em vez de vinho?

Could it be water, please, instead of wine?

ser

[sehr]

be

Infinitive of ser, used here in the expression pode ser.

Example

Pode ser água, por favor, sem gás?

Could it be water, please, still?

água

[AH-gwah]

water

Water to drink; in restaurants you may hear água com gás or sem gás.

Example

Pode ser água, por favor, para beber.

Could it be water, please, to drink.

por

[poor]

by / for

Part of por favor, the standard word for please.

Example

Pode ser água, por favor, para a mesa?

Could it be water, please, for the table?

favor

[fuh-VOR]

favor / kindness

Used together with por to politely ask for something.

Example

Pode ser água, por favor, e dois copos?

Could it be water, please, and two glasses?

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