How to Ask If a Store Has a Specific Item

Learn how to ask if a store has a specific item

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Portuguese by PortuguesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask if a store has something in Portuguese.

For example, "Excuse me, do you have salt?" is

Com licença, você tem sal?

Sergio Santos is at a small grocery store and wants to buy some salt.

He gets the clerk's attention and asks if the store has some salt.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

Sal.

"salt"

Sal.

Aqui.

"here"

Aqui.

Listen to the conversation.

Com licença, você tem sal?

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

Once more with the English translation.

Com licença, você tem sal?

"Excuse me, do you have salt?"

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

"Yes, I do. Here it is."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Sergio Santos says,

"Excuse me, do you have any salt?"

Com licença, você tem sal?

This starts with, com licença, "excuse me." Com licença.

First is com, "with." Com. Com.

Next is licença, meaning "consent" in this context. Licença. Licença.

All together, com licença literally means "with consent," but it translates as "excuse me."

Next is você tem, "you have." Você tem.

First is você, meaning "you," in this context. Você. Você.

Note: in Brazilian Portuguese você is used when addressing someone in a casual conversation.

After this is tem, literally "has," but translates as "have," in this context. Tem. Tem.

Tem is from the verb ter, meaning "to have." Ter.

Together você tem, "you have." Você tem.

Note: você, "you," is always followed by a verb in the third person singular, as in Você tem, literally, "you has," but translates as "you have."

Last is sal, "salt." Sal. Sal.

All together, Com licença, você tem sal? This literally means "Excuse me, you has salt," but translates as "Excuse me, you have do you have any salt?"

Com licença, você tem sal?

Let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how the clerk says,

"Yes, I do. Here it is."

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

First is tenho, meaning "I have." Tenho. Tenho.

Tenho is a shortened form of eu tenho, "I have." Eu is omitted, as it's understood from context.

Tem is from the verb ter, meaning "to have." Ter.

Next is sim, "yes." Sim. Sim.

Together, tenho sim literally means "I have yes," but translates as "Yes, I do." Tenho sim.

Next is fica, literally "it stays" or "it is situated," but translates as "it is." Fica. Fica.

Note, "it" is omitted as it's understood from context.

Fica is from the verb ficar, "to stay" or "to be situated." Ficar.

Last is aqui, "here." Aqui. Aqui.

All together, it's Tenho sim, fica aqui. "Yes, I do. Here it is."

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

The pattern is

Com licença, você tem ITEM ?

Excuse me, do you have ITEM?

Com licença, você tem ITEM ?

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you're looking for.

Note: This pattern requires a noun.

Imagine you're looking for milk.

Leite, "milk." Leite. Leite.

Say

"Excuse me, do you have milk?"

Ready?

Com licença, você tem leite?

"Excuse me, do you have milk?"

Com licença, você tem leite?

Com licença, "Excuse me," can be used in a variety of situations, for example, to get someone's attention in a polite way or pass someone by in a crowded place.

Again, the key pattern is

Com licença, você tem ITEM ?

Excuse me, do you have ITEM?

Com licença, você tem ITEM ?

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Com licença, você tem sal?

"Excuse me, do you have salt?"

Com licença, você tem sal?

Com licença, você tem leite?

"Excuse me, do you have milk?"

Com licença, você tem leite?

Com licença, você tem água?

"Excuse me, do you have water?"

Com licença, você tem água?

Com licença, você tem fruta?

"Excuse me, do you have fruit?"

Com licença, você tem fruta?

Onde fica o açúcar?

"Where is the sugar?"

Onde fica o açúcar?

Did you notice how the native speaker used a different pattern?

Onde fica o açúcar?

"Where is the sugar?"

With this question, you are presuming that the shop has sugar.

First is Onde, "where." Onde. Onde.

Next is fica, "it is" in this context. Fica.

Fica is from the verb ficar, literally "to stay," or "to be situated." Ficar.

After this is o açúcar, "the sugar." O açúcar.

Açúcar, "sugar." Açúcar. Açúcar.

In Portuguese, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Açúcar is masculine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before this is o, "the." O. O.

O is masculine and singular to agree with açúcar.

All together, Onde fica o açúcar? This means "Where is the sugar?"

Onde fica o açúcar?

This pattern is:

Onde fica ITEM?

Where is ITEM ?

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you're looking for.

Note: This pattern requires a noun phrase.

You should be aware of this pattern, but you won’t need it for this lesson.

Let's review the new words.

Leite.

"milk"

Leite.

Água.

"water"

Água.

Fruta.

"fruit"

Fruta.

Açúcar.

"sugar"

Açúcar.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say,

"Excuse me."

Com licença.

Do you remember how to say "salt?"

Sal.

And how to say "you"?

Você.

Do you remember how Sergio Santos asks,

"Excuse me, do you have any salt?"

Com licença, você tem sal?

Do you remember how to say "yes"?

Sim.

And how to say

"Yes, I do."

Tenho sim.

Do you remember how to say "here?"

Aqui.

Do you remember how the clerk says,

"Yes, I do. Here it is."

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

Do you remember how to say "milk?"

Leite.

And how to say "fruit?"

Fruta.

Do you remember how to say "sugar?"

Açúcar.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Sergio Santos , and you're at the grocery store. Get the shopkeeper's attention and ask if they have milk, or leite in Portuguese.

Ready?

Com licença, você tem leite?

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

Listen again and repeat.

Com licença, você tem leite?

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Susana Santos , and you're at the grocery store to buy fruit, or fruta in Portuguese.

Ready?

Com licença, você tem fruta?

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

Listen again and repeat.

Com licença, você tem fruta?

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Sabrina Santos , and you're at the grocery store to buy sugar, or açúcar in Portuguese.

Ready?

Com licença, você tem açúcar?

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

Listen again and repeat.

Com licença, você tem açúcar?

In this lesson, you learned how to ask if a store has something. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of shopping at a grocery store. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "please?"

Por favor.

Do you remember how Sergio says,

"This, please."

Isto, por favor.

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and you're at a grocery store, and you'd like to buy something located close to the clerk.

Do you remember how to say "that" in Portuguese?

Aquilo.

Ask the clerk for "that."

Aquilo, por favor.

Aqui está.

Listen again and repeat.

Aquilo, por favor.

You remembered that you also wanted to buy milk

Do you remember how to say "milk" in Portuguese?

Leite.

Now ask the clerk if the store has milk.

Ready?

Com licença, você tem leite?

Tenho sim, fica aqui.

Listen again and repeat.

Com licença, você tem leite?

Well done! This is the end of this lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to ask if a store has something, an essential skill for shopping at a grocery store.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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