INTRODUCTION |
In the last lesson, we learned how to make a reservation in a restaurant. Now that you know how to get a table, you have another big issue to tackle. If you want to enjoy your meal, the smoking issue is very important. If you are a smoker in a non-smoking establishment or a non-smoker in a smoking establishment, this could ruin your meal. |
In this lesson, we'll cover how to ask for a smoking or non-smoking table. |
GRAMMAR POINT |
First we will imagine that you are a smoker. Before entering a restaurant, you need to ask, “Excuse me, is smoking allowed here?”: |
Com licença, é permitido fumar aqui? |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Com licença, é permitido fumar aqui? |
Once more: |
Com li-cen-ça, é per-mi-ti-do fu-mar a-qui? |
Com licença, as we have seen, means “Excuse me.” |
(slow) Com li-cen-ça. |
Com licença. |
We follow this with é permitido, which is translated as “is permitted”. |
(slow) É per-mi-ti-do. |
É permitido. |
And next comes fumar, which means “to smoke”. |
(slow) Fu-mar. |
Fumar. |
And last, aqui, which means “here”. |
(slow) A-qui. |
Aqui. |
Here’s the whole sentence: |
Com licença, é permitido fumar aqui? |
(slow) Com li-cen-ça, é per-mi-ti-do fu-mar a-qui? |
・ |
The answer to this question is simple: Sim, é permitido which means “Yes, smoking is allowed” or Não, não é permitido which means “No, smoking is not allowed”. |
Let’s break those down: |
(slow) Sim, é permitido. |
(slow) Não, não é permitido. |
・ |
Now let’s imagine you smoke. If that’s the case, when you come to Portugal, you should ask: ”Do you have tables for smokers?” |
Tem mesa para fumantes? |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Tem me-sa pa-ra fu-man-tes? |
Once more at natural speed: |
Tem mesa para fumantes? |
Tem is a form of the verb which means “to have” |
(slow) Tem. |
Tem. |
Mesa means "table" or “tables” |
(slow) Mesa. |
Mesa. |
Para means “for.” |
(slow) Pa-ra. |
Para. |
And the word fumantes is translated as “smokers”. |
The whole question is: |
Tem mesa para fumantes? |
(slow) Tem me-sa pa-ra fu-man-tes? |
Once more: |
Tem mesa para fumantes? |
・ |
Now let’s go over the possible answers to this question. If it’s a positive answer, you might hear |
Sim, tem. |
(slow) Sim, tem. |
And if the answer is negative, Não, não tem. |
(slow) Não, não tem. |
In these expressions: |
Sim means “yes” |
Não means “no” and |
Tem is a conjugated form of the verb meaning “to have”. |
(slow) Tem |
Tem |
Let’s hear the expressions again: |
Sim, tem. |
(slow) Sim, tem. |
Não, não tem. |
(slow) Não, não tem. |
When the answer is negative, you may also hear "perdão" which means “we are sorry” attached to “Não tem.” The phrase will sound like this Perdão. Não tem. |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Per-dão. Não tem. |
Once more at natural speed: |
Perdão. Não tem. |
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