Today we’re going to learn how to give recommendations.
Você gosta de comida japonesa?
Conheço um lugar muito bom.
Deveria ir ao restaurante Yakimoto.
Se você gosta de comida francesa, vá ao Agraz.
Eles têm um cardápio muito variado.
Para comida brasileira, eu recomendo o restaurante Açucar.
Mas se eu fosse você, eu iria ao Vila Azul. É meu restaurante favorito.
Você gosta de comida japonesa? First, we’ll look at the question. You need to establish what the person is interested in, and you can do this with a straight forward “Do you like…?” In this case, you ask, “Do you like Japanese food?
Conheço um lugar muito bom. Next, you explain your knowledge of the topic by saying “I know a very good place.” Note that we use the verb “conhecer” when referring to a person or a place that we know.
Deveria ir ao restaurante Yakimoto. This means “You should go to Yakimoto restaurant.” You can make a suggestion using “dever” which means “should.” Since we’re making a suggestion, and not a demand, we put it in the conditional tense: “Deveria ir,” you should go.
Se você gosta de comida francesa, vá ao Agraz. Another way of asking what the person wants without putting it in the question form is by using an “if” sentence. This part means, “If you like French food, go to Agraz.” Note that we put “go” in the subjunctive tense, “vá,” since it is a request.
Eles têm um cardápio muito variado. This means “They have a very diverse menu.” Note that “cardápio” is the word for menu.
Para comida brasileira, eu recomendo o restaurante Açucar. We can use the verb “recomendar” to make a suggestion, since as it implies, it means “to recommend.” So this part means, “For Brazilian food, I recommend Acucar restaurant.” As you’ve seen when we mention a specific restaurant, we need to put the article, “o” since “restaurant” is a masculine noun. We need to put the word “restaurant” before the name of the restaurant. This structure is the opposite of the English structure.
Mas se eu fosse você, eu iria ao Vila Azul. É meu restaurante favorito. Finally, we can use an “if, then” conditional sentence to make a recommendation. Here, we say “But if I were you, I would go to Vila Azul. It’s my favorite restaurant.” In this kind of clause, we put the word “if” with the verb “to be” in the imperfect subjunctive tense (fosse). This part means, “If I were you.” The second part of the clause uses the conditional: “I would go,” eu iria.
