Portuguese · Chapter 10 · Lesson 14 · Grammar primer
The imperative, politely
The command for você borrows from the present subjunctive, which is why it comes last in the course.
The short version
Fale is the careful command, fala the everyday one
The standard command for você is the present subjunctive: fale, venha, faça. It is what signs, emails and polite requests use. Between friends, Brazilians mostly use the old tu form instead, which looks like the present tense: fala, vem, faz, olha. Produce fale while you learn; recognise fala everywhere.
Vem cá, olha isso!
Me dá um café is polite in Brazil
English speakers flinch at give me a coffee, but in a Brazilian café me dá um café, por favor is the normal way to order. Brazilians put the pronoun first, not hyphenated after the verb as textbooks do. For a real favour from a stranger, switch to a question with poder: você pode me ajudar?
Me dá um café, por favor.
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