Portuguese Phrase
Queres um café?
Meaning
Literally, “Do you want a coffee?” It is a friendly, informal way to ask someone if they’d like a cup of coffee, often used in homes, cafés, or when hosting a guest.
When to use
Use this phrase when you’re offering coffee to a friend, family member, or a colleague in a casual setting. In more formal situations you would switch to ‘Quer um café?’ (using ‘você’) or ‘Gostaria de um café?’ for extra politeness.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Queresumcafé?
Queres (2nd pers. sing.)
‘Queres’ is the present indicative of ‘querer’ for ‘tu’, used in informal singular contexts.
um (indefinite article)
‘um’ is the masculine singular indefinite article, equivalent to ‘a’/‘an’ in English.
café (noun)
‘café’ is a masculine noun meaning ‘coffee’; it always carries an acute accent on the e.
Polite request
In Portuguese, a simple present‑tense verb can function as a polite invitation or offer.
🗨In Conversation
Queres um café?
Do you want a coffee?
Sim, por favor. Obrigado!
Yes, please. Thank you!
✕Common Mistakes
Quer um café?
‘Quer’ is the 3rd‑person singular form used with ‘você’ or in Brazilian Portuguese; with ‘tu’ you need ‘queres’.
Queres um cafe?
The word must have an acute accent on the e: ‘café’. Without it the spelling is incorrect.
Queres um café?
In formal contexts you should use ‘um café, por favor?’ or switch to ‘Quer um café?’ to match the formal ‘você’ pronoun.
↔Alternatives
Gostarias de um café?
Would you like a coffee?
Quer um café?
Do you want a coffee? (formal or Brazilian Portuguese)
Queres um café agora?
Do you want a coffee now?
Cultural Tip
Coffee is a cornerstone of Portuguese daily life. In Lisbon you’ll hear a small espresso called a ‘bica’, while in Porto it’s known as a ‘cimbalino’. Offering a coffee is a universal sign of hospitality, so saying ‘Queres um café?’ instantly signals warmth and friendliness.