Introduction
Learning two common verbs will dramatically expand your ability to speak Brazilian Portuguese. This article explains how to use fazer and tomar in everyday phrases, with clear English explanations, practical examples, and beginner tips for real-life situations.
Why focus on fazer and tomar?
Fazer and tomar are versatile verbs used in many everyday contexts: actions, weather, routines, food, and requests. Mastering them helps you understand signs, menus, messages, and basic conversations in Brazil.
The verbs are irregular in some forms, but beginners can start using many useful present-tense phrases immediately. This article shows common patterns and fixed expressions to memorize and practice.
Basic meanings and translations
Fazer usually means to do or to make. It appears in actions, chores, jobs, weather expressions, and many idiomatic phrases.
Tomar often means to take, to drink, or to have (a bath, a shower, medicine). It also appears in fixed phrases for transportation and choices.
Conjugation at a glance (present tense)
Present tense helps with immediate, everyday use.
Fazer: eu faço
você/ele/ela faz
nós fazemos
vocês/eles/elas fazem
Tomar: eu tomo
você/ele/ela toma
nós tomamos
vocês/eles/elas tomam
Everyday phrases with fazer
Here are practical ways beginners encounter and use fazer in conversation, signs, and daily tasks.
Simple actions and chores:
Faça o jantar às sete. — Use to say to make or prepare something: Faça o jantar às sete.
Ele faz o serviço hoje. — He does the work: Ele faz o serviço hoje.
Weather and time expressions:
Está fazendo calor. — Use to describe weather in conversational form: Está fazendo calor.
Faz dez minutos que eu cheguei. — To say how long: Faz dez minutos que eu cheguei.
Talking about activities and plans:
Vamos fazer uma caminhada. — To suggest an activity: Vamos fazer uma caminhada.
Vou fazer uma reserva. — To book or reserve: Vou fazer uma reserva.
Common idiomatic uses:
Fazer perguntas. — To ask questions: Fazer perguntas.
Fazer uma foto. — To take/make a photo: Fazer uma foto.
Practical examples you might see or say
Por favor, faça a inscrição na recepção. — A sign or polite request at a desk: Por favor, faça a inscrição na recepção.
Faço yoga toda manhã. — A simple sentence about a routine: Faço yoga toda manhã.
Faz cinco graus hoje de manhã. — Weather announcement or casual remark: Faz cinco graus hoje de manhã.
Beginner tips for usar fazer
Memorize eu faço and você/ele faz for immediate use. These forms appear often in questions and instructions.
When describing weather or elapsed time, use faz + time. This is a fixed, natural structure for beginners to learn.
Combine fazer with nouns to form common tasks: fazer uma reserva, fazer um telefonema, fazer exercício.
Everyday phrases with tomar
Tomar is essential for talking about drinking, taking medications, and using transport verbs like tomar ônibus in casual speech.
Drinks and eating contexts:
Vou tomar um café. — Use to say you will have a drink or food item: Vou tomar um café.
Você quer tomar suco? — Offering a drink: Você quer tomar suco?
Medicine, baths, and routines:
Ela toma remédio às oito. — Talk about taking medicine: Ela toma remédio às oito.
Vou tomar banho. — A very common daily phrase to say take a shower/bath: Vou tomar banho.
Transport and choices:
Tomar o ônibus. — To catch or take the bus: Tomar o ônibus.
Tomar uma decisão. — To make or take a decision: Tomar uma decisão.
Practical examples you might see or say
Posso tomar água? — A simple polite request: Posso tomar água?
Tomei dois comprimidos. — Reporting past action in common context: Tomei dois comprimidos.
Tomamos o metrô até a estação. — Talking about how you traveled: Tomamos o metrô até a estação.
Beginner tips for usar tomar
Use eu tomo and você toma frequently when speaking about drinks and daily routines. These are easy, high-utility forms.
Remember that tomar + banho is the standard phrase for showering or bathing in Brazilian Portuguese.
Use tomar for transportation informally (tomar o ônibus) though comprar passagem and pegar ônibus are also common; for beginners, aprender tomar o ônibus is fine to understand conversations.
Common verbs and nouns that pair with fazer and tomar
Learning typical noun partners helps you create useful phrases quickly. Practice by combining the verb with different nouns.
Pairs with fazer:
fazer uma reserva — to make a reservation
fazer uma pergunta — to ask a question
fazer exercício — to exercise
fazer lista — to make a list
Pairs with tomar:
tomar café — to have coffee
tomar água — to drink water
tomar remédio — to take medicine
tomar banho — to take a shower
Short role-play examples for beginners
At a café:
Garçom: O que vai tomar?
Você: Vou tomar um café e fazer um pedido de pão de queijo.
At the pharmacy:
Farmacêutico: Você já tomou este remédio hoje?
Você: Ainda não, vou tomar às oito.
At the hotel reception:
Recepcionista: Quer fazer o check-in agora?
Você: Sim, por favor. Vou fazer o check-in às três.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Beginners often mix up tomar and pegar. Pegar o ônibus and tomar o ônibus are both used, but pegar is very common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese. Learn both, but do not assume they are always interchangeable for other contexts.
Avoid translating take literally in every context. For example, take a shower should be translated as tomar banho, not fazer banho. Use the fixed phrase.
Do not use fazer for drinking. Say tomar café, not fazer café when you mean to drink coffee. Fazer café means to make coffee (prepare it).
Helpful memory shortcuts
Link beber/drink with tomar to remember drinking uses: tomar água, tomar suco.
Link make/do with fazer to remember tasks and weather: fazer comida, fazer uma pergunta, fazer frio (it is cold).
Quick practice exercises
Fill in the blanks with fazer or tomar in present tense:
1. Eu ___ um suco agora.
2. Ela ___ perguntas na aula.
3. Nós ___ banho depois do treino.
4. Faz/Está ___ calor hoje.
Answers:
1. tomo
2. faz
3. tomamos
4. Está fazendo/Está calor or Faz (common beginner pattern: Faz calor hoje.)
Useful flashcard set for beginners
Create flashcards with these pairs:
Front: tomar banho — Back: to take a shower
Front: fazer uma reserva — Back: to make a reservation
Front: tomar remédio — Back: to take medicine
Front: fazer uma pergunta — Back: to ask a question
Conclusion
Mastering fazer and tomar gives beginners immediate communicative power in Brazilian Portuguese. Focus on the most common forms eu faço, você faz, eu tomo, você toma, and learn fixed phrases like tomar banho, fazer uma reserva, and fazer calor. Practice realistic dialogs, read menus and signs, and soon these verbs will feel natural in everyday interactions.
