Introduction
This article explains how to say and use the phrase for asking someone to weigh something in Brazilian Portuguese. You will learn common sentences, polite forms, pronunciation tips, useful vocabulary, short dialogues for grocery stores and markets, and cultural notes to help you sound natural when interacting with vendors and staff.
- Basic phrase: how to ask Can you weigh this?
- Politeness and register
- Other useful verbs and phrases
- Short dialogues: market and grocery examples
- Pronunciation tips and rhythm
- Variations and regional usage
- Common follow-up questions and responses
- Numbers and weights useful for shopping
- Practical tips for learners
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Quick reference cheat sheet
- Conclusion
Basic phrase: how to ask Can you weigh this?
The most direct and common way to ask Can you weigh this? in Brazilian Portuguese is Você pode pesar isto? This is polite and understandable in most situations. For variation, you will also see Você pode pesar isso? and Você pode pesar este aqui? depending on how near or far the object is and spoken preference.
Breaking down the sentence
Understand each part to help you build variations. Você is the informal polite you used widely in Brazil. pode is the present tense form of poder meaning can or could. pesar is the verb to weigh. isto, isso, and este are demonstratives used for this or this one.
Examples of the three demonstratives:
Você pode pesar isto?
Você pode pesar isso?
Você pode pesar este aqui?
Politeness and register
Politeness matters in shops and markets. Você pode pesar isto? is polite but casual. For more formality, use O senhor pode pesar isto? or A senhora pode pesar isto? if addressing older people or someone you want to show extra respect. In very informal contexts among friends, you might hear Consegue pesar isso?
Examples:
O senhor pode pesar isto, por favor?
A senhora pode pesar isso, por favor?
Consegue pesar isso?
Adding please and thank you
Always add por favor for please and obrigado or obrigada for thank you. Remember gender agreement for obrigado/obrigada: men say obrigado, women say obrigada. A complete polite phrase is Você pode pesar isto, por favor? followed by Obrigado or Obrigada when the person finishes.
Example:
Você pode pesar isto, por favor?
Obrigado
Other useful verbs and phrases
When interacting at a market or grocery store, you might need related verbs and phrases. Learn these words and short sentences to extend your conversation beyond weighing.
Common verbs and phrases:
pesar — to weigh
quanto pesa — how much does it weigh
pesa quanto — weighs how much (colloquial)
quanto custa — how much does it cost
por quilo — per kilo
Useful example sentences:
Quanto pesa isso?
Pesa quanto?
Quanto custa por quilo?
Asking for a specific unit
If you need the weight in a specific unit, mention it. The common unit in Brazil is the kilogram, abbreviated as kg and said as quilo. For grams, use grama or plural gramas.
Examples:
Você pode pesar isto em quilos?
Você pode pesar isso em gramas?
Short dialogues: market and grocery examples
Short dialogues help you see the phrase in context. Each dialogue shows a typical exchange and natural follow-ups you may need.
Dialogue 1 — Fruit stall
Cliente: Você pode pesar isto, por favor?
Vendedor: Quanto você quer?
Cliente: Me dá meio quilo, por favor.
Vendedor: Tudo bem. Pesa meio quilo e fica R$6,00.
Cliente: Obrigado
Dialogue 2 — Supermarket cheese counter
Cliente: Você pode pesar isso?
Atendente: Claro. Quer em fatias ou inteiro?
Cliente: Inteiro, por favor.
Atendente: Pesa 450 gramas. Vai levar?
Cliente: Sim, por favor.
Atendente: São R$22,50.
Cliente: Obrigada
Dialogue 3 — Butcher
Cliente: O senhor pode pesar isto?
Açougueiro: Vai cortar do mesmo jeito?
Cliente: Sim, por favor.
Açougueiro: Pesa 1,2 quilo. Quer embalar agora?
Cliente: Sim, por favor. Obrigado
Pronunciation tips and rhythm
Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation and intonation make requests sound friendly. Key tips:
Você — stress the second syllable: vo-CEH.
pode — POH-jee or POH-deh depending on region.
pesar — peh-ZAR, with stress on the second syllable.
isto / isso / este — ISTO and ISSO are common; EST E as ESTE may be used with near objects.
por favor — por fah-VOR, said with a rising-falling intonation for politeness.
Practice the cycle: Você pode pesar isto, por favor? Say it slowly, then at normal speed to match natural speech.
Variations and regional usage
Different regions and vendors use slight variations. Learn the common alternatives so you can recognize them when heard.
Common variations:
Consegue pesar isto? — Another polite, casual option often heard in São Paulo and the southeast.
Dá para pesar isso? — Colloquial, literally can you manage to weigh this.
Você poderia pesar isto? — A more formal conditional polite form using poderia.
Example sentences:
Consegue pesar isto?
Dá para pesar isso?
Você poderia pesar isto, por favor?
Usage note about demonstratives
Brazilian Portuguese uses demonstratives differently than English. Isto and isso both mean this or that, but isto often appears with items closer to the speaker, while isso is slightly more common in everyday speech. Este is used with masculine nouns to say this one. Native speakers often choose by ear, so both forms are usually fine.
Common follow-up questions and responses
After asking someone to weigh something, you might need to ask or respond to additional questions about amount or packaging. Here are useful lines.
Follow-ups you might hear from a vendor:
Quanto você quer? — How much do you want?
Quer que eu embale? — Do you want me to package it?
Vai levar tudo? — Are you taking all of it?
Your possible replies:
Me dá meio quilo — Give me half a kilo.
Só 200 gramas, por favor — Only 200 grams, please.
Sim, embale, por favor — Yes, please package it.
Numbers and weights useful for shopping
Knowing numbers and weight words helps you understand totals and prices. Basic numbers to remember:
100 gramas — cem gramas
200 gramas — duzentas gramas
500 gramas — meio quilo or quinhentas gramas
1 quilo — um quilo or um quilograma
1,5 quilo — um quilo e meio
Prices in Brazil are often spoken per quilo. Example:
Quanto custa por quilo?
Custa R$12,00 por quilo
Usage note about gender in numbers
Note that adjectives and number words sometimes agree with the noun gender. For example, duzentas gramas uses feminine because gramas is feminine. This is idiomatic and commonly used by native speakers.
Practical tips for learners
Short checklist to prepare for weighing interactions:
1. Practice the key phrase Você pode pesar isto? out loud with proper rhythm.
2. Learn por favor and obrigado/obrigada to be polite.
3. Memorize the words quilo, grama, and common numbers like meio quilo and cem gramas.
4. Listen for variations such as Consegue pesar isso? or Dá para pesar isso? and practice responding.
5. Use formal forms O senhor and A senhora in more respectful situations.
Listening practice suggestions
Watch short videos of Brazilian markets, listen to supermarket dialogues, and repeat the phrases. Eavesdrop respectfully in markets to hear how vendors ask and answer about weight. The more you hear natural speech, the faster you will recognize variations.
Common mistakes to avoid
Watch out for these beginner errors:
Using English word order or literal translations. For example, avoid say analogs like Can you weigh this? translated word-for-word without using Portuguese verbs and demonstratives.
Mixing formal and informal pronouns incorrectly. If you start with O senhor, continue with verbs conjugated for third person: O senhor pode pesar isto?, not Você pode pesar… for the same person.
Forgetting por favor and obrigado, which are small but important for polite interactions.
Quick reference cheat sheet
Keep this short list for quick use:
Você pode pesar isto? — Can you weigh this?
Você pode pesar isso? — alternative
Consegue pesar isto? — casual alternative
Por favor — please
Obrigado / Obrigada — thank you (male/female)
Me dá meio quilo — Give me half a kilo
Quanto pesa? — How much does it weigh?
Conclusion
Asking Can you weigh this? in Brazilian Portuguese is simple once you master the core phrase Você pode pesar isto? and related vocabulary like quilo, grama, and numbers. Use polite markers por favor and obrigado/obrigada, listen for common variations such as Consegue pesar isso?, and practice short dialogues in market settings to build confidence. With these guidelines you will be ready to handle weighing interactions naturally during shopping in Brazil.
