When to use it
Use it at a pharmacy to ask whether a medicine is sold without a prescription. In Brazil, the pharmacist may say the medicine is "vendido sem receita" or that it needs one.
The sentence in English — “Can I buy medicine without a prescription?”
"Can I buy medicine without a prescription?" asks for permission. "Can" is a modal verb and it opens the question, before the subject "I". "Buy" follows without "to". "Medicine" is used here in a general sense, without an article, and "without a prescription" says the condition.
- Can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission; it opens the question
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- buy
- verbbuy · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
- medicine
- noununcountable noun here, used in a general sense
- without
- prepositionpreposition
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- prescription
- nounnoun; a doctor's written order for medicine
The sentence in Portuguese — “Posso comprar remédios sem receita?”
"Posso comprar remédios sem receita?" starts with "posso", the first person of "poder"; the subject "eu" is left out because the verb already shows it. "Comprar" is the infinitive, "remédios" is plural, and "sem receita" means without a prescription.
- Posso
- auxiliary verbpoder · tense: present · mood: indicative · person: first · number: singular · "can I"; the subject "eu" is left out
- comprar
- verbcomprar · form: infinitive · "to buy"
- remédios
- nounmasculine plural noun: "medicines"
- sem
- prepositionpreposition: "without"
- receita
- nounfeminine noun: "prescription"
English × Portuguese — What changes from one language to the other
English needs the subject "I" and puts "can" before it to make the question. Portuguese keeps the normal word order and drops the subject; the question mark and the tone make it a question. Portuguese uses the plural "remédios" where English uses the uncountable "medicine".
Example conversation
— Posso comprar este remédio sem receita?
— Can I buy this medicine without a prescription?
— Pode, esse é vendido sem receita.
— Yes, that one is sold without a prescription.