My understanding that in Brasil for the singular formal “You” one can say “Voce gosta.” But in Portugal it is better to just say “Gosta.” Any thoughts?
Russ
Welcome to Practice Portuguese! I understand your question to be with regard to the use of você in Portugal. Is it okay, or isn’t it? I believe there is a whole lesson on exactly this topic in PP, that will give you all the details on how to address the people you interact with in Portugal. Generally, however, for those who you consider familiar (family, children, close friends), you can use the pronoun tu. For those whom you don’t know in that way, you can say something like o senhor gosta or a senhora gosta. If you know their name you can say o Russ gosta, or just gosta. In Portugal, the pronoun você falls into that awkward middle ground, not familiar, but not really formal either, so people are guarded about using it. Personally, I strictly avoid using você altogether in Portugal. In Brazil, of course, there is no problem at all with using você in any situation.
We should wait for a native speaker to come along and give the definitive answer, but it is something like this. Finally, I get the sense that você is slowly gaining ground even in Portugal. Not to the point that I’m going to start using it, but I think many people are at least used to hearing it, even if they don’t use it (or approve of it) themselves.
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@rkfairchild, in Brazil, the pronoun você is informal to neutral, and Você gosta would be perceived in the same way. A senhora/o senhor gosta would be an appropriate strictly formal alternative.
In Portugal, as @azafran341 already helped to explain, we consider você formal, but not extremely so. And it’s true that many people tend to avoid using the pronoun directly, partly because some might consider it impolite, and partly because we just don’t need it in context. Portuguese learners who don’t yet have a deep understanding of all the social dynamics would also do well to omit it. So, yes, we’d often just say Gosta, among other alternatives.
Here’s a detailed guide regarding the use of tu and você in European Portuguese: Tu and Você in European Portuguese | Practice Portuguese
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