Breakdown of A entrevista começa cedo, então precisamos chegar ao segundo andar antes do horário.
ao
to the
precisar
to need
nós
we
cedo
early
chegar
to arrive
antes de
before
começar
to start
então
so
a entrevista
the interview
segundo
second
o andar
the floor
o horário
the scheduled time
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Questions & Answers about A entrevista começa cedo, então precisamos chegar ao segundo andar antes do horário.
Why is the definite article used before entrevista, when in English we’d just say “interview” without “the”?
In Brazilian Portuguese it’s very common to use a definite article before general or specific nouns. Here, a entrevista literally means “the interview.” Even when English drops the article (“Interview starts early…”), Portuguese prefers sempre to specify with o/a. It signals you’re talking about a particular interview.
What role does the cedilla (ç) play in começa?
The ç (cedilla) under the c forces it to be pronounced like /s/ before the vowel a. Without it, comeca would be read /koˈmeka/ (hard “k” sound). With ç, começa is pronounced /koˈmesa/. It’s how começar (to begin) gets conjugated in the third-person singular: ele/ela começa.
What does cedo mean, and why is it right after the verb começa?
Cedo means “early.” Placing an adverb (like cedo) immediately after a verb is normal in Portuguese: “A entrevista começa cedo.” You could also say “logo cedo” or “muito cedo,” but “cedo” alone keeps it simple: “The interview starts early.”
What function does então serve in this sentence?
Então here means “so” or “therefore.” It links the two clauses:
- Clause 1: A entrevista começa cedo (The interview starts early)
- Clause 2: precisamos chegar … (we need to arrive …)
Using então signals that arriving early is a consequence of the interview’s early start.
Why is it precisamos chegar instead of precisamos de chegar or temos que chegar?
- Precisar
- infinitive (without de) is a common Brazilian Portuguese structure to express “need to do something”:
precisamos + infinitive → “we need to…”
- infinitive (without de) is a common Brazilian Portuguese structure to express “need to do something”:
- You could also say “temos que chegar” or “precisamos de algo” (when precisar de takes a noun, like precisamos de ajuda = “we need help”), but for actions the bare infinitive after precisamos is idiomatic in BR-PT.
Why is the infinitive chegar used instead of a personal form like chegarmos?
After verbs like precisar, querer, poder, dever, etc., Portuguese uses the bare infinitive for the next action. You never conjugate the second verb to match the subject again. So it’s precisamos chegar, not precisamos chegarmos.
Why do we say chegar ao segundo andar and not chegar no segundo andar?
- The preposition of motion or direction with chegar is traditionally a (to), so you get chegar a + o segundo andar → chegar ao segundo andar.
- Many Brazilians say chegar no segundo andar colloquially (using em), and it’s widely accepted in speech. But the more “textbook” form uses a
- article → ao.
What does antes do horário mean exactly, and why is do used?
- antes de = “before.”
- o horário here means “the scheduled time” or “appointed time.”
Putting them together gives antes do horário (“before the scheduled time”).
Do is simply the contraction of de + o.
Could we say antes do horário marcado to be more specific?
Yes. horário marcado means “scheduled/marked time.”
- antes do horário (before the time) is already clear in context.
- antes do horário marcado just adds clarity: “before the scheduled time.” Both are correct; the longer form emphasises there was a set appointment.