Breakdown of Quando o café acabar, eu vou ao mercado.
eu
I
o
the
o café
the coffee
ao
to the
ir
to go
quando
when
o mercado
the market
acabar
to run out
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Questions & Answers about Quando o café acabar, eu vou ao mercado.
Why is the verb after quando in the sentence in the present subjunctive acabar instead of the present indicative acaba?
Portuguese uses the present subjunctive in temporal clauses introduced by quando when referring to a future action that hasn’t happened yet. Because the coffee “running out” is a future event at the time of speaking, you say quando o café acabar. If it were talking about habitual actions or past events, you would use the indicative: quando o café acaba.
What is the role of the article o in o café? Why not just say café?
In Portuguese, most nouns are accompanied by a definite article. o is the masculine singular article (“the”). o café means “the coffee” — a specific quantity of coffee you’re talking about. Leaving out the article (café acabar) would sound vague or idiomatic; you’d normally specify o café.
How is vou ao mercado formed? What is the contraction ao?
vou is the first-person singular of ir (“to go”). ao is a contraction of the preposition a (“to”) + the masculine singular article o (“the”). mercado means “market” or “grocery store.” Together, vou ao mercado literally means “I go to the market,” i.e. “I’m going to the grocery store.”
Why is the pronoun eu used before vou, and can I omit it?
In Portuguese, subject pronouns like eu are optional because the verb ending (e.g. vou) already indicates the subject. You can include eu for emphasis or clarity, but in everyday speech it’s more common to drop it: Vou ao mercado.
Can I rearrange the sentence to start with the main clause, like Eu vou ao mercado quando o café acabar? Would anything change?
Yes, you can swap the clauses without changing the meaning: Eu vou ao mercado quando o café acabar. Even when placed second, the temporal clause still requires the subjunctive acabar because it refers to a future event.
Why isn’t it vou no mercado instead of vou ao mercado?
no is a contraction of em + o, literally “in the.” Using ir em is not the standard way to say “go to” a destination in Portuguese; the correct preposition is ir a. Therefore, vou ao mercado (to the market) is correct. estou no mercado (“I’m at the market”) uses em, but vou no is unusual.
What’s the difference between mercado and supermercado?
mercado can mean any market or grocery shop (including street markets), while supermercado refers specifically to a supermarket—a larger, self-service store. In everyday speech, vou ao mercado often implies you’re heading to your usual grocery store, which may be a supermarket.
How do I pronounce café correctly in Brazilian Portuguese?
café is stressed on the second syllable, marked by the acute accent on é. Pronounce it roughly as [ka-FEH], where the final e sounds like the e in “bet.” The c is /k/ and f is like English /f/.
Could I use quando o café terminar instead of acabar? Is there any nuance?
Yes. terminar (“to finish”) can replace acabar here: quando o café terminar. There’s no significant change in meaning; acabar is simply more colloquial in Brazilian Portuguese, while terminar is slightly more formal.
What other conjunctions can I use to express “as soon as” or “when” for future events?
Besides quando, you can use:
• assim que (“as soon as”) → Eu vou ao mercado assim que o café acabar.
• logo que (“as soon as/once”) → Logo que o café acabar, eu vou ao mercado.
• tão logo que (“as soon as”) → similar to logo que.
In all these cases referring to a future event, you’ll use the present subjunctive in the subordinate clause: assim que o café acabar, logo que o café acabar, tão logo que o café acabar.