Muitos amigos vão ao mercado agora.

Many friends are going to the market now.

Breakdown of Muitos amigos vão ao mercado agora.

• agora: now
• ao: to the
• o amigo: the friend
• ir: to go
• o mercado: the market
• muitos: many

Questions & Answers about Muitos amigos vão ao mercado agora.

Why is it vão and not vai?

Because the subject is plural (muitos amigos). The verb ir (to go) must agree:

• eu vou
• você/ele/ela vai
• nós vamos
• vocês/eles/elas vão

What does ao mean here?

Ao is the contraction of the preposition a (to) + the masculine singular article o (the) = ao (“to the”). Other contractions:

• a + o = ao
• a + a = à
• a + os = aos
• a + as = às

Can I say para o mercado instead of ao mercado?

Yes. Ir para o mercado is very common and natural in Brazil. Ir a(o) is also correct and is sometimes felt as a bit more formal or written. In everyday speech, many Brazilians prefer para for destinations. Meaning-wise here, there’s no real difference.

Is ir no mercado correct?

Colloquially, yes—many Brazilians say ir no mercado (a regional, informal use of em). In standard/educated writing, prefer ir ao mercado or ir para o mercado. Use no (em + o) for being at a place: Eles estão no mercado (“They are at the market”).

Do I need to add eles at the start?

No. Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the subject is clear. Muitos amigos is the subject already. You could say Eles vão ao mercado agora if you’d previously mentioned “they,” but it isn’t necessary here.

Where can I put agora in the sentence?

Several places are natural:

• Muitos amigos vão ao mercado agora. (most common)
• Muitos amigos vão agora ao mercado.
• Agora, muitos amigos vão ao mercado. (comma after a fronted adverb)

Does vão mean “are going” or “go”?

It’s simple present, which can express:

• an action happening now (often translates as English present continuous): Eles vão agora = “They are going now.”
• a habitual action: Eles vão ao mercado (todo dia) = “They go (every day).”
• a near/scheduled future with a time adverb: Eles vão amanhã = “They go/will go tomorrow.”
  For an ongoing action, you can also say Eles estão indo (“They are going”).

Why muitos and not muito?

Because muitos agrees with the plural masculine noun amigos. Forms:

• masculine: muito (sing.), muitos (pl.)
• feminine: muita (sing.), muitas (pl.) As an adverb meaning “very/much,” muito does not change: muito caro, muito bem.

How do I say “many of my friends”?

• Muitos dos meus amigos = many of my friends (specific group).
• Muitos amigos meus = many friends of mine (very natural in Brazilian Portuguese).
• Muitos amigos = many friends (general, not tied to “my”).

What if the group is all female?

Use feminine forms: Muitas amigas vão ao mercado agora.
For mixed groups or when gender is unknown, Portuguese defaults to masculine plural amigos. Inclusive spellings like amigues exist informally but aren’t standard.

Why does vão have that mark, and how do I pronounce it?

The mark over ã is a tilde (til), showing nasalization.

• vão ≈ “vown” (nasal “ow”)
• ao (in ao mercado) is oral, ≈ “ow” (no nasal).
  Pronounce mercado as mer-CA-do (stress on CA). In much of Brazil, the single r in mercado sounds like a soft “h.”

Can I omit the article and say vão a mercado?

No, that’s unnatural with a singular count noun. You generally need the article: vão ao mercado. If you truly mean “to a market” (unspecified), say vão a um mercado or more commonly vão para um mercado.

What’s the plural of ao?

• Masculine plural: aos (e.g., vão aos mercados)
• Feminine singular: à (e.g., à escola)
• Feminine plural: às (e.g., às lojas)

Does mercado always mean “supermarket”?

Often in everyday speech mercado implies a (super)market/grocery store. More specific is supermercado. For an open-air street market, say feira. Mercado can also mean “market” in the economic sense in other contexts (e.g., o mercado de trabalho), but with ir ao mercado it’s the place.