Nós voltamos para casa cedo.

We go back home early.

Breakdown of Nós voltamos para casa cedo.

• para: to
• nós: we
• cedo: early
• casa: home
• voltar: to go back

Questions & Answers about Nós voltamos para casa cedo.

How do I know if voltamos means “we go back” (present) or “we went back” (past)?

In Brazilian Portuguese, voltamos can be:

• present: we go back / we come back
• simple past (pretérito perfeito): we went back / we came back

The form is the same; context tells you which one it is.

Examples:

• Present (habit/routine)
  Nós voltamos para casa cedo todo dia.
  We go back home early every day.

• Past (one finished event)
  Ontem nós voltamos para casa cedo.
  Yesterday we went back home early.

Without a time expression, both readings are possible. Brazilians rely on context to understand it.

Could I say Nós fomos para casa cedo instead? What’s the difference between voltamos and fomos?

You can say Nós fomos para casa cedo, but there is a nuance:

• voltar = to go back / to come back (return to a place you were before, often “home”)
  Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
  → Emphasizes the idea of returning.

• ir (fomos) = to go (movement to a place, without the “back” idea by itself)
  Nós fomos para casa cedo.
  → Emphasizes that you went home early, but doesn’t focus on “back” as strongly.

In many everyday situations, people do say fomos para casa cedo, and context makes it clear you mean you went back home. But voltamos para casa cedo makes the “return” idea explicit.

Why is it para casa and not para a casa or para a nossa casa?

With casa meaning “(my/our) home”, Portuguese normally drops the article:

• para casa = (back) home
• em casa = at home
• de casa = from home

So:

• Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
  = We went back home early.

If you say para a casa, it sounds more like “to the house” (a specific house as a building), not necessarily your home:

• Nós voltamos para a casa amarela cedo.
  We went back to the yellow house early. (could be a rented house, someone else’s house, etc.)

You can say para a nossa casa (to our house), but that’s usually only if you want to stress “our”:

• Depois da festa, fomos para a nossa casa.
  After the party, we went to our house.

What’s the difference between para casa and em casa?

• para casa = movement toward home: to (go) home / back home
  → Used with verbs of movement like ir, voltar, chegar.

  • Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
    We went back home early.

• em casa = location: at home (no movement)

  • Nós ficamos em casa.
    We stayed at home.

So:

• Voltamos para casa cedo. = We went back home early.
• Estávamos em casa cedo. = We were at home early.

I see pra casa a lot. Is that the same as para casa?

Yes. Pra is an informal, very common contraction of para in Brazilian Portuguese.

• Nós voltamos pra casa cedo.
• Nós voltamos para casa cedo.

Meaning: the same.
Difference: pra sounds more casual / conversational; para is neutral and a bit more formal, preferred in careful writing. In everyday speech, Brazilians say pra all the time.

Can I leave out nós and just say Voltamos para casa cedo?

Yes. Portuguese often drops the subject pronoun when the verb ending makes the subject clear:

• Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
• Voltamos para casa cedo.

Both mean We went/go back home early.
In speech, Brazilians actually use subject pronouns a lot, so both versions are natural.

Also, in Brazilian Portuguese, people very often say a gente instead of nós:

• A gente voltou pra casa cedo.
  Literally “the people / the folks,” but it means we and takes a third-person singular verb (voltou).

Is the word order fixed, or can I move cedo around?

The word order is flexible. Common options:

1. Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
2. Nós voltamos cedo para casa.

Both are very natural in Brazilian Portuguese and mean the same.

Less usual / more emphatic orders:

• Voltamos para casa bem cedo. (adds emphasis with bem)
• Cedo nós voltamos para casa. (fronting cedo for emphasis; sounds literary or stylized)

For everyday speech, stick with:

• Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
  or
• Nós voltamos cedo para casa.

Does casa here mean “house” or “home”?

In this sentence, casa means home, not just any house:

• Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
  = We went back home early.

When you use casa without an article, especially with verbs like ir, voltar, chegar, ficar, it usually means home.

If you add an article or a qualifier, it tends to mean “a/the house” (building):

• Voltamos para a casa do João.
  We went back to João’s house. (not necessarily your home)

• Voltamos para uma casa bonita.
  We went back to a beautiful house.

How would I say “We used to come home early” (habit in the past)?

To express a habitual past action, use the imperfect tense:

• Nós voltávamos para casa cedo.
  We used to come home early / We would come home early (regularly).

You can reinforce the idea of habit with words like sempre or todo dia:

• Nós sempre voltávamos para casa cedo.
  We always used to come home early.

• Nós voltávamos para casa cedo todo dia.
  We used to come home early every day.

Compare:

• Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
  → one completed event (We went home early (that time).)

• Nós voltávamos para casa cedo.
  → repeated habit in the past (We used to go home early.)

How do I make this sentence negative or a yes/no question in Portuguese?

1. Negative

Add não before the verb:

• Nós não voltamos para casa cedo.
  We don’t go back home early / We didn’t go back home early (context gives tense).

2. Yes/No question

Portuguese does not use “do/does/did”. You just change intonation or add a question mark in writing:

• Nós voltamos para casa cedo?
  Do we go back home early? / Did we go back home early?

In speech, the rising intonation at the end signals it’s a question.

How is voltamos pronounced, and where is the stress?

In Brazilian Portuguese, voltamos is typically pronounced:

• Approximately: vohl-TAH-mohs
• Stress is on the second syllable: vol-TA-mos

Syllable breakdown:

• vol – like “vol” in volleyball but with a shorter “o”
• ta – “tah”
• mos – like “mohs” with a short “o”

Full sentence (very approximate English-friendly pronunciation):

• Nós voltamos para casa cedo.
  → NOHS vohl-TAH-mohs PAH-rah KAH-zah SEH-doo

Does cedo only mean “early”, or can it also mean “soon”?

Cedo mainly means early (in relation to time):

• Acordei cedo. – I woke up early.
• Eles chegaram cedo. – They arrived early.

It can sometimes overlap with “soon”, especially in expressions like:

• Volto cedo. – I’ll be back early / I’ll be back soon-ish (not late).

But for a clearer “soon”, Brazilian Portuguese more often uses:

• logo – soon
• daqui a pouco – in a little while

So in Nós voltamos para casa cedo, cedo is best understood as early, not “soon”.