Breakdown of Chegamos cedo ao teatro, mas a fila para entrar na peça já estava longa.
estar
to be
para
to
mas
but
nós
we
Questions & Answers about Chegamos cedo ao teatro, mas a fila para entrar na peça já estava longa.
Why is there no subject pronoun (like nós) before chegamos?
In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, tu, você, nós, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending usually shows who the subject is.
- Chegamos already tells you the subject is we (either nós chegamos – we arrived / we arrive).
- Adding nós (Nós chegamos cedo ao teatro…) is possible, but it usually adds emphasis or contrast (e.g. Nós chegamos cedo, mas eles chegaram tarde).
So the sentence is perfectly natural and common without nós.
How do I know if chegamos here is present tense (we arrive) or past tense (we arrived)?
The form chegamos is the same for present and simple past in the nós form:
- Present: (nós) chegamos cedo ao trabalho. – We arrive early at work.
- Past: (nós) chegamos cedo ao trabalho. – We arrived early at work.
In your sentence, context and the rest of the verbs show it is past:
- chegamos (arrived)
- já estava longa (was already long)
Because estava is clearly past (imperfect), chegamos is also understood as past.
What exactly is the difference between ao teatro, no teatro, and para o teatro?