Eu faltei à reunião porque estava com febre.

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Breakdown of Eu faltei à reunião porque estava com febre.

• estar: to be
• porque: because
• a reunião: the meeting

Questions & Answers about Eu faltei à reunião porque estava com febre.

Why is it faltei à reunião and not fui à reunião?

Because faltar a means to miss / to be absent from something.

• Eu faltei à reunião = I missed the meeting / I was absent from the meeting
• Eu fui à reunião = I went to the meeting

So the verb changes the meaning completely.

What does the à mean in à reunião?

À is a contraction of a + a:

• the preposition a
• plus the feminine singular definite article a

The verb faltar normally uses the preposition a:

• faltar a uma reunião
• faltar à reunião = miss the meeting

Because reunião is feminine and has the article a, the two combine into à.

Why is there an accent on à, but not on a?

The accent in à marks a contraction:

• a = just a preposition, or sometimes an article depending on context
• à = a + a

So in faltei à reunião, the accent shows that the preposition and article have merged.

This is called crase in Portuguese.

Why is Eu included? Could it be omitted?