Breakdown of Eu vou tirar o chapéu antes de entrar no restaurante.
eu
I
ir
to go (future auxiliary)
antes de
before
no
in the
Questions & Answers about Eu vou tirar o chapéu antes de entrar no restaurante.
Why does Portuguese use vou tirar here instead of a simple future form like tirarei?
Vou tirar is the very common ir + infinitive future, often called the near future. In Brazilian Portuguese, this is the most natural way to talk about many future actions in everyday speech.
- Eu vou tirar o chapéu = I’m going to take off the hat
- Eu tirarei o chapéu = I will take off the hat
Both are correct, but tirarei sounds more formal, literary, or less conversational. In normal spoken Brazilian Portuguese, vou tirar is much more common.
What does tirar mean here?
Here, tirar means to take off or to remove.
So:
- tirar o chapéu = to take off the hat
But tirar is a very broad verb in Portuguese, and its meaning depends on context. It can also mean things like:
- to take out
- to remove
- to get
- to take a photo in some expressions, like tirar uma foto
In this sentence, the meaning is clearly take off.
Why is it o chapéu and not meu chapéu?