Ainda há chance de a reunião terminar cedo?

Here ainda means still.

So Ainda há chance... ? is asking whether that possibility still exists at this moment. It often implies that time is passing or the situation may be changing.

Compare:

• Há chance de a reunião terminar cedo? = Is there a chance the meeting will end early?
• Ainda há chance de a reunião terminar cedo? = Is there still a chance the meeting will end early?

So ainda adds the idea of continuing possibility.

Há is the verb haver used in an impersonal existential sense. Here it means there is or there are.

So:

• Há chance = There is a chance

This use of haver is very common in written and more formal Portuguese. It does not mean has here, even though há comes from the verb haver.

It is also different from está:

• há = existence, there is/are
• está = location or state, is

So há chance is about whether a chance exists, not where something is or how it is.

The h is silent in Portuguese, so há is pronounced basically like a, but with stress.

So in speech:

• há sounds like a stressed ah

In Ainda há..., speakers usually connect the words smoothly, so it may sound something like ain-da-á.

Portuguese very often uses de + infinitive after nouns like chance, possibilidade, necessidade, and so on.

So the structure is:

• chance de + infinitive clause

Here:

• chance de a reunião terminar cedo

Literally, this is close to a chance of the meeting ending early or a chance for the meeting to end early.

English often prefers that:

• a chance that the meeting will end early

Portuguese usually prefers the infinitive structure here.

This is a very common learner question.

Normally, de + a contracts to da:

• de + a casa → da casa

But in this sentence, many grammar guides prefer de a reunião terminar cedo because a reunião is the subject of the infinitive terminar.

So the structure is:

• de
  • a reunião
    • terminar cedo

Here, a reunião belongs with terminar, not directly with chance.

That is why the uncontracted form de a is often considered the more careful or standard choice in writing.

Important note: in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, many people do say and write:

• Ainda há chance da reunião terminar cedo?

That version is very common and natural in conversation, even if some teachers or style guides prefer de a reunião.

Because after chance de, Portuguese normally uses an infinitive clause.

So:

• chance de terminar
• chance de eu terminar
• chance de a reunião terminar

In this sentence, a reunião is the subject of terminar, and terminar stays in the infinitive.

A rough literal breakdown is:

• há chance = there is a chance
• de a reunião terminar cedo = of the meeting ending early / for the meeting to end early

So terminar is not a main finite verb here; it is part of that infinitive construction.

Cedo means early, and here it is an adverb.

It modifies the verb terminar:

• terminar cedo = to end early

So cedo tells you when the meeting might end.

Compare:

• A reunião terminou cedo. = The meeting ended early.
• Cheguei cedo. = I arrived early.

Portuguese often forms yes/no questions with the same word order as a statement. The question is shown by:

• intonation in speech
• a question mark in writing

So:

• Ainda há chance de a reunião terminar cedo. = statement
• Ainda há chance de a reunião terminar cedo? = question

This is very normal in Portuguese. You do not usually need to invert the subject and verb the way English sometimes does.

Yes. That is very common in Brazil.

In everyday spoken Brazilian Portuguese, ter is often used with the meaning of there is/are:

• Tem chance... = There’s a chance...

So these are both possible:

• Ainda há chance de a reunião terminar cedo? = more formal, standard, or written
• Ainda tem chance de a reunião terminar cedo? = very common in everyday speech

Both are natural, but há sounds more formal or polished.

Yes.

Inside the larger sentence, a reunião is the thing that might terminar cedo.

So in:

• de a reunião terminar cedo

the internal structure is:

• a reunião = subject
• terminar = infinitive verb
• cedo = adverb

That is one reason why many grammars prefer de a reunião instead of contracting it to da reunião: they want to keep it clear that a reunião is the subject of terminar.