Em fevereiro, a escola envia a data da reunião aos pais.

Em fevereiro means in February.

Portuguese often uses em with months, seasons, and many time expressions:

• em fevereiro = in February
• em 2026 = in 2026
• no verão = in the summer

Putting Em fevereiro at the beginning sets the time first, like In February, ... in English. It is very natural.

You could also say:

• A escola envia a data da reunião aos pais em fevereiro.

That has the same basic meaning, but the original sentence gives a little more emphasis to the time.

With names of months, Portuguese normally uses em without an article:

• em janeiro
• em fevereiro
• em março

So no fevereiro is not standard here.

You may sometimes see longer phrases like:

• no mês de fevereiro = in the month of February

But with just the month name, em fevereiro is the normal form.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

So a escola literally looks like the school, but in context it can simply refer to the relevant school being talked about.

This is very common in Portuguese:

• A professora chegou. = The teacher arrived.
• O menino saiu. = The boy left.

In English, articles are often omitted in places where Portuguese keeps them, so this is something learners need to get used to.

Envia is the 3rd person singular form of enviar in the present tense.

Conjugation:

• eu envio = I send
• você/ele/ela envia = you/he/she sends
• a escola envia = the school sends

Since a escola is singular, the verb must also be singular: envia.

Not necessarily.

In Portuguese, the present tense often describes:

• habitual actions
• routines
• scheduled actions
• general facts

So a escola envia a data da reunião aos pais can mean something like:

• the school sends the meeting date to the parents
• the school sends out the meeting date to the parents (as a regular thing)

Because the sentence includes Em fevereiro, it sounds like a routine or scheduled action that happens in February.

Here, data means date in the calendar sense.

So a data da reunião means the date of the meeting.

That said, learners should be careful: data is not used exactly like English data.

In Portuguese:

• data = date
• English data is usually dados

Examples:

• Qual é a data da prova? = What is the date of the exam?
• Os dados estão corretos. = The data are correct.

Because the sentence refers to a specific date: the date of the meeting.

Portuguese often uses the definite article where English also would:

• a data = the date
• o livro = the book
• a reunião = the meeting

If you said just data here, it would sound incomplete or unnatural in normal Portuguese.

Da is a contraction of:

• de + a = da

So:

• a data da reunião = the date of the meeting

This is one of the most common contractions in Portuguese:

• do = de + o
• da = de + a
• dos = de + os
• das = de + as

More examples:

• o nome da escola = the name of the school
• a porta do carro = the door of the car

Aos is a contraction of:

• a + os = aos

Here, a is the preposition to, and os pais means the parents.

So:

• envia ... aos pais = sends ... to the parents

The verb enviar often takes:

• a direct object: the thing being sent
• an indirect object with a: the person receiving it

In this sentence:

• a data da reunião = direct object
• aos pais = indirect object

Because pais is plural masculine, and the full phrase is a + os pais.

• os pais = the parents
• aos pais = to the parents

You cannot say a pais here in standard Portuguese, because the article os is part of the noun phrase, and it contracts with the preposition a.

This article is also natural because we are talking about a specific group: the parents connected to the school, usually the students’ parents.

Here, pais means parents.

This is an important vocabulary point:

• pai = father
• mãe = mother
• pais = parents

So even though pais looks like the plural of pai, in everyday Portuguese it commonly means parents.

If you want to say fathers, that would usually need context, since pais is very often understood as parents.

Yes, in many contexts you could say manda, especially in everyday Brazilian Portuguese.

Compare:

• envia = sends, dispatches
• manda = sends, but often more common and conversational

So these can both work:

• A escola envia a data da reunião aos pais.
• A escola manda a data da reunião aos pais.

However, envia sounds a bit more formal or administrative, which fits well with a school notice.

Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the subject is already clear.

Here, the subject is explicitly stated as a escola, so there is no need to add ela.

• A escola envia... = The school sends...

Adding ela would usually be unnecessary:

• A escola, ela envia...

That structure can happen in speech for emphasis, but it is not the neutral version.

Yes. Portuguese word order is flexible, especially with time expressions.

All of these are possible:

• Em fevereiro, a escola envia a data da reunião aos pais.
• A escola envia a data da reunião aos pais em fevereiro.

The first version highlights when it happens. The second starts more directly with the subject.

The original sentence is very natural and slightly more organized or formal in tone.

Yes. In some contexts, Portuguese can replace aos pais with the indirect object pronoun lhes:

• Em fevereiro, a escola lhes envia a data da reunião.

That means the same thing: In February, the school sends the meeting date to them / to the parents.

However, for learners, the full phrase aos pais is usually clearer and easier to understand.

Because contractions are a normal and essential part of Portuguese grammar.

Portuguese frequently combines prepositions with articles:

• de + a = da
• de + o = do
• a + os = aos
• em + a = na
• em + o = no

So instead of saying separate words, Portuguese usually contracts them.

This is not optional in standard usage in cases like these. That is why:

• de a reunião becomes da reunião
• a os pais becomes aos pais

Learning these contractions early is very helpful, because they appear constantly.