Vamos acampar junto ao ribeiro com o cantil.

Portuguese often leaves out the subject pronoun when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

• Vamos = we go / we are going / let’s go
• The ending -amos shows it is we

So Vamos acampar... is perfectly natural without nós. You could say Nós vamos acampar..., but that usually adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Vamos acampar can mean either:

• we are going to camp
• let’s go camping

In real use, context and intonation decide which one is intended. Very often, especially as a simple standalone sentence, it feels like a suggestion or plan: let’s go camping.

Because in Portuguese, the verb ir followed by another verb normally takes the infinitive directly, with no a in between.

So you say:

• vou sair = I’m going to leave
• vamos acampar = we’re going to camp / let’s go camping

This is different from Spanish, where ir a + infinitive is used.

After vamos in this kind of construction, Portuguese uses the infinitive:

• vamos comer
• vamos sair
• vamos acampar

English often uses go + -ing in similar situations, as in go camping, but Portuguese does not do that here. The basic structure is:

• ir + infinitive

So vamos acampar is the normal form.

Junto ao means next to, by, close to, or right near.

In this sentence, junto ao ribeiro means the camping is happening near the stream.

It suggests fairly close physical proximity, often a bit stronger than perto de, which also means near.

For example:

• junto ao ribeiro = right by the stream
• perto do ribeiro = near the stream

Both are possible, but junto a often sounds a little more precise.

Ao is a contraction of:

• a
  • o = ao

Here, junto is followed by the preposition a, and ribeiro takes the masculine singular article o:

• junto a o ribeiro → junto ao ribeiro

This kind of contraction is very common in Portuguese.

For comparison:

• a + a = à
• de + o = do
• em + o = no

Ribeiro usually means a small river, stream, or brook.

Compare:

• rio = river
• ribeiro = stream / brook / small river

So ribeiro normally suggests something smaller than a rio. It is a masculine noun:

• o ribeiro

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

So where English might say:

• near a stream
• with a canteen
• by the river

Portuguese often uses:

• junto ao ribeiro
• com o cantil

The article does not always mean a very specific item in the same strong way English the does. Sometimes it is just the natural Portuguese way of referring to something in context.

If you wanted to make it clearly indefinite, you could say:

• com um cantil = with a canteen

In European Portuguese, cantil usually means a canteen or flask used for carrying water, especially outdoors.

So in a camping context, it is the kind of container you might take on a hike or trip. Depending on context, English translations could include:

• canteen
• flask
• sometimes water bottle, though cantil often sounds a bit more like outdoor gear than an ordinary bottle

It is a masculine noun:

• o cantil

Com o cantil literally means with the canteen.

In context, it usually means that the people are going camping and taking the canteen with them. So com expresses accompaniment: the canteen is going along too.

That said, this phrase can be a little vague on its own. A learner might wonder:

• Are we camping and bringing the canteen?
• Is the canteen somehow important to the action?

If you wanted to sound more explicit, Portuguese might also say:

• Vamos acampar levando o cantil = We’re going camping, taking the canteen
• Vamos acampar com um cantil = We’re going camping with a canteen

So the original is grammatical, but the exact nuance depends on context.

Yes, Portuguese word order is fairly flexible, though changing it can shift the emphasis a little.

For example:

• Vamos acampar junto ao ribeiro com o cantil.
• Vamos acampar com o cantil junto ao ribeiro.

Both are possible, but they may group the information differently. In the original sentence, junto ao ribeiro is heard first as the location, and com o cantil comes after as an added detail.

If you move com o cantil, it may sound more strongly connected to acampar or may create a slight moment of ambiguity about what is next to the stream.

So yes, the order can change, but the original order is a natural way to present:

1. the action
2. the place
3. the extra item being brought along