Eles estão a ver um filme na cidade.

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Breakdown of Eles estão a ver um filme na cidade.

• estar: to be
• eles: they
• a cidade: the city
• ver: to watch
• o filme: the movie
• em: in

Questions & Answers about Eles estão a ver um filme na cidade.

Why is a ver used here instead of vendo?

In European Portuguese, it is common to use estar a + infinitive (e.g., estão a ver) to express the continuous tense, whereas in Brazilian Portuguese you would more frequently see estão vendo. Both forms mean the same in their respective variants, but estão a ver is typically how people in Portugal say that someone is watching something at the moment.

What does na cidade mean exactly in this context?

Na cidade literally means in the city. Grammatically, na is the contraction of em + a (in + the). In Portuguese (Portugal), saying you are doing something na cidade usually implies you are either downtown or not at home, but rather somewhere within the urban area.

Could I say Eles estão a assistir a um filme instead?

Yes, you could. In European Portuguese, both ver and assistir a can be used to talk about watching a film, but ver is more common and natural in everyday speech. Assistir a is still correct, just slightly more formal when referring to watching a movie or show.

What is the difference between Eles and Elas?

Eles is the masculine or mixed-gender plural pronoun, while Elas is the feminine plural pronoun. Use Eles for a group that includes at least one male (or for a mixed group) and Elas for a group consisting entirely of females.

Why do we say um filme here and not o filme?

Using um (indefinite article) means you are talking about an unspecified film—any film they happen to be watching. If you said o filme (definite article), you would be referring to a specific film already mentioned or known from context. Using um keeps it general, as though we are simply stating that they’re watching a film, without specifying which one.