Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu vou ao aeroporto amanhã com o meu amigo. - I go to the airport tomorrow with my friend.

In Portuguese, it is very common to use the present tense to express actions that are planned to occur in the near future, especially when a time marker like amanhã (tomorrow) is included. Although vou literally means “I go” or “I am going,” the context makes clear that it refers to a future action.

What does the contraction ao in ao aeroporto mean, and why is it used?

The contraction ao comes from combining the preposition a (meaning “to”) with the masculine singular definite article o (meaning “the”). Therefore, ao aeroporto translates directly to “to the airport.” This contraction is a standard grammatical feature in Portuguese.

Why is the subject pronoun Eu explicitly included, even though the verb form already indicates the subject?

In Portuguese, subject pronouns like Eu (I) are frequently omitted because the verb conjugation makes the subject clear. However, including Eu can add emphasis, clarity, or be a stylistic choice—especially useful for learners or in more formal contexts.

How should we understand the phrase com o meu amigo, and why is the definite article o used with meu amigo?

The phrase com o meu amigo means “with my friend.” The preposition com stands for “with,” and meu amigo translates to “my friend.” In European Portuguese, it is typical to use the definite article before a possessive adjective (forming o meu amigo) when referring to someone specific or in standard forms of expression.

What is the overall structure of this sentence, and what are the roles of its different parts?

The sentence is built as follows: • Eu is the subject (I). • vou is the verb (am going), derived from the verb ir (to go). • ao aeroporto is a prepositional phrase indicating the destination (“to the airport”), with ao being the contraction of a and o. • amanhã serves as an adverb that specifies the time (“tomorrow”). • com o meu amigo is another prepositional phrase that tells you who is accompanying the speaker (“with my friend”). This structure demonstrates a typical Portuguese sentence order where the subject comes first, followed by the verb, and then additional phrases that provide further details such as destination, time, and accompaniment.