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Questions & Answers about João vai à escola.
Why is the contraction “à” used in “João vai à escola” instead of writing “a escola” separately?
In Portuguese, when the preposition a (“to”) is immediately followed by the feminine definite article a (“the”)—as in the case of escola—they merge to form à. This contraction, marked by the grave accent (a process called crase), indicates that “to” and “the” have combined, so “à escola” literally means “to the school.”
How is the verb “vai” in the sentence “João vai à escola” conjugated, and why is it used here?
“Vai” is the third person singular form of the irregular verb ir (to go) in the present indicative tense. Since João is the subject and is third person singular, vai is the correct conjugation. It corresponds to “goes” in English.
What does the tilde in “João” indicate?
The tilde over the “ã” in João signals nasalization of the vowel. In Portuguese, nasal vowels are common, and the tilde is used to indicate that the vowel should be pronounced with a nasal quality—distinct from non-nasal vowels in English.
What is the sentence structure of “João vai à escola” in terms of subject, verb, and complement?
The sentence follows a simple and standard word order in Portuguese: Subject (João) + Verb (vai) + Prepositional Phrase (à escola). This order is very similar to English (“João goes to school”), although note that while the English version might omit the article (“the school”), Portuguese typically includes it through contraction.
Is it possible to express the same idea using a different prepositional structure, and if so, how?
Yes, an alternative way to express the idea is by saying “João vai para a escola”—using the preposition para (“for/to”) instead of the simple a. However, “João vai à escola” is more concise and idiomatic in European Portuguese when indicating a destination like school.