Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): A Ana prometeu guardar o segredo até ao casamento. - Ana promised to keep the secret until the wedding.

In European Portuguese it’s very common to use a definite article before a person’s first name in casual speech. The phrase a Ana simply means Ana in English. You’ll hear this in Portugal almost every time someone refers to a friend or family member by name. In more formal contexts (or in some dialects) you can drop the article and say Ana prometeu…, but using a Ana is the norm in everyday European Portuguese.

Why is there an article o before segredo in guardar o segredo?

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English does. Here segredo refers to one specific secret, so you say o segredo (i.e. the secret). If you omit the article and say guardar segredo, you’re talking about “keeping secrets” in general—not one particular secret. The article makes it clear you’re referring to that secret.

Why is the verb prometer followed by the infinitive guardar rather than a conjugated form?

When you promise to do something in Portuguese, you normally use prometer + infinitive. So prometeu guardar literally means promised to keep. If you wanted a different structure, you could say prometeu que guardaria o segredo (“she promised that she would keep the secret”), but that shifts the mood to a conditional and sounds more formal or indirect.

Why is it até ao casamento instead of just até casamento?

The preposition até (English until) generally combines with a definite article when referring to a specific event or time. Here casamento is a definite event, so até + o casamento contracts to até ao casamento. Saying até casamento without the article would sound incomplete or strange in European Portuguese.

Could I say até ao casamento dela to specify whose wedding it is?

Yes. To make it clear whose wedding you mean, add the possessive pronoun after the noun: até ao casamento dela (English until her wedding). In Portuguese the possessive pronoun (dela) follows the noun it modifies.

What tense is prometeu and when do we use it?

Prometeu is the pretérito perfeito of prometer, used to describe a completed action in the past—so it means she promised. It implies that the promise was made at a specific moment in the past and is now finished.

Are contractions like até ao mandatory in European Portuguese?

Yes. Standard European Portuguese requires até + o to contract into até ao, and até + a into até à (for feminine nouns). In Brazil you’ll sometimes hear até o casamento, but in Portugal até ao casamento is the correct and natural form.