A mala chegou atrasada ao hotel.

The suitcase arrived late at the hotel.

Breakdown of A mala chegou atrasada ao hotel.

• chegar: to arrive
• atrasado: late
• o hotel: the hotel
• a mala: the suitcase

Questions & Answers about A mala chegou atrasada ao hotel.

Why is there a before mala instead of leaving mala without an article?

Portuguese generally uses a definite article before most common nouns. Since mala is feminine singular, we add the article a. So a mala means the suitcase.

What tense and person is chegou?

Chegou is the third person singular of the pretérito perfeito do indicativo. It expresses a completed action in the past and in this context means arrived.

Why is atrasada placed after chegou and not directly before mala?

Here atrasada functions as a predicative adjective describing the state of mala at the moment of arrival. In Portuguese, predicative adjectives normally follow the verb when they comment on how the subject is or was.

Could we also say A mala atrasada chegou ao hotel?

Yes, but that construction highlights that the suitcase was already delayed before arriving. The original A mala chegou atrasada ao hotel focuses on the timing of arrival rather than the suitcase’s prior status.

What is the difference between chegou atrasada and chegou tarde?

• Chegou atrasada uses the adjective atrasada to indicate a delay relative to the expected time.
• Chegou tarde uses the adverb tarde to indicate arriving at a late hour.
  Both are correct, but atrasada emphasizes a schedule delay.

Why do we use ao before hotel?

Ao is the contraction of preposition a plus definite article o (masculine singular). So ao hotel literally combines a + o hotel, meaning to the hotel.

Why does chegar pair with a plus destination in European Portuguese rather than em?

In European Portuguese, the standard construction is chegar a plus place. Using chegar em is more common in Brazilian Portuguese.

Why does atrasada agree in gender with mala? Could we ever use atrasado?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree with the gender and number of their nouns. Since mala is feminine singular, you use atrasada. If the noun were masculine singular (for example o comboio), you would say o comboio chegou atrasado.