Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu liguei ao Pedro para combinar o encontro após a conferência. - I called Pedro to arrange the meeting after the conference.

In European Portuguese the verb ligar (meaning “to phone/call”) requires the preposition a for the person you’re calling. Since Pedro is masculine and singular, a + o Pedro contracts to ao Pedro. Saying liguei o Pedro would be ungrammatical, and liguei para Pedro is incorrect—para isn’t used with ligar in this sense.

Why is there a definite article in ao Pedro? I thought names don’t take articles.

In Portugal it’s very common in spoken, colloquial speech to include the definite article before personal names (e.g. o João, a Maria). It’s optional and more informal. In formal writing or in Brazil you’d often drop it and say liguei a Pedro, but in Portugal liguei ao Pedro is standard in everyday conversation.

What’s the difference between ligar and telefonar?

Both can mean “to call someone on the phone,” but telefonar is slightly more formal and comes from the noun telefone. You still say telefonar a alguém. Ligar is more common in Portugal for “ring someone up,” and ligar can also mean “to switch on” (e.g. ligar a luz = “turn on the light”).

Why do we use para combinar? Could we say a combinar instead?

Para + infinitive expresses purpose: “in order to arrange.” You can hear a combinar in very casual speech (elliptical), but the full form para combinar is clearer and more standard. In writing you might also see the abbreviation p/ combinar, but only in informal notes or chats.

What exactly does combinar o encontro mean?

Here combinar means “to arrange” or “to agree on.” So combinar o encontro = “to set up/arrange the meeting.” It implies deciding on time, place, etc.

Why is it o encontro and not um encontro?

The definite article o signals that you’re referring to a specific meeting you and Pedro already know about or intend to hold. If you were just mentioning “a meeting” for the first time with no context, you could say um encontro.

Could we use depois da conferência instead of após a conferência?

Yes. Depois de + noun and the preposition após + noun are synonymous. Após is slightly more formal or written, while depois de is more common in speech. Both would be correct here.

Why is there an article in após a conferência?

Após is a preposition that can be used with or without the definite article. Since conferência takes the feminine singular article a, you say após a conferência. Without the article it would simply be após conferência, but that sounds stilted in Portuguese.

Why is the sentence in the simple past (liguei) rather than the present perfect?

European Portuguese normalmente uses the simple past (pretérito perfeito) for completed actions: liguei expresses “I called” as a finished event. EU speakers don’t use the present perfect the same way as Americans or Brits; you would rarely say tenho ligado to mean “I called.”

How do you pronounce liguei and where is the stress?

Liguei is pronounced [liˈɣej] (li-GUEI) with stress on the second syllable. The vowel combination -ei forms a rising diphthong, so you hear it as a single sound.