Eu liguei ao Pedro para combinar o encontro após a conferência.

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Breakdown of Eu liguei ao Pedro para combinar o encontro após a conferência.

• Pedro: Pedro
• para: to
• o encontro: the meeting

Questions & Answers about Eu liguei ao Pedro para combinar o encontro após a conferência.

Why do we say liguei ao Pedro instead of liguei o Pedro or liguei para Pedro?

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”).