Ontem à noite o concerto foi fantástico.

Last night the concert was fantastic.

Breakdown of Ontem à noite o concerto foi fantástico.

• ser: to be
• o concerto: the concert
• fantástico: fantastic
• ontem à noite: last night

Questions & Answers about Ontem à noite o concerto foi fantástico.

Why is there a grave accent on à in ontem à noite?

• It's a contraction of the preposition a
  • the definite article a (crase).
• In Portuguese we use à noite to mean “at night” or “in the evening.”

Why do we say de manhã but à tarde and à noite?

• manhã takes de: de manhã (“in the morning”).
• tarde and noite are feminine and take a + a = à: à tarde, à noite.
• This is just the standard way to express different times of day.

Can we say ontem na noite instead of ontem à noite?

• na noite comes from em + a = na, and usually indicates location or specific events (“in the night of Halloween”).
• For general time expressions, the fixed phrase is ontem à noite.
• You might see na noite de [evento] (“on the night of [event]”), but not for everyday contexts.

Why does concerto have the definite article o before it?

• Portuguese often requires a definite article before nouns, unlike English.
• o concerto means “the concert,” referring to a particular show both speaker and listener know.

Could you use an indefinite article and say um concerto fantástico?

• Yes. You could say Ontem à noite foi um concerto fantástico.
• um concerto (“a concert”) emphasizes one among many, while o concerto refers to a specific known event.

Why is the verb foi used instead of era or estava?

• foi is the pretérito perfeito of ser, used for completed actions or facts in the past.
• era (pretérito imperfeito of ser) describes ongoing states or habitual actions.
• estava (pretérito imperfeito of estar) describes temporary conditions or locations.

Why is fantástico ending in -o?

• Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with their noun.
• concerto is masculine singular, so the adjective is fantástico.
• If the noun were feminine (e.g., música), you’d say fantástica.

Is the word order Ontem à noite o concerto foi fantástico fixed?

• It’s very common to start with a time expression (ontem à noite).
• You could also say O concerto foi fantástico ontem à noite, but leading with the time phrase places emphasis on “last night.”

Why can’t we say Ontem à noite concerto foi fantástico without the article?

• Portuguese generally requires articles before common nouns.
• Omitting o sounds ungrammatical; you need o concerto to make it complete.