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.
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