Breakdown of Nós vamos ao centro comercial amanhã para comprar roupa.
ir
to go
nós
we
comprar
to buy
amanhã
tomorrow
para
to
a roupa
the clothes
o centro comercial
the shopping mall
ao
to
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Questions & Answers about Nós vamos ao centro comercial amanhã para comprar roupa.
Why is vamos used here to talk about tomorrow instead of a future tense like iremos?
Portuguese often uses the periphrastic future with ir + infinitive (similar to “going to” in English) to express near future actions. So nós vamos comprar means “we are going to buy.” Although you could say nós iremos comprar, it sounds more formal or bookish. The vamos construction is by far the most common in everyday speech.
What does ao in vamos ao centro comercial mean?
Ao is the contraction of the preposition a + the masculine singular definite article o.
- a indicates motion toward someplace (“to”)
- o is “the” for a masculine noun.
So vamos ao centro comercial literally means “we go to the shopping center.”
Why is there no article before roupa in para comprar roupa?
In Portuguese, when you talk about buying or wearing clothes in a general sense, you often omit the article.
- comprar roupa = “buy clothes” (clothing in general)
If you wanted specific garments you might say comprar a roupa (“buy the clothing” you already know about) or comprar umas roupas (“buy some clothes”).
Can amanhã come at the beginning of the sentence instead of before para?
Yes. You can say:
- Amanhã vamos ao centro comercial para comprar roupa.
Moving amanhã to the front emphasizes the time, but placing it before para is also perfectly natural. Word order in Portuguese is relatively flexible for adverbs of time.
Why do we use para comprar instead of just comprar?
Para expresses purpose or intention (“in order to”).
- Vamos ao centro comercial para comprar roupa.
= “We are going to the mall in order to buy clothes.”
If you drop para, you lose the explicit “in order to” nuance.
Is centro comercial the same as shopping in Portugal?
Yes, centro comercial is the standard European Portuguese term for what English speakers call a “shopping mall.” Some people informally say shopping, borrowed from English, but centro comercial is more widely used.
Why is nós included? Can it be dropped?
Portuguese is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun (nós) can be omitted because the verb ending -amos already indicates “we.”
- Vamos ao centro comercial amanhã.
vs. - Nós vamos ao centro comercial amanhã.
Both are correct; including nós adds emphasis or clarity.
Why is roupa singular here instead of plural roupas?
In Portuguese, clothing items are often treated as a mass noun when speaking generally.
- comprar roupa = “buy clothing” (any kind, unspecified quantity)
Using roupas (plural) can imply individual pieces: - comprar algumas roupas = “buy some clothes (a few items).”
But in your sentence, roupa covers the general concept of buying clothes.