A paragem de autocarro fica ao norte da escola.

The bus stop is to the north of the school.

Breakdown of A paragem de autocarro fica ao norte da escola.

• a escola: the school
• ficar: to be located
• a paragem de autocarro: the bus stop
• ao norte de: to the north of

Questions & Answers about A paragem de autocarro fica ao norte da escola.

Why is it paragem de autocarro and not paragem do autocarro?

The phrase paragem de autocarro literally means “stop for bus” (i.e. a bus stop). The preposition de expresses the type or purpose of the stop (it’s for any bus), not ownership. If you said paragem do autocarro, it would mean “the stop of that (specific) bus,” as if each bus had its own individual stop.

Why is the word autocarro used instead of ônibus?

Autocarro is the European Portuguese term for “bus,” whereas ônibus is used in Brazilian Portuguese. Since you’re learning Portuguese (Portugal), you’ll see autocarro in Portugal instead of ônibus.

Why is there an a before paragem?

In Portuguese, definite articles (o, a, os, as) are commonly used before nouns, even where English often omits them. A paragem means “the stop.” Omitting the article would sound unnatural in Portuguese.

What does fica mean here? Can’t we use está?

Here ficar means “to be located” or “to lie (somewhere).” It’s the idiomatic verb for describing where buildings, stops, towns, etc., are positioned. While está (“is”) isn’t wrong, fica is preferred in this context:
“A paragem de autocarro fica ao norte da escola.” = “The bus stop is located north of the school.”

Why do we say ao norte da escola instead of no norte da escola?

• Ao norte de [lugar] is the standard way to say “to the north of [place].”
• No norte da escola would mean “in the north part of the school” (as if the school has a northern wing).
  Therefore ao norte da escola correctly conveys “north of the school.”

Why are ao and da contractions in ao norte da escola?

Portuguese contracts prepositions with definite articles:

• a
  • o = ao
• de
  • a = da
    So ao norte = a
    • o norte, and da escola = de
      • a escola.

How do you pronounce paragem de autocarro?

European Portuguese approx. pronunciation:

• paragem: pah-RAH-zheng (stress on “RAH”)
• de: duh (a reduced “i” sound)
• autocarro: ow-too-KA-hoo (stress on “KA”)