Breakdown of O professor vai anunciar o resultado às oito.
ir
to go
o professor
the teacher
o resultado
the result
às
at
oito
eight
anunciar
to announce
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Questions & Answers about O professor vai anunciar o resultado às oito.
What does vai anunciar mean, and why is this structure used instead of a single verb?
vai anunciar is a periphrastic near-future tense, formed by the present tense of ir (to go) plus the infinitive anunciar. It translates as “is going to announce.” This construction is very common in spoken Portuguese. You could also use the simple future tense (anunciará), but that sounds more formal or literary.
Why is às oito written with a grave accent, and how does this contraction work?
às is a contraction of the preposition a (at) + the feminine plural article as (the). The grave accent (
à) marks that contraction and distinguishes às (“at the”) from the standalone article as. So às oito literally means “at eight o’clock.”Why is horas often omitted after the number when telling the time in Portuguese?
In Portuguese, saying oito horas (eight hours) is correct, but the word horas is frequently dropped because the context makes it clear you’re giving the time. Both às oito horas and às oito are acceptable; the shorter form is more common in everyday speech.
Why are the definite articles o used before professor and resultado? Can’t we drop them like in English?
Portuguese normally requires a definite article before most nouns, including professions (o professor) and concrete things (o resultado). In English, we often omit “the” before job titles or general nouns, but in Portuguese, dropping the article sounds unnatural or foreign. There are a few set phrases or headlines where articles may be omitted, but those are exceptions.
Could we start the sentence with the time expression? For example, Às oito o professor vai anunciar o resultado?
Yes. Portuguese allows flexible word order for adverbial phrases of time or place. Placing às oito at the beginning simply emphasizes the time. Both O professor vai anunciar o resultado às oito and Às oito o professor vai anunciar o resultado are correct.
Are there alternative ways to express the future tense here, and what’s the difference in formality?
Besides the periphrastic future (vai anunciar), you can use the simple future indicative:
• O professor anunciará o resultado às oito.
The simple future is more formal or literary; vai anunciar is more conversational and widely used in speech.
How would you change the sentence if the professor were a woman?
You would adjust the article and noun to the feminine form:
A professora vai anunciar o resultado às oito.
Here A is the feminine singular article, and professora is the feminine noun.