Breakdown of Nós podemos viajar no fim-de-semana.
nós
we
em
in
poder
to be able to
viajar
to travel
o fim-de-semana
the weekend
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Questions & Answers about Nós podemos viajar no fim-de-semana.
Why do we include nós if podemos already indicates the subject?
Portuguese verbs are inflected to show person and number, so you can drop the subject pronoun. Including nós is optional and is used for emphasis or clarity, especially in speech or when you want to highlight who is doing the action.
What exactly does podemos mean and how is it formed?
Podemos is the first-person plural present indicative of poder, meaning “we can” or “we may.” You take the stem pod- and add the ending -emos, which corresponds to nós in the present tense.
Why is viajar in the infinitive after podemos instead of another tense or form?
Modal verbs like poder, querer or saber are followed by a bare infinitive in Portuguese. So you say podemos viajar (“we can travel”), not podemos viajamos or podemos viajando.
Why do we say no fim-de-semana instead of just em fim-de-semana?
No is the contraction of em + o. Since fim-de-semana is masculine (the head of the compound is fim, which is masculine), you need the definite article o, giving no fim-de-semana.
Why is fim-de-semana hyphenated and masculine?
In European Portuguese, fim-de-semana is a fixed compound noun joined by hyphens under the orthographic rules. Its gender follows the first element, fim, which is masculine, so the whole compound is masculine.
What’s the difference between no fim-de-semana and aos fins-de-semana?
No fim-de-semana (singular) refers to a specific weekend—often the upcoming one. Aos fins-de-semana (plural) expresses a habitual action on weekends in general (“on weekends”).
Can I say neste fim-de-semana instead of no fim-de-semana?
Yes. Neste is the contraction of em + este, so neste fim-de-semana specifically means “this coming weekend,” making it clear you mean the upcoming weekend.
Is final de semana also correct in European Portuguese?
In European Portuguese you normally use fim-de-semana. The phrase final de semana is more common in Brazilian Portuguese and sounds odd in Portugal.