Breakdown of Na sexta-feira, eu vou ao cinema com a Ana.
Questions & Answers about Na sexta-feira, eu vou ao cinema com a Ana.
na is a contraction of em + a and means in/on the. With days of the week, European Portuguese typically uses em + article: na sexta‑feira = on Friday (a specific Friday).
- à/às is a contraction of a + a/as (marked with a grave accent). It’s used for direction or for habitual time:
- Habitual: Às sextas‑feiras, vou ao ginásio. = On Fridays (every Friday)
- Singular for habit is also heard: À sexta‑feira, vou...
- Note gender: most weekdays are feminine (na segunda‑feira, na sexta‑feira), but weekend days are masculine (no sábado, no domingo).
No. It’s optional. You can write:
- Na sexta‑feira, vou ao cinema...
- Na sexta‑feira vou ao cinema... Both are fine; the comma simply sets off the initial time phrase.
You can drop it. Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, and the verb ending already shows the subject. So:
- Na sexta‑feira, vou ao cinema... (most natural)
- Na sexta‑feira, eu vou ao cinema... (adds emphasis to “I”)
Portuguese often uses the present tense with a future time expression to talk about scheduled/near‑future plans: Na sexta‑feira, vou... = I’m going/I’ll go on Friday.
- Formal/literary simple future exists: Irei ao cinema, but it’s less common in everyday speech.
- For planned actions you can also use ir + infinitive: Na sexta‑feira, vou ver um filme.
- Avoid vou ir in European Portuguese.
ao is the mandatory contraction of a + o (to + the). After verbs of movement like ir, you normally use a + article for the destination:
- Masculine singular: vou ao cinema
- Feminine singular: vou à praia (a + a)
- Plural: vou aos museus, vou às lojas
Portuguese typically uses the definite article with many common places after ir a:
- ir ao cinema, ir ao supermercado, ir à escola Saying ir a cinema (without the article) is ungrammatical. Think of it as “to the cinema” in English; it’s just how the phrase is built in Portuguese.
For going to watch a film, the idiomatic choice is ir ao cinema. Ir para o cinema can suggest going there to stay for some time or even “to go into the film industry” (context decides). Use ao for the ordinary outing.
- Contrast: Vou a casa (I’ll drop by) vs Vou para casa (I’m going home to stay).
- Hyphen: The 1990 Orthographic Agreement keeps the hyphen in weekday names: segunda‑feira, sexta‑feira, etc.
- Lowercase: Days and months are not capitalized in Portuguese.
- Short form: In informal contexts you can say na sexta. Avoid writing sexta feira without the hyphen.
Approximate guide:
- Na [nah]
- sexta‑feira [SESH‑tuh FAY‑ruh] (the x = “sh”; final vowels are relaxed)
- eu [ew]
- vou [voh]
- ao [ow] (as in “cow”)
- cinema [see‑NEH‑muh] (final “a” is a reduced “uh”)
- com [koh̃] (nasal “o”)
- a [uh]
- Ana [UH‑nuh]
Joined up: roughly “nah SESH‑tuh FAY‑ruh, ew voh ow see‑NEH‑muh koh̃ uh UH‑nuh.”
Yes. Word order is flexible for adverbials. Both are common:
- Na sexta‑feira, (eu) vou ao cinema com a Ana.
- (Eu) vou ao cinema com a Ana na sexta‑feira. Starting with the time sets the timeframe; ending with it is equally acceptable.
No. Articles and preposition contractions are required here. Say:
- Sexta‑feira vou ao cinema com a Ana. Dropping ao and a sounds ungrammatical in Portuguese.