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).

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.