Breakdown of Hoje à noite, eu vou ver um filme com a Ana.
Questions & Answers about Hoje à noite, eu vou ver um filme com a Ana.
In à noite, the à is a contraction of:
- the preposition a (to / at)
- the definite article a (the, feminine singular)
= à
So literally it’s “to the night”, but idiomatically it means “at night / this evening / tonight”, depending on context.
In writing, Portuguese shows this contraction with the grave accent (à).
You cannot write a noite here, because that would mean “the night” (just article + noun), not the fixed expression “at night”:
- Gosto da noite. – I like the night.
- À noite, estudo português. – At night, I study Portuguese.
- À noite on its own means “at night / in the evening” in general, or “tonight” if the context is clear.
- Hoje à noite is more specific: “tonight (this evening, today at night)”.
So:
- À noite, eu estudo. – At night, I study. (a general habit)
- Hoje à noite, eu vou ver um filme. – Tonight, I’m going to watch a film. (today, one specific night)
In European Portuguese, it’s very common to use a definite article before people’s names:
- a Ana – Ana
- o João – João
This sounds natural and neutral in Portugal, especially in spoken language. Omitting the article (just Ana, João) is possible but can sound:
- more formal,
- more written,
- or sometimes slightly marked in tone.
So:
- Vou ver um filme com a Ana. – sounds completely normal in Portugal.
- Vou ver um filme com Ana. – grammatically correct, but in everyday Portuguese from Portugal it can sound a bit more formal or “bookish”.
Yes. Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele, etc.) are often omitted because the verb form already shows the subject.
Both are correct:
- Hoje à noite, eu vou ver um filme com a Ana.
- Hoje à noite, vou ver um filme com a Ana.
The version without eu is actually more typical in everyday speech, unless you need emphasis or contrast:
- Eu vou ver um filme com a Ana, tu ficas em casa.
(I am going to watch a film with Ana, you stay at home.)
Portuguese has two ways to talk about the future:
Periphrastic future (very common in speech):
ir + infinitive- eu vou ver – I’m going to see / will see
- amanhã vamos trabalhar – tomorrow we’re going to work
Synthetic future (more formal / written / planned style):
Infinitive + future ending- eu verei – I will see
- trabalharemos – we will work
In everyday European Portuguese speech, ir + infinitive (vou ver, vais ver, vai ver, etc.) is much more frequent and sounds more natural in a sentence like this. Verei is correct but sounds more formal or literary here.
In European Portuguese:
- The most natural way to say “watch a film” is ver um filme (literally “see a film”).
- The verb assistir is usually used with a preposition: assistir a
- assistir a um filme – to watch a film
- assistir a um jogo – to watch a match
However, in Portugal, for everyday speech about films, people strongly prefer ver um filme.
Assistir (a) is also very common, but you will more often see it with shows, events, or in more formal contexts.
So your sentence with ver is fully natural for European Portuguese.
Yes, it is grammatically correct and understandable:
- Hoje à noite vou assistir a um filme com a Ana.
But for European Portuguese, it sounds less natural than:
- Hoje à noite vou ver um filme com a Ana.
Assistir a um filme is fine, but ver um filme is more idiomatic in Portugal for “watch a film” in normal conversation.
Hoje à noite is a time expression placed at the beginning of the sentence. In Portuguese (and also in English), when you front an adverbial like this, a comma is common and recommended:
- Hoje à noite, eu vou ver um filme.
- Na próxima semana, vou viajar.
You could technically omit the comma in informal writing, but:
- With the comma: clearer and more standard.
- Without the comma: accepted in casual contexts, but less tidy.
So the comma is stylistically correct and preferred here.
Yes. Time expressions are quite flexible in Portuguese. All of these are possible and natural:
- Hoje à noite, eu vou ver um filme com a Ana.
- Eu vou ver um filme com a Ana hoje à noite.
- Vou ver um filme hoje à noite com a Ana.
The usual neutral option in speech is to put hoje à noite either at the start or at the end:
- beginning: mild emphasis on when
- end: more neutral / after you say what you’re doing
In this sentence:
- com a Ana = with Ana
The preposition com mainly corresponds to English “with”:
- com água – with water
- com amigos – with friends
- falar com alguém – talk with/to someone
So com a Ana is the normal, straightforward way to say “with Ana” in European Portuguese.
In European Portuguese:
- vou sounds roughly like “voh” (close to English vo in vote, but shorter).
- ver sounds roughly like “vair” (with a Portuguese e like in bed, but shorter and tenser).
When said together, vou ver is usually pronounced smoothly, but you do keep both v sounds:
- [vou] + [ver] → vou ver
You may hear a slight linking: something like “voo vair”, but with a clear v beginning each word.
Filme is the standard Portuguese word for “film / movie”.
- In Portugal, filme is completely neutral: it can be any kind of movie (cinema, TV, streaming).
- It covers both British “film” and American “movie”.
So ver um filme simply means “watch a film / movie”, with no extra nuance.