Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): À noite, gostamos de olhar para o universo e imaginar outros mundos. - At night, we like to look at the universe and imagine other worlds.

“a” = the preposition “to / at”
“a” = the feminine singular definite article “the”
When these two a’s come together (a + a), Portuguese merges them into “à” and marks it with a grave accent (crase):
- a + a noite → à noite (to the night / at night)

So “À” here is a (preposition) + a (article) written as one word with a grave accent. It’s not a different word, just a contraction that must be written with the accent.

Is there any difference between “à noite” and “de noite”?

Both can often be translated as “at night / in the evening”, but there are some nuances:

À noite
- Slightly more neutral and standard in many contexts.
- Often used for general habits or routines:
  - À noite, gostamos de olhar para o universo.
    At night, we like to look at the universe.
De noite
- Also common, can feel a bit more informal / colloquial, depending on region and context.
- Very similar meaning in most everyday sentences.

In this sentence, “À noite” is a very natural choice. You could say “De noite, gostamos…”, and it would still sound fine.

Why is there a comma after “À noite,”?

“À noite” is an adverbial phrase of time placed at the beginning of the sentence.

Portuguese (like English) often uses a comma after such fronted time expressions:

À noite, gostamos de olhar…
De manhã, tomo café. – In the morning, I drink coffee.

You can also say it without a comma (À noite gostamos de olhar…) and many natives do, but the comma is very common and stylistically preferred in writing when a time phrase is clearly separated from the main clause.

Where is the word “we”? Why is “nós” not used before “gostamos”?

The subject pronoun “nós” (we) is optional in Portuguese because the verb ending already shows the person:

gosto – I like
gostas – you (singular, informal) like
gosta – he / she / you (formal) like(s)
gostamos – we like
gostam – they / you all like

So “gostamos” itself clearly means “we like”.
You can say:

Gostamos de olhar para o universo.
Nós gostamos de olhar para o universo.

Both are correct. Without “nós” is more natural in neutral sentences like this. Portuguese normally only adds the pronoun for emphasis or contrast (e.g., “Nós gostamos, eles não.” – “We like it, they don’t.”).

Why do we say “gostamos de olhar” and not “gostamos olhar”?

The verb “gostar” in Portuguese is almost always used with the preposition “de”:

gostar de + noun
- Gosto de chocolate. – I like chocolate.
gostar de + infinitive
- Gostamos de olhar para o universo. – We like to look at the universe.

So the correct structure is:

gostar de + [thing]
gostar de + [verb in infinitive]

Saying “gostamos olhar” (without de) sounds wrong to a native speaker. You need the “de” after “gostar”.

Why are “olhar” and “imaginar” in the infinitive and not conjugated, like “olhamos” or “imaginamos”?

After “gostar de”, when you talk about activities you like doing, you use the infinitive form of the verb:

Gostamos de olhar… – We like to look…
Gostamos de imaginar… – We like to imagine…

So the pattern is:

(nós) gostamos de + olhar / imaginar / ler / viajar…

Using “olhamos” or “imaginamos” here would change the structure and not match “gostar de”. You would need a different sentence, e.g.:

À noite, olhamos para o universo e imaginamos outros mundos.
At night, we look at the universe and imagine other worlds.
(Now these are main verbs, not verbs dependent on “gostar de”.)

Why is it “olhar para o universo” and not just “olhar o universo”?

In European Portuguese, “olhar para” is very common when you mean “to look at” something (directing your eyes towards it):

olhar para o céu – to look at the sky
olhar para o universo – to look at the universe
olha para mim – look at me

You can say “olhar o universo”, and it may sound slightly more formal or literary, but:

“olhar para o [algo]” = very natural, everyday way of saying “to look at [something]”.

So the sentence uses the most typical conversational pattern: “olhar para o universo”.

Why do we say “para o universo” and not just “para universo”?

Portuguese uses the definite article much more than English does.

o = the (masculine singular)
universo = universe
para o universo = “to the universe / at the universe”

In this sentence we’re talking about the universe in general, but Portuguese still tends to use the article:

o universo – the universe (general, as a concept)

Leaving out the article (“para universo”) is usually incorrect here; it would sound unnatural.

So the natural form is “olhar para o universo”.

Why don’t we repeat “de” before “imaginar”? Could we say “gostamos de olhar… e de imaginar…”?

The full, “complete” structure would be:

Gostamos de olhar para o universo e de imaginar outros mundos.

This is grammatically correct.

However, when two infinitives share the same preposition, Portuguese often omits the preposition before the second verb to avoid repetition:

Gostamos de olhar para o universo e imaginar outros mundos.

Both are correct.
The version without repeating “de” is more natural and flowing in everyday language, so that’s what you see in the sentence.

Why does the sentence say “o universo” but “outros mundos” without an article?

o universo – the universe
- Treated as a single, known concept, so it typically takes the definite article:
  - o universo – the universe (as “our” universe, the whole thing)
outros mundos – other worlds
- This is indefinite / non-specific: we’re not talking about particular, known worlds, just “other worlds” in general.
- In Portuguese, when you use “outro(s)/outra(s)”
  - noun in a general, indefinite sense, you usually don’t add an article:
    - outros mundos – other worlds
    - outras pessoas – other people

If you said “os outros mundos”, it would sound like “the other worlds (specific ones we already know about)”, which is not the intended meaning here.

Could we change the word order, like “Gostamos, à noite, de olhar para o universo…”?

Yes, Portuguese word order is fairly flexible, especially with adverbial phrases like “à noite”. The most common options are:

À noite, gostamos de olhar para o universo e imaginar outros mundos.
Gostamos de olhar para o universo e imaginar outros mundos à noite.

You can insert “à noite” inside the sentence, for emphasis or style:

Gostamos, à noite, de olhar para o universo e imaginar outros mundos.

This is grammatically correct but sounds more formal or literary. The original order (time expression at the beginning) is the most natural in everyday language.

How would this sentence change if I said “I like” instead of “we like”?

You would change the verb form from 1st person plural to 1st person singular:

À noite, gosto de olhar para o universo e imaginar outros mundos.
At night, I like to look at the universe and imagine other worlds.

Changes:

gostamos → gosto
Everything else stays the same, because “gostar de + infinitive” structure does not change with the subject.