Breakdown of Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
Questions & Answers about Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
In Portuguese, nenhum is a negative determiner that already makes the sentence negative, like “no / not any” in English.
- Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
= No bus arrives on time today. / No bus will arrive on time today.
Because nenhum is negative, you do not add não before the verb in this structure.
- ✅ Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
- ✅ Não chega nenhum autocarro a tempo hoje. (here the pattern is não
- verb + nenhum)
- ❌ Nenhum autocarro não chega a tempo hoje. (wrong: double negation in the same “slot”)
Não is an adverb that negates the verb:
- O autocarro não chega. – The bus doesn’t arrive.
Nenhum behaves like a determiner/adjective that goes with a noun:
- Nenhum autocarro chega. – No bus arrives.
So:
- you use não directly before a verb,
- you use nenhum / nenhuma directly before a noun.
You can combine them, but then nenhum is normally after the verb:
- Não chega nenhum autocarro. – No bus arrives.
Nenhum must agree with the noun:
- masculine singular:
- nenhum autocarro – no bus
- nenhum aluno – no (male) student
- feminine singular:
- nenhuma camioneta – no coach / bus
- nenhuma aluna – no (female) student
- plural forms are rare in normal use and sound marked or literary (nenhuns, nenhumas).
Most of the time Portuguese uses singular with a plural meaning, just like English “no bus / no student” can mean “not any buses / students” in general.
Grammatically, the subject is autocarro (singular), determined by nenhum (also singular), so the verb must also be singular:
- Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
Even though in meaning we are talking about all buses (so more than one), the structure is “no bus” in the singular, so you match the verb to that.
Compare:
- Todos os autocarros chegam a tempo. – All the buses arrive on time. (here the subject is plural, so the verb is plural)
Both are negative, but they don’t focus on exactly the same thing:
Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
- General statement: no buses at all (no bus in existence / in this context) will be on time.
Nenhum dos autocarros chega a tempo hoje.
- Refers to a specific set of buses already known from context (for example, a timetable you are looking at):
- None of the buses (we’re talking about) will arrive on time today.
Grammatically:
- nenhum autocarro = “no bus” (general)
- nenhum dos autocarros = “none of the buses” (from a known group)
With nenhum, you normally don’t use another determiner like o or um:
- ✅ nenhum autocarro – no bus
- ❌ nenhum o autocarro
- ❌ o nenhum autocarro
Nenhum itself already works like a determiner (no / not any), so you don’t need an extra article.
European Portuguese very often uses the present indicative to talk about near-future events that are scheduled or expected, especially with time expressions like hoje, amanhã, logo:
- Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
= No bus will arrive on time today.
Other examples:
- Amanhã tenho exame. – I have an exam tomorrow.
- O comboio sai às oito. – The train leaves at eight.
You could also use the future or a periphrastic future:
- Nenhum autocarro chegará a tempo hoje. (more formal / written)
- Nenhum autocarro vai chegar a tempo hoje. (very common and natural)
But the present chega here is perfectly normal and common.
Literally, a tempo means “in time / on time”, i.e. not late.
- chegar a tempo – to arrive on time
Other common options in European Portuguese:
- chegar a horas – very common colloquial equivalent of “on time”
- Nenhum autocarro chega a horas hoje.
- chegar pontual / pontualmente – more formal / descriptive
- Os autocarros não chegam pontualmente.
But in the sentence you gave, a tempo is completely natural.
In European Portuguese, the fixed expression is:
- chegar a tempo – to arrive on time
Using em tempo would sound odd or archaic in this context; em tempo can appear in other more formal or idiomatic contexts, but not as the usual way to say “on time”.
Also, for chegar + place, European Portuguese normally prefers chegar a:
- chegar a casa, chegar a Lisboa, chegar à estação
Whereas Brazilian Portuguese often uses chegar em (but that’s not standard in Portugal).
Yes. Hoje (today) is flexible and can move without changing the basic meaning, though emphasis changes slightly:
- Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
- Hoje, nenhum autocarro chega a tempo.
- Nenhum autocarro hoje chega a tempo. (possible, but less neutral; sounds a bit more marked/emphatic)
The most neutral positions are:
- at the end: … a tempo hoje.
- or at the beginning: Hoje, nenhum autocarro…
Yes. In European Portuguese:
autocarro = bus (BrE) / bus (AmE)
In Brazilian Portuguese:ônibus = bus
So:
- (PT) Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
- (BR) Nenhum ônibus chega a tempo hoje.
If you’re learning Portuguese from Portugal, autocarro is the standard everyday word.
Yes, that sentence is also correct:
- Não chega nenhum autocarro a tempo hoje.
- Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
Both mean the same: No bus will arrive on time today.
Difference in structure:
- Nenhum autocarro chega…
- Uses nenhum before the noun as the only negative element.
- Não chega nenhum autocarro…
- Uses não before the verb and nenhum after it. This is a common and natural pattern.
You must not say:
- ❌ Nenhum autocarro não chega a tempo hoje. (wrong double negative in this structure)
Yes, you can. Both are natural:
- Nenhum autocarro chega a tempo hoje.
- Nenhum autocarro vai chegar a tempo hoje.
Differences:
- chega (present)
- Very common in speech, especially for timetables / schedules or near, expected future.
- vai chegar (periphrastic future)
- Slightly more explicit about the future; it can sound a bit more “predictive” or based on current information (traffic, delays, etc.).
In everyday conversation in Portugal, you’ll hear both.