Nós vamos esperar uns minutos.

We are going to wait a few minutes.

Breakdown of Nós vamos esperar uns minutos.

• ir: to go
• nós: we
• esperar: to wait
• o minuto: the minute
• uns: some

Questions & Answers about Nós vamos esperar uns minutos.

Why do we say vamos esperar instead of the future tense esperaremos?

In everyday European Portuguese, the structure ir + infinitive (here: vamos esperar) is much more common than the simple future (esperaremos).
Both forms are grammatically correct and mean the same thing (future action), but:

• Vamos esperar sounds natural, neutral, and conversational.
• Esperaremos sounds more formal, written, or even a bit old‑fashioned in speech.

So Nós vamos esperar uns minutos is what you would normally say in real-life conversation.

Is vamos esperar more like “we are going to wait” or “we will wait”?

It can correspond to both English forms. Portuguese doesn’t make a strong grammatical distinction here the way English sometimes does:

• Nós vamos esperar uns minutos can be translated as:
  • We’re going to wait a few minutes.
  • We’ll wait a few minutes.

The nuance (plan/intention vs neutral future) is mostly taken from context, not from the verb form itself.

Why is there no “for” in Portuguese? In English we say “wait for a few minutes”.

In Portuguese, when you talk about the duration of an action, you usually just put the time expression directly, without a preposition:

• Nós vamos esperar uns minutos.
  Literally: We are going to wait some minutes.

You would only use por with esperar when you mean waiting for someone/something, not for a length of time:

• Esperamos por ti. – We’re waiting for you.
• Esperamos pelo autocarro. – We’re waiting for the bus.

For time duration, por is normally omitted: esperar uns minutos, esperar duas horas, etc.

What exactly does uns minutos mean? Is it “some minutes” or “a few minutes”?

Uns minutos is best translated as “a few minutes” or “a couple of minutes” in natural English.

More details:

• Literally, uns is the plural of um (“one” / “a”), so uns minutos is like “some minutes”.
• It doesn’t sound exact; it’s vague and approximate, like English “a few”.
• It usually suggests a small number, but not strictly defined.

So Nós vamos esperar uns minutos implies “We’ll wait a bit / a short while (a few minutes).”

What is the difference between uns minutos and alguns minutos?

Both can often be translated as “a few minutes”, but there’s a slight nuance:

• uns minutos

  • More informal and very common in speech.
  • Feels a bit more casual and approximate: “a few minutes / a couple of minutes.”

• alguns minutos

  • Slightly more neutral or careful.
  • Sometimes feels a bit more “counted” or deliberate: “several minutes / some minutes.”

In most everyday contexts, you can safely use uns minutos and sound natural.

Do I need to say Nós, or can I just say Vamos esperar uns minutos?

You can absolutely drop Nós:

• Nós vamos esperar uns minutos.
• Vamos esperar uns minutos.

Both are correct. In Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending (vamos) already shows the person (1st person plural, “we”).

You might include Nós to:

• Emphasize the subject: Nós vamos esperar, não eles. – We will wait, not them.
• Make the subject very clear in a long or complex sentence.

But in a simple sentence like this, Vamos esperar uns minutos is perfectly natural.

Could I use a gente instead of nós in European Portuguese?

Yes, but with some cautions:

• In European Portuguese, a gente is used in informal speech, especially among younger people, and takes 3rd person singular verb forms:

  • A gente vai esperar uns minutos. – We’re going to wait a few minutes.

• Nós is the standard, neutral subject pronoun for “we” in Portugal:

  • It’s always safe and appropriate in all registers.
  • Vamos (with nós) uses the 1st person plural form.

So for learners of Portuguese from Portugal, it’s best to master nós + vamos first; you can later pick up a gente as a more informal option.

Does esperar always mean “to wait”, or can it also mean “to hope”?

Esperar has two main meanings in Portuguese:

1. To wait

   • Nós vamos esperar uns minutos. – We’re going to wait a few minutes.
   • Often takes por when you wait for someone/something:
     Esperamos por ti. – We’re waiting for you.

2. To hope / to expect

   • Usually followed by que:
     Espero que corra tudo bem. – I hope everything goes well.
   • Or with a direct object in some contexts:
     Espero boas notícias. – I expect good news.

In your sentence (Nós vamos esperar uns minutos), it clearly has the “to wait” meaning because of the time expression.

Could I say “Nós vamos por esperar uns minutos”?

No. That would be incorrect.

• You cannot insert por between vamos and esperar.
• The structure ir + infinitive is fixed: vamos esperar, not vamos por esperar.

Use:

• Nós vamos esperar uns minutos. – Correct.
• If you wanted “wait for someone/something” you could say:
  
  • Nós vamos esperar por ti. – We’re going to wait for you.

Is the word order flexible? Could I say “Nós vamos uns minutos esperar”?

No, that word order is wrong and very unnatural.

The normal order here is:

1. Subject: Nós
2. Auxiliary verb: vamos
3. Main verb (infinitive): esperar
4. Time expression: uns minutos

So the standard and natural form is:

• Nós vamos esperar uns minutos.
• Or, without the pronoun: Vamos esperar uns minutos.

Is there any difference in meaning between “Nós vamos esperar uns minutos” and “Vamos esperar uns minutos”?

The basic meaning is the same: “We’re going to wait a few minutes.”

The only difference is:

• Nós vamos esperar uns minutos.

  • Explicitly states the subject.
  • Can add emphasis to “we”, depending on context.

• Vamos esperar uns minutos.

  • More typical, slightly more fluent in conversation.
  • The subject is understood from the verb ending.

Unless you need emphasis or clarity, the shorter version without Nós is more common.

How is Nós different from nos without the accent?

The accent completely changes the word:

• Nós (with ó)

  • Means “we” (subject pronoun).
  • Nós vamos esperar uns minutos. – We are going to wait a few minutes.

• nos (without accent)

  • Is usually an object pronoun: “us” / “to us / for us”.
  • Eles vão ajudar‑nos. – They are going to help us.

So in your sentence, you must write Nós with an accent, because it’s the subject “we”.

How would I make this sentence more colloquial or softer in European Portuguese?

A few natural, slightly softer or more colloquial variants are:

• Vamos esperar mais uns minutos. – Let’s wait a few more minutes.
• Vamos esperar uns minutinhos. – Let’s wait a little bit / just a few minutes (diminutive, more gentle).
• Vamos esperar só uns minutos. – We’ll just wait a few minutes.

All of these still use the same basic structure as Nós vamos esperar uns minutos, just adding nuance.