Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Hoje passo por essa praça antes de ir ao mercado. - Today I pass through that square before going to the market.

Portuguese often uses the present tense to talk about planned or scheduled future actions, especially when there is a clear time expression like hoje (today).

Hoje passo por essa praça
= Today I’m going to go through that square / Today I pass by that square (plan for later today)

It feels quite natural and neutral: it can mean a routine happening today or a plan you’ve decided.

Alternatives:

Hoje vou passar por essa praça
Sounds more explicitly future-oriented, often heard in conversation; close to English I’m going to pass by that square today.
Hoje passarei por essa praça
Grammatically correct, but sounds formal or literary in everyday European Portuguese.

So the present passo is very common and not “less future” than vou passar in this context; it’s just a normal way to talk about today’s plans.

What does por do in passo por essa praça? Can I leave it out and just say passo essa praça?

Here por expresses the idea of movement through / by / along a place.

passar por (um lugar) = to go through / to pass by / to go via (a place)
→ passo por essa praça = I go through/past that square.

You cannot simply drop por here:

✗ passo essa praça is not idiomatic in this sense.
- Without a preposition, passar tends to be:
  - to pass something (to someone) – Pass me the salt = Passa-me o sal.
  - or more abstract: to pass an exam = passar num exame / passar no exame.

So, to express moving through/beside a location, you need por (or its contractions like pela, pelo).

What’s the difference between por essa praça and pela praça? Can I say Hoje passo pela praça antes de ir ao mercado?

Yes, you can say:

Hoje passo pela praça antes de ir ao mercado.

Here’s the difference:

por essa praça
- por
  - essa praça (demonstrative)
- More specific: that (particular) square — one that’s been mentioned or is clear from context or pointing.
pela praça
- por + a praça → pela praça (preposition + definite article)
- More generic: the square, assuming speaker and listener know which town square they’re talking about.

Nuance:

por essa praça: slightly more “that specific square we’re talking about/pointing at.”
pela praça: “through the square (we both know about).”

In many real contexts, both are possible and very close in meaning; the choice depends on whether you want a demonstrative (essa) or just the definite article (a).

Why is it essa praça and not esta praça or just a praça? What’s the difference in European Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, in theory:

esta = this (near the speaker)
essa = that (near the listener or previously mentioned)
a = the

But in modern spoken European Portuguese, the neat three-way distinction (esta / essa / aquela) is often not followed strictly. Many speakers use essa more widely, especially for things that are not physically right next to them, or that are just being referred to.

Possible options and nuances:

essa praça
- that square we’ve been talking about, or that you know I mean.
- Slight sense of not right here or just that one we both know about.
esta praça
- this square right here, close to me (for example, if you’re standing in or next to it).
- In practice, many people still say essa even in contexts where textbooks would prefer esta.
a praça
- the square (the one in this town / the usual one / the one we both know).
- No demonstrative flavour, just definite.

So essa praça points a bit more to a specific, identifiable square, often previously mentioned or contextually clear. In everyday European Portuguese, essa is extremely common.

Why do we say antes de ir ao mercado and not just antes ir ao mercado?

In Portuguese, when antes is followed by an infinitive verb, you almost always need the preposition de:

antes de
- infinitive
  → antes de ir, antes de comer, antes de sair, etc.

So:

antes de ir ao mercado = before going to the market

If you leave out de:

✗ antes ir ao mercado – ungrammatical.

Compare:

Antes de ir ao mercado, passo por essa praça.
Before going to the market, I go through that square.

With a full clause (finite verb), you can have:

antes de or antes que in more formal/literary usage:
- Antes de eu ir ao mercado, passo por essa praça.
- Antes que eu vá ao mercado, passo por essa praça. (more literary/formal)

Why is it ir ao mercado and not ir para o mercado or ir no mercado?

The preposition with ir is important:

ir a (→ ir ao, ir à, ir aos, ir às)
- Very common in European Portuguese for simply going to a place, especially if it’s a usual destination or not necessarily permanent.
- ir ao mercado = to go to the market.
ir para (→ ir para o, etc.)
- More emphasis on going to and then staying for some time or change of location in a more permanent/long-term way.
- ir para o mercado could work, but would often sound like:
  - going there to work, or
  - going there and staying a while,
    rather than a quick errand.
ir no (→ ir no mercado)
- This is not correct for “go to the market” in European Portuguese.
- no = em + o, usually means in/on the (location), not movement to.

So ir ao mercado is the natural way to say go to the market in European Portuguese.

Why is there no eu in Hoje passo por essa praça…? Can I say Hoje eu passo…?

Portuguese is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele…) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person:

passo = eu (I)
passas = tu (you, singular informal)
passa = ele/ela/você (he/she/you formal), etc.

So:

Hoje passo por essa praça…
is fully normal and natural: Today (I) pass by that square…

You can say Hoje eu passo…, but:

Adding eu usually emphasises the subject:
- Hoje eu passo por essa praça…
  can sound like: Today I’m the one who passes that square (not someone else) or adding slight contrast.

In a neutral statement with no contrast, Portuguese speakers usually drop eu.

Can I change the position of hoje? For example: Passo hoje por essa praça… or Passo por essa praça hoje…?

Yes, time adverbs like hoje are quite flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:

Hoje passo por essa praça antes de ir ao mercado.
Passo hoje por essa praça antes de ir ao mercado.
Passo por essa praça hoje antes de ir ao mercado.
Passo por essa praça antes de ir ao mercado hoje. (less common; can sound slightly heavier)

Nuance (subtle):

Hoje passo…
Slight emphasis on today as the topic: As for today, I pass…
Passo hoje por essa praça…
Focus more on the action passo, then clarify when (today).
Passo por essa praça hoje…
Focuses first on route, then you specify when.

In normal conversation, Hoje passo… and Passo por essa praça hoje… are probably the most natural-sounding.

Could I say Hoje irei passar por essa praça… instead of Hoje passo…? Does that sound normal?

You could say it, but it sounds more formal, planned, or written.

Hoje irei passar por essa praça…
- Uses the simple future irei passar.
- Feels a bit like a written plan, a formal statement, or more distant/solemn speech.

In everyday European Portuguese speech, people usually prefer:

Hoje passo por essa praça… (present with future meaning), or
Hoje vou passar por essa praça… (ir + infinitive).

So irei passar is correct but stylistically marked as more formal or literary.

Does Hoje passo por essa praça mean a one-time plan for today, or can it also mean something habitual?

It can be either, depending on context and intonation.

One-time plan for today
With emphasis on hoje and context of planning, it often means:
- Today I’m going to go through that square (as part of my plan for today).
Habitual action that (also) happens today
If you’re talking about your routine, you could be saying:
- Today I (as usual) go through that square before going to the market.

To be clearer:

Hoje vou passar por essa praça…
More clearly a specific future plan for today.
Costumo passar por essa praça antes de ir ao mercado.
Clearly habitual: I usually pass through that square before going to the market.

In European Portuguese, how do you pronounce essa, praça, and mercado?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon area):

essa → [ˈɛ.sɐ]
- é as in English bed.
- Final -a reduced to a very light, almost uh sound [ɐ].
praça → [ˈpɾa.sɐ]
- pr- with a tapped r (quick single tap of the tongue).
- a as in father.
- Final -a again reduced [ɐ].
mercado → [mɨɾ.ˈka.du] or [mɨɾ.ˈka.ðu] (the d can soften)
- Initial me- often pronounced [mɨ] (a central vowel, not like English meh).
- r is a tap [ɾ] between vowels.
- ca like cah.
- Final -do often sounds like -du or -ðu in fast speech.

These are approximations; hearing native audio will help a lot with the rhythm and reduced vowels.

Is there any difference in how a Brazilian Portuguese speaker might say this sentence?

The sentence is fully understandable in Brazilian Portuguese, but typical tendencies:

Brazilians are more likely to say:
- Hoje eu vou passar por essa praça antes de ir ao mercado.
  - More frequent use of eu.
  - Strong preference in speech for ir + infinitive (vou passar) for future.
Pronunciation is different:
- Vowels are generally more open and less reduced.
- mercado in Brazil: [meʁ.ˈka.du] (with a guttural r [ʁ]).
The grammar (por, essa, antes de ir ao, mercado) stays the same; the main differences are pronoun use, choice of tense, and accent.