Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Depois do almoço, eu vou à biblioteca com a Ana. - After lunch, I go to the library with Ana.

“depois de almoço” is possible in some contexts but sounds less specific and a bit more formal/literary; it tends to mean “after (having) lunch” rather than referring to that particular lunch.
“depois o almoço” is incorrect because you can’t put depois (after) directly before a noun without a preposition (de) in this kind of structure. You need depois de
- noun or depois de
  - verb in the infinitive.

Why is there a comma after “Depois do almoço”?

“Depois do almoço” is an adverbial phrase of time placed at the beginning of the sentence. In European Portuguese, it is very common (and usually recommended) to separate such initial time or place expressions with a comma:

Depois do almoço, eu vou à biblioteca com a Ana.

You could also say:

Eu vou à biblioteca com a Ana depois do almoço.

In that word order, many writers don’t use a comma because the time phrase comes at the end and is more integrated into the sentence:

Eu vou à biblioteca com a Ana depois do almoço. (no comma)

Why is it “vou à biblioteca” and not just “vou a biblioteca”?

“À” is a contraction in Portuguese:

a (preposition “to”) + a (definite article “the”, feminine singular)
→ à (with a grave accent)

So:

Vou à biblioteca. = I go / I’m going to the library.

Since biblioteca is a feminine noun (a biblioteca = the library), the language requires both the preposition a and the article a. In writing, they fuse into à.

“Vou a biblioteca” (without the accent) is considered a spelling mistake in standard Portuguese in this context, because it’s missing the article contraction. You either write:

Vou à biblioteca. ✅
Vou para a biblioteca. ✅ (a bit more like “I’m going off to the library”)

What does the grave accent in “à” mean? Is it pronounced differently?

The grave accent (à) in Portuguese marks crasis, which is the contraction of:

a (preposition) + a (article or demonstrative) = à

Function:

It’s a grammatical marker, not a change in sound.
“à” is pronounced like the normal short /a/ in “casa”.

Compare:

a (no accent): could be the preposition “to/at” or the article “the” (feminine), depending on context.
à (with grave accent): explicitly shows this is a + a merged.

So “vou à biblioteca” = vou a a biblioteca (to the library), but we always write à.

Could I just say “Vou à biblioteca com a Ana” and drop “eu”?

Yes.

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

Vou à biblioteca com a Ana.
The –o ending in vou clearly shows it’s 1st person singular (I).

We usually include “eu” when:

we want to emphasize the subject:
Depois do almoço, eu vou à biblioteca (não tu). – After lunch, I am going (not you).
we want to avoid ambiguity, or in spoken language for extra clarity.

So both are correct:

Depois do almoço, vou à biblioteca com a Ana.
Depois do almoço, eu vou à biblioteca com a Ana. (more emphasis on “I”)

Why is it “com a Ana” and not just “com Ana”?

In European Portuguese, it’s very common to use the definite article with people’s names in everyday speech:

o João (John)
a Ana (Ana)

So:

com a Ana = with Ana
com o João = with João

This sounds very natural in Portugal.

Without the article:

com Ana

is grammatically possible but sounds more formal, written, or sometimes slightly distant.

Brazilian Portuguese uses the article with names much less (though some regions do use it). In many parts of Brazil, people would naturally say:

com Ana (without a).

What is the difference between “vou à biblioteca” and “vou para a biblioteca”?

Both are usually translated as “I’m going to the library”, but there are typical nuances:

vou à biblioteca
- slightly more neutral or sometimes associated with going there and then coming back / visiting.
- common with many place nouns: vou à escola, vou ao médico, vou ao cinema.
vou para a biblioteca
- can suggest movement towards a destination, sometimes with the idea of staying there for longer or focusing on the destination itself.
- used a lot when you emphasize the final place: Vou para casa. Vou para Lisboa.

In many everyday contexts, especially with “biblioteca”, they’re interchangeable, and the nuance is small.

Why is “biblioteca” feminine? How do I know the gender of nouns like this?

In Portuguese, every noun is either masculine or feminine. You mostly have to learn the gender with the noun, although there are patterns:

Many nouns ending in -a are feminine:
a biblioteca, a casa, a mesa, a escola.
Many nouns ending in -o are masculine:
o livro, o carro, o almoço, o gato.

So:

a biblioteca = the library
→ that’s why we say vou à biblioteca (a + a = à).

There are exceptions (e.g. o dia, a foto), so it’s best to memorize each new noun with its article: a biblioteca, o almoço, a Ana, etc.

Why is “Ana” capitalized but “biblioteca” and “almoço” are not?

Portuguese capitalization rules here are similar to English:

Proper names of people, cities, countries, etc. are capitalized:
- Ana, João, Lisboa, Portugal.
Common nouns (general objects, places, meals) are not capitalized:
- biblioteca (library), almoço (lunch), livro (book).

So:

a Ana – Ana (proper name, capital first letter)
a biblioteca – the library (common noun, lowercase)
o almoço – the lunch (common noun, lowercase)

Why do you use present tense “vou” to talk about the future?

In Portuguese, the present tense of ir (to go) is commonly used to express near or planned future, very similar to English “I’m going to …”:

Eu vou à biblioteca.
Context: a plan → I’m going to go to the library.

With a time expression:

Depois do almoço, eu vou à biblioteca.
After lunch, I’m going to the library.

This is very natural and frequent in speech.

You can also use the simple future:

Depois do almoço, irei à biblioteca.
This is correct but sounds more formal or written, less everyday.

Could I say “Depois de almoçar, vou à biblioteca com a Ana” instead of “Depois do almoço…”?

Yes, and it’s a very natural alternative.

Depois do almoço, vou à biblioteca.
= After (the) lunch, I’m going to the library.
Depois de almoçar, vou à biblioteca.
= After having lunch / After I eat lunch, I’m going to the library.

Here we have:

depois de + noun → depois do almoço
depois de + verb (infinitive) → depois de almoçar

Both are common. The second focuses more on the action (eating lunch) rather than the meal as an event.

What is the difference between “depois” and “depois de”?

depois on its own is an adverb:
Vou almoçar e depois vou à biblioteca.
= I’m going to have lunch and then I’ll go to the library.
depois de is used when it is followed by a noun or a verb in the infinitive:
- Depois do almoço, vou à biblioteca. (noun: o almoço)
- Depois de almoçar, vou à biblioteca. (infinitive verb: almoçar)

So:

depois = then / afterwards
depois de + [noun / infinitive] = after [something / doing something]

Is “almoço” always “lunch”? Does it follow the same meal times as in English?

In European Portuguese:

o pequeno-almoço = breakfast
o almoço = lunch (midday / early afternoon)
o jantar = dinner / evening meal

Culturally, almoço often happens a bit later than in some English-speaking countries (e.g. 1–2 p.m. is very common), but it still corresponds to the main mid‑day meal.

In this sentence, Depois do almoço clearly means After lunch.