Breakdown of Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado.
Questions & Answers about Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado.
Algumas means some, indicating an indefinite, non‑specific subset of people.
- Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado.
→ Some people go to the cinema on Saturdays (not everybody, just a portion).
If you drop algumas and say Pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado, it sounds odd in Portuguese. Bare plural subjects like this are not as natural or as common as in English.
To express the general idea “people go to the cinema on Saturdays”, you’d normally say:
- As pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado.
→ People (in general) go to the cinema on Saturdays.
So:
- Algumas pessoas = some people (indefinite subset)
- As pessoas = (the) people in general
- Bare Pessoas at the start is usually avoided in this kind of sentence.
In Portuguese, gender is grammatical, not biological. The noun pessoa is grammatically feminine, regardless of whether the actual person is male or female.
- uma pessoa – one person (male or female)
- duas pessoas – two people
- algumas pessoas – some people
Because pessoa is feminine singular, the adjective/pronoun that goes with it must agree:
- Feminine singular: alguma pessoa
- Feminine plural: algumas pessoas
So algumas is feminine plural simply because pessoas is feminine plural.
Vão is the present tense, 3rd person plural form of the verb ir (to go).
Present tense of ir (European Portuguese):
- eu vou – I go
- tu vais – you go (informal singular)
- ele/ela/você vai – he/she/you go
- nós vamos – we go
- vocês vão – you (plural) go
- eles/elas vão – they go
In Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado the subject is algumas pessoas → 3rd person plural → vão.
You don’t say vão ir here. That would be like saying “they go go”. Ir alone already means go, and in the simple present it’s used for regular, repeated actions (habit), just like English go in “They go to the cinema on Saturdays.”
Ao is a contraction of the preposition a + the masculine singular definite article o:
- a + o = ao
So:
- ao cinema = a
- o cinema
- ao sábado = a
- o sábado
Portuguese normally merges prepositions with definite articles:
- a + o = ao
- a + os = aos
- de + o = do
- em + o = no, etc.
You almost never write or say a o cinema or a o sábado; you must contract to ao.
All three forms are possible, but they have different uses/nuances.
Ir a (→ ir ao cinema)
- Neutral, very common with destinations like cinema, teatro, restaurante.
- Focuses on the act of going (and usually implies coming back).
- Vou ao cinema. – I’m going to the cinema.
Ir para (→ ir para o cinema)
- Often used when you’re going to stay somewhere (or the staying is more important than the idea of returning).
- With cinema, ir para o cinema can sound more like “go (off) to the cinema” and is less idiomatic than ir ao cinema for the regular activity of going to watch a film.
Ir a vs estar em
- Ir ao cinema – go to the cinema (movement).
- Estar no cinema – be at the cinema (location; note em + o = no).
In your sentence, ir ao cinema is the standard, natural expression for “go to the cinema” as an activity.
Both are correct, but they are slightly different patterns:
ao sábado
Literally “on the Saturday”, but it means on Saturdays in general (habitual action).
This phrasing is particularly common in European Portuguese.aos sábados
Literally “on the Saturdays”, also meaning on Saturdays (every Saturday, habitually).
They are very close in meaning. In many contexts, you can switch:
- Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado.
- Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema aos sábados.
Both: Some people go to the cinema on Saturdays.
ao sábado sounds slightly more like a set, habitual time slot (similar to “on Saturday(s) as a rule”), and is very idiomatic in Portugal. aos sábados is also fine and maybe more transparent for learners, since it resembles English Saturdays.
Common options in European Portuguese:
- ao sábado – on Saturdays (very idiomatic in PT-PT)
- aos sábados – on Saturdays
- todos os sábados – every Saturday
- ao fim de semana – at the weekend (slightly different meaning)
Common options in Brazilian Portuguese:
- aos sábados – on Saturdays
- todo sábado – every Saturday
- nos sábados – also heard, but aos sábados / todo sábado are more typical
The exact sentence Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado sounds particularly European. A more “Brazilian” version would more likely be:
- Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema aos sábados.
- Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema todo sábado.
Yes, you can move the time expression, and the meaning is essentially the same:
- Ao sábado, algumas pessoas vão ao cinema.
- Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado.
Both mean: On Saturdays, some people go to the cinema.
Placing Ao sábado at the beginning just emphasizes the time (similar to English “On Saturdays, some people go to the cinema.”). This word order is very natural in Portuguese, especially in written or slightly more formal speech.
Yes, the present indicative in Portuguese works very similarly to the present simple in English for habits and routines.
- Algumas pessoas vão ao cinema ao sábado.
→ Some people go to the cinema on Saturdays. (habitual)
Other examples:
- Eu vou ao ginásio todos os dias.
→ I go to the gym every day. - Ela lê o jornal de manhã.
→ She reads the newspaper in the morning.
So Portuguese vão here is a straightforward present tense for a regular, repeated action, just like English go in this context.
The tilde in vão indicates nasalization of the vowel.
- ão in Portuguese is a nasal diphthong, roughly like “own” in English but pronounced through the nose and ending with a nasal sound, not a clear n.
- There is no separate m or n written after it because the tilde (~) already signals nasalization.
So:
- vão is pronounced with a nasal vowel (something like “vown” with a nasal ow and a very light or no [n] at the end).
- Compare with vao (without tilde) which doesn’t exist as a normal word in Portuguese; the tilde is essential for both spelling and pronunciation in words like vão, não, pão, etc.