Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado.

She works part-time at the market.

Breakdown of Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado.

• ela: she
• em: at
• o mercado: the market
• trabalhar: to work
• a tempo parcial: part-time

Questions & Answers about Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado.

What does a tempo parcial literally mean, and why is the preposition a used here?

Literally, a tempo parcial is something like “at partial time”.

In European Portuguese, a tempo parcial is a fixed expression meaning “part-time” (as opposed to a tempo inteiro = “full-time”). The a here is a preposition (not the feminine article a = “the”). In this expression it roughly corresponds to English “on / at / in”, but you normally don’t translate it; you just learn the whole chunk trabalhar a tempo parcial = “to work part-time”.

So:

• Ela trabalha a tempo parcial. → She works part-time.
  You would not normally replace a with another preposition here.

Could I say Ela trabalha em tempo parcial instead of a tempo parcial?

No, em tempo parcial is not idiomatic in European Portuguese in this context. The natural expression is:

• trabalhar a tempo parcial

Using em here sounds foreign or translated word‑for‑word from English. Native speakers say:

• Ela trabalha a tempo parcial. ✅
• Ela trabalha em tempo parcial. ❌ (sounds wrong/very odd)

Is a in a tempo parcial the same as the feminine article a (“the”)?

No. Here a is a preposition, not the article.

• a as an article = “the” for feminine singular nouns
  
  • a casa = the house
• a as a preposition = often “to / at / in / by”, depending on context
  
  • ir a casa = go home
  • a tempo parcial = (working) part‑time

In a tempo parcial, a is the preposition, part of a set expression. There is no article before tempo.

What tense and person is trabalha, and how does it compare to English?

Trabalha is:

• verb: trabalhar (to work)
• tense: present indicative
• person: 3rd person singular (he / she / it / you-formal)

So Ela trabalha corresponds to both:

• “She works” (habitual: in general, as a job)
• “She is working” (in some contexts, especially with adverbs like agora = now, though for “right now” European Portuguese prefers a different form; see below)

In European Portuguese, to emphasize an action happening right now, you more commonly use:

• Ela está a trabalhar. = She is working (right now).

But for a job description or routine, Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado. is perfect and natural, like English “She works part‑time at the market.”

Could I drop Ela and just say Trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado?

Yes.

Portuguese often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. So:

• Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado.
• Trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado.

Both are grammatically correct. The version with Ela can:

• add clarity if the subject might be ambiguous, or
• give a bit more emphasis to “she” as opposed to someone else.

In isolation, both sentences would usually be understood as “She works part-time at the market.”, but in a longer conversation the subject could be inferred from context.

What exactly is no in no mercado, and how would I translate it?

No is a contraction of the preposition em (in/at/on) + the masculine singular article o (the):

• em + o = no

So:

• no mercado = em + o mercado = “in the market / at the market”

In this sentence, Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado. is best translated as:

• “She works part-time at the market.”
  (or in the market, depending on English preference)

Why is it no mercado and not na mercado?

Because mercado is a masculine noun, and the article must agree in gender:

• o mercado = the market (masculine)
• a loja = the shop (feminine)

The contractions work like this:

• em + o → no (for masculine nouns: no mercado, no banco)
• em + a → na (for feminine nouns: na loja, na escola)

So:

• no mercado ✅
• na mercado ❌ (wrong gender agreement)

Can no mercado also mean “in the job market” (the labour market), or is it only a physical market?

On its own, no mercado most naturally means “at the (physical) market” (e.g. a food market, farmers’ market, local market).

For the labour market, Portuguese usually makes that explicit:

• no mercado de trabalho = in the job market / labour market

If you just say Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado, most listeners will picture her working in a literal market (a place where things are sold), not just “in the market” in the abstract economic sense, unless the broader context clearly points to that figurative meaning.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Ela trabalha no mercado a tempo parcial instead?

Both word orders are possible and correct:

• Ela trabalha a tempo parcial no mercado.
• Ela trabalha no mercado a tempo parcial.

The meaning is basically the same: she works part‑time at the market.

Very roughly:

• The first version sounds a bit more like a general job description:
  
  • She works part-time, (and it happens to be) at the market.
• The second can feel like it’s emphasizing the place first and then clarifying the regime:
  
  • She works at the market, (and she does so) part-time.

But in everyday speech, both are natural and the difference is subtle.

How would I say “She works full-time at the market” in European Portuguese?

You can use the parallel expression a tempo inteiro:

• Ela trabalha a tempo inteiro no mercado.
  = She works full-time at the market.

So:

• a tempo parcial ↔ a tempo inteiro
  part-time ↔ full-time

Is parcial agreeing with something? Why is it parcial and not something like parciais?

Yes, parcial is an adjective that agrees with the noun tempo:

• tempo = masculine, singular
• parcial = form used for masculine singular (and also feminine singular) in Portuguese

So:

• tempo parcial = partial time

If you had plural:

• tempos parciais = partial times (in theory; e.g. vários empregos a tempos parciais, though in practice people still tend to say a tempo parcial as a fixed phrase)

In this sentence, tempo is singular, so parcial is singular too.

Is there a more informal or alternative way to say “She works part-time” in Portugal?

Yes. In European Portuguese, people often use part-time (English-origin word), especially in everyday conversation:

• Ela trabalha em part-time.
• Ela está em part-time.

You can even hear:

• Ela trabalha part-time.

So you’ll commonly encounter:

• Ela trabalha a tempo parcial. (more “Portuguese”, somewhat more formal or neutral)
• Ela trabalha em part-time. (very common, informal/neutral in everyday speech)

Can I say something like Ela trabalha parte-tempo as a direct copy of English “part-time”?

No, that sounds incorrect and non-native.

Portuguese does not form this expression by directly translating “part” + “time”. The natural options in European Portuguese are:

• Ela trabalha a tempo parcial.
• Ela trabalha em part-time.

Forms like parte-tempo, tempo de parte, etc. are not idiomatic for “part-time job / regime”.

How do you pronounce the key words in European Portuguese: trabalha, parcial, and mercado?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon/standard):

• trabalha → [trɐ‑ˈba‑ʎɐ]

  • stress on the ba
  • lh = a “ly” sound, like Italian gli or Spanish ll in some accents.

• parcial → [pɐr‑si‑ˈaɫ]

  • stress on the last syllable al
  • final l is “dark”, produced further back in the mouth.

• mercado → [mɨr‑ˈka‑ðu]

  • stress on ca
  • final do sounds more like -du in European Portuguese.

Put together, the rhythm is:
E‑la tra‑BA‑lha a tem‑po par‑ci‑AL no mer‑CA‑du.