Breakdown of Hoje vou de táxi para a entrevista de estágio.
Questions & Answers about Hoje vou de táxi para a entrevista de estágio.
In European Portuguese, the present tense of ir (here vou) is very commonly used for near future plans, especially when you have a time word like hoje, amanhã, logo à tarde, etc.
- Hoje vou de táxi… = Today I’m going / I’ll go by taxi…
(natural, everyday way to say it) - Hoje irei de táxi… = Today I will go by taxi…
(more formal, more “planned” or even slightly solemn)
So vou here works like English I’m going or I’m going to go, and is the normal choice in conversation. Irei exists, but sounds more formal or emphatic, and is used much less in everyday speech.
For means of transport, Portuguese normally uses de to mean “by”:
- de táxi – by taxi
- de carro – by car
- de autocarro – by bus
- de comboio – by train
So vou de táxi literally means I go by taxi.
com táxi (with taxi) is not used for transport.
em táxi is possible but unusual; it can sound more formal or a bit marked. In everyday speech, you should learn the pattern ir de + means of transport.
Also note that there is no article here:
- de táxi (not do táxi, not de um táxi)
You only add an article if you really want to specify a particular taxi: - Vou num táxi azul. – I’m going in a blue taxi.
But the default, general idea “by taxi” is de táxi.
Portuguese almost never doubles the verb ir like that in standard European usage.
You have two main options:
Simple present of ir to talk about a planned future:
- Hoje vou de táxi. – Today I’ll go by taxi.
Vou + infinitive to talk about what you’re going to do:
- Hoje vou apanhar um táxi. – Today I’m going to catch a taxi.
- Vou fazer a entrevista. – I’m going to do the interview.
Vou ir is grammatically possible but sounds clumsy or dialectal; learners should generally avoid it and use vou alone or vou + another verb.
Not for a future plan.
In European Portuguese, estar a + infinitive is mainly used for an action in progress right now:
- Estou a ir de táxi para a entrevista. – I am on my way by taxi to the interview (I’m already in the taxi, moving).
To talk about a plan for later today, you use:
- Hoje vou de táxi para a entrevista.
So Hoje estou a ir de táxi… would sound like you are already travelling when you say it, not that you have a plan for later.
All three can appear in similar contexts, but they’re not identical.
para a entrevista
- para
- a (feminine singular article)
- focuses on destination or purpose: to / for the interview.
- Very natural here: vou de táxi para a entrevista (I’m going by taxi for/to the interview).
- para
a entrevista / à entrevista
- à is the contraction of a + a: a (to) + a (the) → à.
- Vou à entrevista = I’m going to the interview.
- Also correct and common in EP. Here it feels a bit more like simple destination (“to the interview”), without the same slight “for the purpose of” nuance of para.
In practice:
- Vou à entrevista de estágio.
- Vou para a entrevista de estágio.
Both are acceptable, and the difference is subtle in this sentence. The original uses para a to highlight the idea of going for that interview.
Literally, entrevista de estágio is “interview of internship”, but idiomatically it means “internship interview”.
Portuguese very often uses noun + de + noun to express what in English is usually noun + noun:
- entrevista de emprego – job interview
- aula de português – Portuguese class
- livro de receitas – recipe book
So:
- entrevista de estágio = an interview whose type/topic is an internship.
You could also say:
- entrevista para um estágio – interview for an internship (emphasising the purpose / position you’re applying for)
Both are used; entrevista de estágio sounds like a set phrase for “internship interview”, similar to entrevista de emprego for “job interview”.
Two different things are happening:
a entrevista
- entrevista is a feminine noun → it takes a as the definite article.
- a entrevista = the interview.
de estágio
- estágio is masculine: o estágio = the internship.
- But when estágio is only specifying the type of interview (not a particular internship already known), Portuguese usually drops the article:
- entrevista de estágio – an internship-type interview (general).
- If you say a entrevista do estágio, that now means:
- entrevista do estágio = the interview of the internship → an interview belonging to a specific internship that both speakers know about (e.g. a performance review during that internship).
So:
- a entrevista de estágio – the internship interview (type of interview)
- a entrevista do estágio – the interview of that particular internship
Yes, you can say:
- entrevista para estágio
- entrevista para um estágio
These emphasise the purpose (an interview in order to get an internship). The nuance:
- entrevista de estágio – focuses on the kind of interview (internship interview, in general).
- entrevista para (um) estágio – focuses on the goal: getting (an) internship.
Both are correct and used in European Portuguese. In many contexts, they’re interchangeable.
Portuguese word order is relatively flexible with these adverbial phrases.
All of these are grammatical, though not equally natural:
- Hoje vou de táxi para a entrevista de estágio. (original, very natural)
- Vou hoje de táxi para a entrevista de estágio. (also fine; stresses today)
- Vou de táxi hoje para a entrevista de estágio. (also OK)
- Vou de táxi para a entrevista de estágio hoje. (OK; hoje now emphasises the time of the interview)
Less natural would be splitting them in strange ways, like:
- Hoje para a entrevista de estágio vou de táxi. – grammatical, but sounds more stylistic or emphatic.
For everyday speech, keeping Hoje at the beginning (or sometimes at the end) is the safest and most natural choice.
They look similar but mean different things.
entrevista de estágio
- Type/category: an internship interview (for getting an internship).
- Like entrevista de emprego (job interview).
entrevista do estágio = entrevista de + o estágio
- Refers to a specific internship already in context:
- e.g. a progress interview or evaluation inside that internship programme.
- the interview of the internship (for that particular internship you are already doing or have defined).
- Refers to a specific internship already in context:
So entrevista de estágio is about what kind of interview it is; entrevista do estágio is about which internship it belongs to.
Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (very roughly in English spelling):
- Hoje ≈ “OH-zh(uh)” (the final vowel is very reduced, almost like a weak “uh”)
- vou ≈ “voh” (like “vote” without the t)
- de ≈ very short “d(ɨ)”, almost just a quick d sound
- táxi ≈ “TAHK-see” (stress on tá, x = ks)
- para ≈ “PAH-r(uh)” or very reduced “pr(uh)” in fast speech
- a ≈ very short, weak “uh”
- entrevista ≈ “ẽ-tr(uh)-VEESH-t(uh)” (the s before t sounds like English “sh”)
- de ≈ same short “d(ɨ)”
- estágio ≈ “(i)SH-TAH-zhyu” (initial es- often sounds like “ish”, stress on tá, gi = zhy
- a small oo sound)
Very roughly all together: > “OH-zh(uh) voh d(ɨ) TAHK-see pr(uh) a ẽ-tr(uh)-VEESH-t(uh) d(ɨ) (i)SH-TAH-zhyu.”
For accurate pronunciation, listening to native speakers is essential, but this gives you a rough guide.
Yes, in Portuguese táxi is written with an acute accent on the first a.
- The accent marks:
- the stressed syllable: TÁ-xi
- and that the vowel is an open “a” (like in English “cat”, though not exactly the same).
So:
- táxi (correct)
- taxi (without accent) is spelling mistake in Portuguese, even though the English word is unaccented.
Yes. This sentence is neutral and perfectly appropriate in a professional context. It doesn’t sound slangy or overly casual.
If you wanted to sound a bit more formal or “careful” in writing, you might see something like:
- Hoje irei de táxi à entrevista de estágio.
But in normal conversation, Hoje vou de táxi para a entrevista de estágio is absolutely fine to say to a colleague, a friend, or even to your boss (“I’ll take a taxi to the interview today”).