Breakdown of A gente vai estudar português juntos.
ir
to go
estudar
to study
junto
together
o português
the Portuguese
Questions & Answers about A gente vai estudar português juntos.
What does a gente literally mean, and why does it translate as we?
Literally, a gente means the people.
In everyday spoken Portuguese (including in Portugal), a gente is also used as a pronoun with the meaning we or you and I / us. So in this sentence:
- A gente vai estudar português juntos.
⇒ We are going to study Portuguese together.
So:
- literal meaning: the people
- practical meaning here: we (informal)
If a gente means we, why is the verb vai in the 3rd person singular instead of vamos?
Grammatically, a gente behaves like a 3rd person singular subject, even though it means we.
So you must conjugate the verb as if it were ele/ela:
- A gente vai (we go / we are going)
✅ correct in spoken language - Ele vai (he goes)
- Ela vai (she goes)
You cannot say:
- ✗ A gente vamos – this is considered wrong or very substandard.
So the rule is:
> Meaning: we
> Verb form: 3rd person singular