Eu vou à clínica amanhã de manhã.

I am going to the clinic tomorrow morning.

Breakdown of Eu vou à clínica amanhã de manhã.

• eu: I
• de: of
• ir: to go
• a manhã: the morning
• amanhã: tomorrow
• a clínica: the clinic

Questions & Answers about Eu vou à clínica amanhã de manhã.

Why is it "Eu vou" and not the future tense "Eu irei"?

In European Portuguese, the present tense of a verb of movement (like ir – to go) is very often used to talk about the near future, especially when the time is specified:

• Eu vou à clínica amanhã. = I’m going to the clinic tomorrow / I’ll go to the clinic tomorrow.

"Eu irei" exists, but it sounds:

• more formal, or
• more emphatic (I *will go*, as in a firm promise or contrast).

In everyday speech, "Eu vou à clínica amanhã de manhã." is the most natural way to say this.

Can I drop the "Eu" and just say "Vou à clínica amanhã de manhã."?

Yes, and that’s very natural. Portuguese is a pro-drop language, which means the subject pronoun is often omitted when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Eu vou à clínica amanhã de manhã. – correct, a bit more explicit.
• Vou à clínica amanhã de manhã. – also correct, very common in speech.

You would usually keep "Eu" only for emphasis or contrast:

• Eu vou à clínica, tu ficas em casa. – I am going to the clinic, you stay at home.

What exactly does "à" mean in "à clínica", and why does it have that accent?

In "à clínica", the word "à" is a contraction of:

• a (preposition, to)
• a (definite article, the, feminine singular)

So:

• a + a = à

The accent (grave accent, in Portuguese called acento grave) marks this fusion of preposition + article, a process called crase.

So:

• Vou a + a clínica → Vou à clínica. – I’m going to the clinic.

What’s the difference between "a", "à", and "á" in Portuguese?

They look similar but are different:

• a (no accent): can be

  • a preposition: to, at, on
  • or a definite article (feminine singular): the

• à (with a grave accent):

  • always means "a + a" (preposition to
    • feminine article the)
  • e.g. à clínica, à escola, à praia

• á (with an acute accent) is not a separate word in modern standard Portuguese; you’ll see á only as part of other words (e.g. rádio), not standing alone as a word.

In the sentence, "à" must be the contraction of a + a, because we have the clinic, not just to clinic.

Why is it "à clínica" and not "ao clínica"?

Because "clínica" is feminine, and the article must agree in gender:

• a clínica – the clinic (feminine singular)
• o hospital – the hospital (masculine singular)

Contractions:

• a + a (feminine) → à
  
  • Vou à clínica.
• a + o (masculine) → ao
  
  • Vou ao hospital.

So "ao clínica" is wrong because "ao" is masculine, but "clínica" is feminine.

How do I know that "clínica" is feminine, and do I always need the article?

Most nouns ending in -a are feminine in Portuguese, and they usually take the article a:

• a clínica – the clinic
• a casa – the house
• a escola – the school

In this sentence, you do need the article because you’re talking about a place in general in the usual way Portuguese does:
Vou à clínica. – literally I go to the clinic.

You rarely say just "vou a clínica" without the article; that sounds wrong. The article is part of the normal pattern for places.

Could I say "Vou para a clínica amanhã de manhã" instead of "Vou à clínica amanhã de manhã"?

You can say "Vou para a clínica", and it is grammatically correct. The nuances:

• ir a (→ à clínica) is very common in European Portuguese for going to a place, especially for visits or shorter stays.
• ir para (→ para a clínica) can suggest going to stay for some time, or just emphasize the destination, but in many contexts the difference is small.

In this sentence, "Vou à clínica" is the most idiomatic and neutral form in European Portuguese.

Why do we say "amanhã de manhã"? Isn’t that redundant, like saying "tomorrow in the morning"?

It is literally the same structure as English "tomorrow morning", just expressed as "tomorrow in the morning":

• amanhã – tomorrow
• de manhã – in the morning

Together, "amanhã de manhã" is exactly "tomorrow morning". It’s not considered redundant; it’s the normal way to be specific about the time of day:

• amanhã de manhã – tomorrow morning
• amanhã à tarde – tomorrow afternoon
• amanhã à noite – tomorrow evening / night

What does "de manhã" mean exactly, and why not say "na manhã" or "à manhã"?

"de manhã" is the fixed, idiomatic way to say "in the morning" (as a general time of day):

• de manhã – in the morning
• de tarde – in the afternoon
• de noite – at night

You normally don’t say "na manhã" or "à manhã" to mean in the morning in everyday speech; those would sound strange in this context.

Use:

• Vou trabalhar de manhã. – I work in the morning.
• Amanhã de manhã vou à clínica. – Tomorrow morning I’m going to the clinic.

Where can I put "amanhã de manhã" in the sentence? Is the word order flexible?

Yes, Portuguese allows some flexibility with time expressions. All of these are possible:

• Eu vou à clínica amanhã de manhã. – very natural.
• Amanhã de manhã vou à clínica. – also very natural; time comes first.
• Vou amanhã de manhã à clínica. – possible, but a bit less common.

You usually keep the pieces together as "amanhã de manhã", and you don’t split them in odd ways. Avoid something like "Vou amanhã à clínica de manhã" – it’s not wrong, but it sounds clumsy.

How do you pronounce "amanhã" and "clínica" in European Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciation (European Portuguese):

• amanhã – /ɐ.mɐˈɲɐ̃/

  • nh is like ny in canyon.
  • The final ã is nasal: air goes through the nose; there is no clear final a sound.

• clínica – /ˈkli.ni.kɐ/

  • Stressed on the first syllable clí-.
  • Final -ca is more like a reduced -kɐ, not like English kah.

Said together, "Vou à clínica amanhã de manhã" has a lot of reduced vowels and nasal sounds, which is typical of European Portuguese.

If I’m talking about more than one clinic, how would "à clínica" change?

For the plural, both the article and the contraction change:

Singular:

• a + a clínica → à clínica – to the clinic

Plural:

• a + as clínicas → às clínicas – to the clinics

Example:

• Eu vou às clínicas amanhã de manhã. – I’m going to the clinics tomorrow morning. (a bit unusual context, but grammatically correct)

So:

• à = to the (feminine singular)
• às = to the (feminine plural)

Does "clínica" always mean a doctor’s office, or can it mean other things?

"Clínica" in Portuguese usually refers to:

• a medical clinic (often smaller than a hospital),
• a specialist practice (e.g. clínica dentária – dental clinic),
• or a private health facility.

It’s not normally used for a single doctor’s small office (that can be consultório), but in everyday speech people may still say "clínica" loosely for many kinds of health facilities.

In "Vou à clínica amanhã de manhã", listeners will understand that you are going to some kind of medical clinic / health facility.