Vou tirar uma fotocópia do passaporte antes de ir à embaixada.

Vou tirar is the very common way to talk about the near future in everyday Portuguese, including European Portuguese. It works like I’m going to make/get in English.

• vou tirar = I’m going to make/get
• tirarei = I will make/get

Both are grammatically correct, but vou tirar sounds more natural in normal conversation. The simple future, tirarei, is often more formal, literary, or less common in casual speech.

Yes, tirar often means to take, to remove, or to take out, but it is also used idiomatically in several expressions. One of them is:

• tirar uma fotocópia = to make/get a photocopy

So in this sentence, tirar does not literally mean remove. It is just the normal verb used in this context. Portuguese often uses verbs in idiomatic ways that do not match English word-for-word.

You may also hear:

• fazer uma fotocópia = to make a photocopy

But tirar uma fotocópia is very natural.

Fotocópia means photocopy specifically.

• cópia = copy in a general sense
• fotocópia = photocopy

So if you want to be precise and say it is a paper copy made from a machine, fotocópia is the best word.

In real life, people may sometimes shorten it to cópia if the context is clear, but fotocópia is the clearer version for learners.

Yes. Fotocópia is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine article uma.

• uma fotocópia
• not um fotocópia

This is something you simply have to learn with the noun: its gender.

Do is a contraction of:

• de + o = do

So:

• uma fotocópia do passaporte = a photocopy of the passport

Portuguese often uses an article where English does not. English says of the passport here too, but even in places where English drops the article, Portuguese often keeps it.

The noun passaporte is masculine, so:

• o passaporte
• de + o passaporte
• do passaporte

Because in Portuguese it is normal to use the definite article with many nouns in structures like this.

• fotocópia do passaporte literally: photocopy of the passport

Even if English sometimes sounds more natural with just passport copy, Portuguese usually prefers the version with de + article + noun.

So do passaporte is the normal, idiomatic way to say it.

Because after antes in this structure, Portuguese uses the preposition de before an infinitive.

• antes de ir = before going / before I go

This is a very common pattern:

• antes de sair = before leaving
• antes de comer = before eating
• antes de dormir = before sleeping

So antes de ir is the correct form.

Because after antes de, Portuguese normally uses the infinitive when the subject is the same as in the main clause.

In this sentence:

• Vou tirar... = I am going to make...
• antes de ir... = before going / before I go

The person doing both actions is the same person: I.

So the infinitive is the natural choice.

À is a contraction of:

• a + a = à

Here:

• the verb ir often takes the preposition a
• embaixada is feminine and usually appears with the article a

So:

• ir a + a embaixada becomes
• ir à embaixada

This means to go to the embassy.

Good question. Both a and para can relate to movement, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

With ir, European Portuguese very commonly uses a to express going to a place, especially in neutral, standard phrasing:

• ir à embaixada
• ir ao banco
• ir à escola

Para can also be used, but it often suggests destination more strongly, and sometimes a sense of heading there or staying there longer, depending on context.

So in this sentence, ir à embaixada is perfectly normal and very natural in European Portuguese.

Not in this sentence.

• à embaixada = to the embassy after a verb of movement like ir
• na embaixada = in/at the embassy, used for location

Compare:

• Vou à embaixada. = I’m going to the embassy.
• Estou na embaixada. = I’m at the embassy.

So na embaixada would be wrong after ir in this sentence.

Because Portuguese often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

• vou already means I go / I am going
• so eu is not necessary

You could say Eu vou tirar..., but it is usually omitted unless you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

For example:

• Eu vou tirar uma fotocópia, mas ele não vai. = I’m going to make a photocopy, but he isn’t.

No. The normal phrase is:

• tirar uma fotocópia do passaporte

That means to make a photocopy of the passport.

Using ao passaporte would not be the standard way to say this. With fotocópia, the natural construction is de + noun:

• uma fotocópia do documento
• uma fotocópia do cartão
• uma fotocópia do passaporte

Yes. In English, you might translate it in more than one way depending on style:

• before going to the embassy
• before I go to the embassy

Portuguese often uses the infinitive where English might use either a gerund-style phrase or a full clause. The meaning is the same here.

Yes, it fits European Portuguese very well.

A few points that make it feel natural in Portugal:

• fotocópia is a standard word in Portugal
• ir à embaixada is very natural in European Portuguese
• vou tirar is common everyday phrasing

A Brazilian speaker would also understand it, but some wording choices might differ depending on region and habit.

A more formal version might be:

• Vou fazer uma fotocópia do passaporte antes de me dirigir à embaixada.

Or even:

• Tirarei uma fotocópia do passaporte antes de ir à embaixada.

But the original sentence is already perfectly correct and natural. It sounds like normal, everyday Portuguese, which is usually what learners want first.