When pointing out things that are far away from both the speaker and the listener, Portuguese uses the demonstrative pronouns aquele (that, masculine) and aquela (that, feminine), along with their plural forms aqueles and aquelas.
When a verb requires the preposition a (to / at)—such as ir (to go)—and is followed by one of these demonstratives, the two words merge into a single contraction. Because both the preposition and the demonstrative start with the letter "a", Portuguese uses a grave accent to show that they have combined.
| Preposition + Demonstrative | Contraction | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a + aquele | àquele | to that (masculine, singular) |
| a + aquela | àquela | to that (feminine, singular) |
| a + aqueles | àqueles | to those (masculine, plural) |
| a + aquelas | àquelas | to those (feminine, plural) |
Here is how you use these contractions to navigate around an amusement park:
| I am going to that ticket office, because the line is short. | Eu vou àquela bilheteira porque a fila é pequena. |
| The boy wants to go to that exciting carousel. | O menino quer ir àquele carrossel emocionante. |
Using contractions with other verbs
While ir (to go) is very common, this contraction rule applies to any verb that is followed by the preposition a, such as chegar (to arrive) or levar (to take).
| We are arriving at that old ticket office. | Estamos a chegar àquela bilheteira antiga. |
| I take my son to that carousel. | Levo o meu filho àquele carrossel. |
These contractions work exactly the same way in the plural when you are pointing out multiple rides or attractions:
| Do you like going to those scary roller coasters? | Gostas de ir àquelas montanhas-russas assustadoras? |
