Breakdown of Chegámos a casa de madrugada.
a casa
the house
chegar
to arrive
de madrugada
in the early hours (before dawn)
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Questions & Answers about Chegámos a casa de madrugada.
Why does chegámos have an accent mark?
In European Portuguese, the past tense (we arrived) is spelled chegámos with an accent on the á, while the present tense (we arrive) is chegamos without the accent. This tells you to pronounce the a with an open sound in the past tense and a closed sound in the present.
Why is it chegámos a casa instead of chegámos em casa?
In Portuguese, the verb chegar (to arrive) is followed by the preposition a to show destination. While you might hear em used in Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese strictly prefers chegar a for arriving at a place.
Why is there no grave accent on the a in a casa? Shouldn't it be à casa?
When casa refers to your own home, similar to saying "we got home" in English, you do not use the feminine article a before it. Because there is no article for the preposition a to merge with, it remains just a instead of the merged à.
What time of day is de madrugada?
The word madrugada refers to the very early hours of the morning, roughly between midnight and sunrise. The phrase de madrugada is used to say something happened during those late-night or early-morning hours.