Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Vou ter contigo ao café às cinco.

In Portuguese, the expression ir ter com (literally "to go to have with") is a very common idiom meaning "to meet up with" or "to join" someone. It specifically implies that you are traveling to where the other person is or will be.

The English translation says "at the café", so why does the Portuguese say ao café instead of no café?

Even though we say "at" in English, the Portuguese idiom ir ter com involves the verb ir (to go), which implies movement toward a destination. Because you are traveling to the café to meet the person, you must use the preposition a (a + o = ao). If you used no café, it would sound like the act of traveling itself is happening entirely inside the café.

Is there a difference between saying Vou ter contigo and Vou encontrar-me contigo?

Both mean "I'll meet you", but ir ter com is usually the most natural, everyday way to say you are going to meet someone at a specific location in Portugal. Encontrar-se com is also perfectly correct but can sound slightly more formal or planned, whereas encontrar (without the -se) can sometimes mean bumping into someone by accident.

If I wanted to say "I'll meet them at the café", how does the phrase change?