Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A loja abre às nove.

A loja abre às nove.

The store opens at nine.

Breakdown of A loja abre às nove.

to the / at the (m.sg; f.sg à, m.pl aos, f.pl às)

Questions & Answers about A loja abre às nove.

Why does the verb abrir become abre here?

Abrir (to open) is a regular -ir verb. Because a loja (the store) acts as an "it" (third-person singular), we drop the -ir ending from the infinitive and add -e, leaving us with abre.

What does the accent on às mean?

Às is a contraction of the preposition a (at/to) and the feminine plural "the", which is as. The grave accent (pointing left) shows that these two words crashed together. Here, it translates to "at the".

Why do we use the plural às before nove instead of the singular à?

When telling time in Portuguese, the word horas (hours) is implied. So, às nove is actually short for às nove horas. Because horas is feminine and plural, we must use the feminine plural article as inside our contraction.

How do you pronounce the 'e' at the end of abre?

In European Portuguese, an 'e' at the very end of a word is typically "mute" or "closed". It makes a very short, faint "uh" sound, and sometimes disappears almost entirely in fast speech. You pronounce abre much closer to "ah-br" than "ah-bray".