Breakdown of A loja abre às nove.
nove
nine
a loja
the store
abrir
to open
ao
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?
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".
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