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A que horas parte o comboio?

A que horas parte o comboio?
At what time does the train leave?
From Lesson 25:Telling time (é uma, são...)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A que horas parte o comboio?

Why is there an A at the start of the sentence instead of just saying Que horas?
When you ask at what time an event happens, you must include the preposition a (at). If you were simply asking what the current time is, you would drop the preposition and just ask Que horas são?.
Why is it just A and not Às with an accent, since we are talking about time?
The accented word às is a contraction of the preposition a (at) plus the word as (the). Because we are using the question word que (what) here, we do not use the word for the, so there is nothing to merge with. It stays as the simple preposition A.
Why do we use the plural horas when asking what time it is?
In Portuguese, clock time is treated as plural because you are usually talking about multiple hours, like two o'clock or three o'clock. Therefore, the language naturally asks for the time using the plural horas.
Does the verb parte mean to part?
It comes from the verb partir. While it can mean to break or to split, in the context of trains and travel it means to leave or to depart.
Why is o comboio (the train) at the very end of the sentence?
In Portuguese questions, it is very common to swap the order of the subject (o comboio) and the verb (parte). The verb often comes right after the question phrase, placing the subject at the end of the sentence.

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