Breakdown of O meu pai bebe leite à noite.
o pai
the father / the parents
beber
to drink
o leite
the milk
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
Questions & Answers about O meu pai bebe leite à noite.
Why does à have an accent pointing left in à noite?
The accent shows a contraction. It combines the preposition a (meaning "at" or "in") with the feminine word a (meaning "the") that goes with the feminine noun noite. So, a + a merges into à.
The lesson uses às for telling time. Why is it singular à here instead of às?
We use the plural às for specific clock times because hours are plural (like às oito horas for "at eight o'clock"). But for general times of day like noite (night) or tarde (afternoon), the noun is singular, so we use the singular contraction à.
Why do we say O meu pai instead of just Meu pai?
In European Portuguese, you almost always put a "the" before possessive words like "my" or "your". Because pai (father) is a masculine noun, we use the masculine word for "the", which is o, right before meu (my).