Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O jantar termina à meia-noite.

O jantar termina à meia-noite.

Dinner finishes at midnight.

Breakdown of O jantar termina à meia-noite.

at the (fem. sg.) / to the (fem. sg.)

Questions & Answers about O jantar termina à meia-noite.

Why is there an accent on the "a" in à meia-noite?

When answering a question with a que horas (at what time), you use the preposition a (at). Because meia-noite is a feminine noun, it uses the feminine word for "the", which is also a. These two combine into à (at the).

How would I ask the question that this sentence answers?

Because this sentence gives a specific clock time, you would use a que horas (at what time). The question is A que horas termina o jantar? (At what time does dinner finish?). If you wanted a general "when", you would ask Quando termina o jantar?

I learned that jantar means "to have dinner". Why is it used as a noun here?

Jantar is both a verb (to have dinner) and a masculine noun (the dinner). Here, the word o (the) before it shows us it is being used as a noun.

Does meia-noite literally mean "half night"?

Exactly! It combines meia (half) and noite (night). Because noite is a feminine word, we use the feminine form meia instead of the masculine meio. Midday works the exact same way with a masculine noun: meio-dia.