Breakdown of A festa começa à meia-noite e vamos de metro.
e
and
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
à
at the (fem. sg.) / to the (fem. sg.)
a meia-noite
the midnight
Questions & Answers about A festa começa à meia-noite e vamos de metro.
Why is the word for 'we' missing before vamos?
In Portuguese, you can often leave out subject pronouns like nós (we) because the verb itself tells you who is doing the action. Vamos is the 'we' form of the irregular verb ir (to go), so it is clearly understood without needing to say nós vamos.
The translation says 'we are going', but isn't vamos just 'we go'?
The Portuguese present tense covers both everyday routines ('we go') and actions happening right now or in the near future ('we are going'). You do not need a separate grammar structure here; the single word vamos translates to both depending on the context.
What does the accent mean in à meia-noite?
That accent shows a contraction where two words merged into one. It combines the preposition a (meaning 'at') with the feminine word for 'the', which is also a. Because meia-noite (midnight) is a feminine noun, a + a combines to form à.
Why do we use de in de metro instead of a literal translation for 'by'?
In Portuguese, when talking about your means of transportation, you almost always use the preposition de. To say you travel 'by train', 'by car', or 'by subway', you say de comboio, de carro, or de metro. Notice that you just use de without adding a word for 'the' before the vehicle.