Breakdown of Eles vão ao centro no fim de semana.
eles
they (m)
no
in the / on the / at the (m, f, pl forms: na, nos, nas)
ao
to the / at the (m.sg; f.sg à, m.pl aos, f.pl às)
ir
to go
Questions & Answers about Eles vão ao centro no fim de semana.
Why do we use ao centro instead of para o centro?
We use the preposition a (which combines with o to make ao) because going to the city center is usually a short, temporary trip. If we used para, it would sound like they are moving to the center to live there, or staying for a very long time.
Where does the word ao come from?
ao is a mandatory combination of the preposition a (to) and the masculine word for 'the', o. Because centro is a masculine word, we must combine them into ao instead of leaving them separate as 'a o'.
Why is it no fim de semana if the English translation is 'on the weekend'?
In Portuguese, we use the preposition em (in/on/at) for this time expression. Since fim de semana starts with the masculine word fim (end), em shrinks together with o (the) to create the single word no.
Does fim de semana literally mean 'end of week'?
Yes! fim means 'end', de means 'of', and semana means 'week'. Put them together and you get the Portuguese phrase for the weekend.