Breakdown of À noite, nós vamos ao cinema.
nós
we
ao
to the / at the (m.sg; f.sg à, m.pl aos, f.pl às)
à
at the (fem. sg.) / to the (fem. sg.)
a noite
the night
ir
to go
o cinema
the cinema
à noite
at night
Questions & Answers about À noite, nós vamos ao cinema.
Why do we use ao here instead of para o?
This touches exactly on the difference between a and para. When going somewhere for a short, temporary visit (like watching a movie), you use the preposition a. Because cinema is a masculine noun, a combines with the article o to become ao. If you used para o, it would sound like you were moving into the cinema to live there!
What does the backwards accent mark on À in À noite mean?
That accent tells us that two identical letters have merged together. It combines the preposition a (at/in) and the feminine article a (the) that belongs to the word noite. So À literally means "at the".
Why is it À noite instead of De noite or Em noite?
Portuguese uses specific prepositions for parts of the day. While it is very common to use de for the morning and afternoon (de manhã, de tarde), "at night" is a set phrase that usually takes the preposition a, giving us à noite.
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