Question 1

Why is it comigo instead of com mim or com eu for "with me"?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, the word com (with) merges with certain pronouns to create a special combined word. For "with me", you always use comigo. You can never say "com mim" or "com eu". This lesson also covers contigo (with you) and consigo (with him, her, or you formal).

Question 2

Why is there a de in Tenho de convidar?

Accepted Answer

The verb ter on its own means "to have" (as in owning something). However, when you want to say you "have to" or "must" do a specific action, you use the phrase ter de followed by the action word. So, tenho de convidar means "I have to invite".

Question 3

Why does it say ao encontro instead of just a encontro?

Accepted Answer

The word ao is a mandatory contraction that combines the preposition a (to) and the masculine word o (the). Because encontro is a masculine noun, saying "to the meeting" becomes a + o encontro, which shrinks down to ao encontro.

Question 4

The translation says "I have to" and "Do you want", but I don't see words for "I" or "you". Where are they?

Accepted Answer

Portuguese verb endings change depending on who is doing the action. Tenho is strictly the "I" form of the verb ter, and Queres is strictly the informal "you" form of querer. Because the verb ending already makes it completely clear who is acting, pronouns like eu (I) and tu (you) are usually dropped.

Tenho de convidar o grupo. Queres ir ao encontro comigo?

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