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Nós respondemos ao email hoje.

Nós respondemos ao email hoje.
We replied to the email today.
From Lesson 65:Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Nós respondemos ao email hoje.

Wait, doesn't respondemos also mean 'we reply' in the present tense?
Yes, it does! For regular -er and -ir verbs, the nós (we) form is exactly the same in both the present and the simple past tense. You have to rely on context to know which one it is. In this example, we are translating it as a completed action in the past.
Why do we say ao email instead of just o email?
In Portuguese, the verb responder (to reply or to answer) is usually followed by the preposition a (to). Because email is a masculine noun, you also need the word o (the). When you combine a + o, they merge into the contraction ao.
Could I leave out the word Nós at the beginning of the sentence?
Absolutely. You could just say Respondemos ao email hoje. The verb ending -emos already tells us the subject is 'we'. Including Nós just adds a little extra emphasis, pointing out that we are the ones who replied.
Since hoje means 'today', does that force the sentence to be in the past tense?
Not at all. In English, you can say 'We replied today' (past) or 'We are replying today' (present). Because respondemos is spelled and pronounced exactly the same in both the present and the past tense, this Portuguese sentence could technically mean either one! You would know for sure based on the conversation happening around it.

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