Breakdown of A minha irmã foi à loja comprar comida.
a irmã
the sister
a loja
the store
comprar
to buy
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
Questions & Answers about A minha irmã foi à loja comprar comida.
I learned that foi can mean "was" (from the verb ser). How do I know it means "went" (from the verb ir) here?
The verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) have the exact same forms in the simple past tense! You have to rely on context to tell them apart. Because it is followed by à loja (to the store), motion is involved, so foi clearly means "went" here.
What does the little accent on à mean in à loja?
It shows that two words combined! The verb ir (to go) requires the preposition a (to). Because loja (store) is a feminine noun, it uses the feminine word for "the", which is also a. Instead of writing a a loja, they combine into à (to the).
Why is there an A at the very beginning of the sentence? Doesn't minha irmã already mean "my sister"?
In European Portuguese, you usually put a definite article (o or a, meaning "the") before a possessive word. So instead of just saying "my sister", you literally say "the my sister" (a minha irmã).
Why is there no extra word for "to" before comprar?