Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A escola fica ao pé do parque.

A escola fica ao pé do parque.

The school is next to the park.

Breakdown of A escola fica ao pé do parque.

to be located (of places)

Questions & Answers about A escola fica ao pé do parque.

Why is fica used here instead of é or está for "is"?

The verb ficar normally means "to stay", but it is the most common way to talk about the location of buildings, landmarks, or cities. You could use está, but fica is much more natural for permanent locations like a school.

Doesn't pé mean "foot"? Why does the translation say "next to"?

Yes, pé means "foot"! However, the phrase ao pé de is a very common everyday Portuguese expression that means "near" or "next to". You will hear this constantly in Portugal instead of the literal translation.

Why is it do parque and not just de parque?

The expression ao pé de ends with the preposition de. Because we are talking about a specific park, we also need the masculine word for "the" (o). In Portuguese, de and o always merge together to make the contraction do.