Ela tenta avisar-me, mas não veio ao jantar.
She tries to let me know, but she didn't come to dinner.
Breakdown of Ela tenta avisar-me, mas não veio ao jantar.
não
not / no
ela
she
mas
but
a
to / at (direction)
o jantar
the dinner
me
me
vir
to come
tentar
to try
avisar
to let know
Questions & Answers about Ela tenta avisar-me, mas não veio ao jantar.
Where does the word veio come from?
It is the Pretérito Perfeito (simple past tense) of the irregular verb vir (to come). Because the subject is ela (she), the correct form is veio. As a highly irregular verb, its past tense forms don't follow the normal rules and just have to be memorized.
Why is there a hyphen in avisar-me?
In European Portuguese, object pronouns like me naturally attach to the end of the verb. Because avisar (to let know) is in the infinitive form and isn't preceded by a negative word or another "magnet" word that would pull the pronoun to the front, the me simply connects to the end with a hyphen.
Does avisar mean 'to warn' or 'to let someone know'?
It means both! While you would use avisar to warn someone of a hazard, it is also the standard, everyday verb for notifying someone about plans, like calling to let a friend know you are running late.
Why is it ao jantar instead of just a jantar?
ao is a mandatory contraction of the preposition a (to) and the masculine definite article o (the). Unlike in English where we just say "to dinner", Portuguese often uses "the" before meals when they are treated as a specific event. So, she didn't come "to the dinner".
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