Breakdown of Fico no seminário desde o meio-dia até à noite.
em
in / on / at
a
to / at (direction)
o meio-dia
the noon
a noite
the night
ficar
to stay
desde
since
até
until
o seminário
the seminar
Questions & Answers about Fico no seminário desde o meio-dia até à noite.
Why is there an 'o' before 'meio-dia'?
In Portuguese, time expressions like meio-dia (noon) usually take a definite article. So, instead of saying just 'desde meio-dia' (from noon), you say desde o meio-dia (literally: from the noon).
Why is it 'até à noite' with a grave accent, instead of just 'até a noite'?
In European Portuguese, the preposition até (until) is typically followed by the preposition a (to). Since noite is a feminine noun, it also needs the feminine article a (the). The preposition a and the article a merge into à.
Could I use 'de' and 'a' instead of 'desde' and 'até'?
Yes, you could say do meio-dia à noite. The pair de... a... is very common for standard 'from X to Y' times. The pair desde... até... used in this sentence just adds a bit more emphasis on the continuous duration of staying there.
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