Breakdown of Vira à esquerda na farmácia.
na
in the / on the / at the (f.sg)
à
at the (fem. sg.) / to the (fem. sg.)
a farmácia
the pharmacy
a esquerda
the left
virar
to turn
Questions & Answers about Vira à esquerda na farmácia.
Why is the verb vira and not viras or vire?
Vira is the informal command (imperative) for tu (you). To give directions to a friend or someone your own age, you just drop the s from the normal present tense tu viras. If you were speaking formally to a stranger using você, you would say vire.
What exactly does the word à mean here?
It means 'to the'. À is a mandatory contraction of the preposition a (to) and the feminine word for 'the', which is also a. In Portuguese, directions like left (esquerda) and right (direita) are feminine nouns and use this contraction when telling someone to turn.
The English translation says 'at the pharmacy'. Why does the Portuguese use na instead of a preposition like à?
Na is the contraction of em (in/on/at) plus a (the). When talking about a physical location where a specific action takes place, Portuguese usually uses em. You use na farmácia because the turning happens at the physical location of the pharmacy.
Can I just say Vira esquerda without the à?
No, that would sound broken in Portuguese. You always need the preposition and the article combined as à when saying 'turn left' (virar à esquerda) or 'turn right' (virar à direita).
Learn Vira à esquerda na farmácia and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free