Breakdown of Tenho outra consulta na quinta-feira.
ter
to have
na
in the / on the / at the (f.sg)
a quinta-feira
the Thursday
outro
other
Questions & Answers about Tenho outra consulta na quinta-feira.
Why doesn't the Portuguese sentence say "uma outra" for "another"?
In English, "another" is a combination of "an" and "other". In Portuguese, the word outra already means "another" all on its own. Adding uma before it is usually unnecessary and sounds a bit unnatural. Since consulta is a feminine noun, we use the feminine form outra.
Does consulta work for any kind of appointment?
Not quite. consulta is used for professional appointments, especially medical or dental ones. If you were meeting a friend, you would use encontro, and if you had a work meeting, you would say reunião.
Why do we use na before the day of the week instead of just "em"?
In English, we say "on Thursday". In Portuguese, you say the equivalent of "on the Thursday". The word na is a contraction of the preposition em (in/on) and the feminine "the" (a). All days of the week that end in -feira are feminine, so they take na instead of just em.
Do I always have to say the full word quinta-feira?
No, in casual spoken Portuguese, people very often drop the -feira part. You can comfortably say Tenho outra consulta na quinta and everyone will know you mean Thursday.