It is said that happy people don’t keep track of their time. However, we know that time plays a very important role in our life. We should not be late, should know when to take a break and have a rest. And also, a passer-by may ask what time it is, it would be better for us to know how to answer so as not to look deaf-mude.
Main verb
You already know that a temporary state is described by the verb “estar”, and a permanent one is described by “ser”. Despite the fact that time is fleeting, it changes every second, with every beat of our heart, here we need the verb “ser”. Remember this as an exception, because we will still need it in the Portuguese grammar in the future.
13.00 – É uma hora.
14.00 – São duas horas.
Note the feminine numeral, because the word “hora” (hour) is also feminine. The verb also changes its form depending on the number of hours – one or more.
14.15 – São duas e um quarto.
14.30 – São duas e meia.
Note the difference: um quarto (quarter) is masculine, and meia (half) is feminine, since it has a connection with the object’s gender.
14.40 – São vinte para as três
14.45 – É um quarto para as três
We use the preposition “para”. Here it has the meaning “to”.
13.05 – É uma e cinco
14.10 – São duas e dez
15. 25 – São três e vinte e cinco
Otherwise, just use the numeral, but don’t add the word “minutos” (minutes). In addition, the verb “ser” refers to the word “hora”, that is, “1 hora + minutos” does not require the plural form of the verb.
Questions and Answers
Everything is simple here: we use the word “que”: Que horas são?
This means that the person asks you what time it is. But how do you know “When? In what time?”
To formulate such a question, and subsequently create an answer, we need the preposition “a“: A que horas?
A: Vou ao cinema hoje. (Today I’ll go to the cinema.)
B: A que horas? Posso ir também. Estou livre. (What time? I can go too. I’m free.)
Answer
Just as in the question, in the answer you need to use the preposition “a“. Moreover, it will merge with definite articles. That is:
A: A que horas vais ao treino? (What time do you go to a training?)
B: Às 18.00. Queres ir também? (At 18.00. Do you want to go too?)
A: Não, desculpa. Hoje não posso. Às 17.30 tenho aula de português. (No, sorry. I can’t today. At 17.30 I have a lesson of Portuguese.)
The preposition and the article also merge in the following cases:
Chegamos à meia-noite. (We come at midnight.)
Vamos ao médico ao meio-dia. (We go the doctor in the afternoon.)
Additional vocabulary
To expand our vocabulary on this topic, let’s learn two new regular verbs. With the help of them, we can describe our plans, talk about our routine, make a schedule: começar (to begin, to start), acabar (to finish).
| Verbos “começar” e “acabar” | |
| Eu | começo acabo |
| Tu | começas acabas |
| Ele, ela, você | começa acaba |
| Nós | começamos acabamos |
| Eles, elas, vocês | começam acabam |
When these verbs are followed by a noun, no prepositions are needed. For exemple:
O Marco começa _ o treino às cinco. (Marco starts training at five o’clock.)
A Catarina acaba _ a aula às sete e meia. (Catarina finishes the lesson at seven-thirty.)
When these verbs are followed by other verbs after “começar” we use the preposition “a”; after “acabar” – the preposition “de“.
A Ana começa a trabalhar às oito e meia. (Ana starts working at 8.30)
O Lourenço acaba de passear às 21.00. (Lourenço finishes walking at 21.00)
Prepositions
In addition, we will learn a little more about time. Namely:
Os avós começam a ver TV daqui a 20 minutos. (Grandparents start watching TV in 20 minutes.)
Note that there are no articles after “daqui a“. This preposition allows us not only to name a specific time, but also to describe the term.
Faltam 10 minutos para o fim do filme. (There are 10 minutes left to the end of the movie.)
Here you see the new verb “faltar” (to be left) and the necessary preposition “para“, which in this context means “to, until, till“.
We use the preposition “em” when we say in what month, year or holiday, answering the question “when?”
Vou a Portugal em julho. (I go to Portugal in June).
Ele começa a trabalhar nesta empresa em 2021. (He starts working in this company in 2021.)
O pai visita a família no Natal. (Father visits family at Christmas.)
Please note that the name of the month does not require an article, therefore, the preposition “em” does not merge with anything.
We also use this preposition when we name the day of the event. However, we must remember that here we say the word “dia“.
Acabamos o projeto no dia 5 de abril. (We finish the project on the 5th of Abril.)
That is, after the word “dia” there is a non-ordinal number: day 5
But if we want to say “5th day“, for example, then we must use the preposition “a” and do not say the word “dia“.
Acabamos o projeto a 5 de abril.
Faço anos a 12 de dezembro. (My birthday is on the 12th of December.)
Did the last phrase surprise you? When naming our birthday, in Portuguese we use the irregular verb “fazer” (to do, to make). Check out its conjugation forms below:
| Verbo “fazer” | |
| Eu | faço |
| Tu | fazes |
| Ele, ela, você | faz |
| Nós | fazemos |
| Eles, elas, vocês | fazem |
Of course, we also say “O meu aniversário é no dia 12 de dezembro”, but the expression “fazer anos” is more common in Portugal.
Conclusion
Está na hora de acabar o artigo.
Now you can plan in Portuguese, do not miss an important event. Learn with us and the results will exceed all your expectations!