Usando o Á e o outro À

When do you use each of the accented A’s ? Is there a rule or guideline?

Olá, @kswilky. À is used to indicate a contracted word, and there are very few of these, so that’s all you need to memorize:

  • a (preposition) + a (definite article) = à
    e.g. Eu fui à praia - I went to the beach
  • a (preposition) + aquele (demonstrative determiner/pronoun) = àquele
    e.g. Tu vais àquele cabeleireiro? - Do you go to that hair salon?
  • a (preposition) + aquela (demonstrative determiner/pronoun) = àquela
    e.g. Dá a bola àquela menina - Give the ball to that girl
  • a (preposition) + aqueles (demonstrative determiner/pronoun) = àqueles
    e.g. Ele vendeu o carro àqueles clientes - He sold the car to those clients
  • a (preposition) + aquelas (demonstrative determiner/pronoun) = àquelas
    e.g. Nós fomos àquelas cidades - We went to those cities
  • a (preposition) + aquilo (demonstrative determiner/pronoun) = àquilo
    e.g. Isto é igual àquilo - This is equal to that

Otherwise, it’s always, invariably, á. There are no other exceptions :slight_smile:

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Thank you @Joseph! I’ve seen à used when talking about à noite, or às noites, (pretty sure) so I assume it would also mean “at night”?

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Literally it means “at the night” (a a noite, but a a contracts to à).

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@kswilky, what @pp12 said above :slight_smile: You’ll see “à” in several contexts, with varying English translations. The inherent logic is always the same anyway (a contraction between preposition + article).