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
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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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