As previously mentioned, the preposition ato, at can be combined with the articles o, a, os, and as to become ao, à, aos, and às.
As far as demonstratives are concerned, a can only form contractions with aquele(s), aquela(s), and aquilo.
A + Variable Demonstratives
- a + aquele = àquele
- a + aqueles = àqueles
- a + aquela = àquela
- a + aquelas = àquelas
Ela quer ir a + aquele parque = Ela quer ir àquele parqueShe wants to go to that park
Eles saíram do bar a + aquela hora = Eles saíram do bar àquela horaThey left the bar at that time
Note the direction of the grave accent on the à , which happens as a result of the preposition a being contracted with a pronoun that starts with the letter “a”, such as aquele, which becomes àquele. Make sure not to confuse à (only seen in contractions) with á (only seen in other words).
A + Invariable Demonstratives
A only combines with one invariable demonstrative:
- a + aquilo = àquilo
What About the Rest?
If you were paying attention in the Demonstratives unit, you may have noticed that este, esta, esse, essa, isto, and isso are absent. These are never contracted with the preposition a.
Comments
I presume that á and à are both pronounced that same way?
Yes, absolutely identical pronunciations.
Where in Portugal is she from? What would her regional accent be?
Would I be right to say that acute accents, like á, only occur in words, whilst grave accents, like à, only occur in contractions?
From what I’ve seen so far I feel that’s the case and it would be an easy way for people to remember the difference.
That’s right – we’ve added that detail more explicitly. Thanks 🙂
Does grave accent shift stress like other accent? In the recording examples I hear like stress is on both, almost like they pronounced separately:
A quEle
No. In this case, for example, the stressed syllable is still the middle one, à-QUE-le. The grave accent simply signals that there is a contraction there, which also alters the pronunciation of the first vowel (open instead of closed).