Portuguese Phrase
Contacta a agência de proteção ao consumidor.
Meaning
A direct instruction meaning ‘Contact the consumer‑protection agency.’ It is used to advise someone to seek official help regarding consumer rights, complaints, or fraud.
When to use
Use this phrase when you want to suggest that someone get assistance from the public body that defends consumer rights, for example after a faulty purchase, a misleading advertisement, or a contract dispute.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Contactaaagênciadeproteçãoaoconsumidor.
Imperative (tu)
‘Contacta’ is the informal second‑person singular imperative of the verb ‘contactar’; use it with friends or peers.
Definite article ‘a’
The article ‘a’ agrees in gender with ‘agência’, which is feminine.
Preposition ‘de’ + noun
‘de’ links ‘agência’ with its purpose, forming ‘agência de proteção’.
Contraction ‘ao’
‘ao’ = ‘a’ + ‘o’, used before masculine singular nouns like ‘consumidor’.
Noun gender
‘proteção’ and ‘agência’ are feminine; ‘consumidor’ is masculine, which determines the article ‘o’ in the contraction.
🗨In Conversation
Comprei um telemóvel que parou de funcionar depois de uma semana.
I bought a phone that stopped working after a week.
Contacta a agência de proteção ao consumidor.
Contact the consumer‑protection agency.
✕Common Mistakes
Contata a agência de proteção ao consumidor.
The verb is ‘contactar’; the correct imperative is ‘Contacta’, not ‘contata’.
Contacta à agência de proteção ao consumidor.
When the preposition ‘a’ precedes the article ‘a’, it contracts to ‘à’; however, here ‘a’ is only the article, so no accent is needed.
Contacta a agência proteção ao consumidor.
Do not omit the preposition ‘de’ after ‘agência’; it links the agency to its purpose.
↔Alternatives
Liga para a agência de defesa do consumidor.
Call the consumer‑defence agency.
Entre em contato com a agência de proteção ao consumidor.
Get in touch with the consumer‑protection agency.
Procura a agência de proteção ao consumidor.
Look for the consumer‑protection agency.
Cultural Tip
In Portugal the official body is called ‘agência de proteção ao consumidor’, while in Brazil the more common term is ‘agência de defesa do consumidor’. The phrase uses the informal ‘tu’ form (Contacta); in formal contexts or when speaking to strangers you would say ‘Contacte a agência…’. Also, remember the accent on ‘à’ when you need the preposition ‘a’ + article ‘a’ (e.g., ‘vou à agência’).