What is a Preposition?
In this Learning Note, we’ll learn about Portuguese prepositions, but first let’s review: what exactly is a preposition? PreposiçõesPrepositions are short words that usually occur before a noun (or pronoun). They show how the noun relates to another element in the sentence in terms of time, location, movement, or other parameters.
For example, the English prepositions in, at, on, and through could be used to create prepositional phrases such as in the morning, at the park, on the table, and through the rain.
To get us started, here are a few examples of Portuguese prepositions that translate somewhat easily into English:
Ir de carroTo go by car
Sou de LisboaI am from Lisbon
Eu espero por tiI wait for you
Eu vou para Portugal I go to Portugal
You may have noticed that the first two examples use the same word in different ways: deby, from
Translating a preposition is often not very straightforward. There are many situations like this, in which a Portuguese preposition corresponds to multiple possibilities in English, or vice-versa.
Sometimes you’ll even come across Portuguese phrases that use a preposition, while the corresponding English translation does not. For example:
Eu vou para casaI go home
Eu gosto de bacalhauI like codfish
Contractions Between Prepositions and Articles
In both English and Portuguese, prepositions are usually followed by an article (in the, at a, for the, etc.) Unlike English, however, in Portuguese you often combine the preposition with the article in order to form a new word. These are referred to as contraçõescontractions
Prepositions + Definite Articles
The most common translation for “in” is em (one of the Portuguese prepositions). The word “the” corresponds to a for feminine nouns or o for masculine nouns. As a result, there are 2 different ways to say “in the“, depending on the gender of the noun that follows it.
em + a = nain the
Estou na escolaI am in the school
em + o = noin the
Ela está no carroShe is in the car
Now let’s see how the Portuguese preposition de contracts with o and a:
de + a = daof the
Está em cima da televisãoIt's on top of the TV
de + o = doof the
Ele está em cima do bancoHe is on top of the stool
There are many other contractions that are formed by combining different prepositions with the definite articles o, a, os, or as. Below is a useful table showing some prepositions on the left column, the definite articles they combine with along the top row, and their respective contractions in the body of the table:
Prepositions + Indefinite Articles
Contractions can also be formed with indefinite articles: um, uns, uma, and umas.
Let’s see an example with the preposition em and the indefinite article uma:
Em + uma = numain a, on a
Deve estar numa prateleiraIt must be on a shelf
For the contractions between prepositions and the indefinite articles, the table is simpler. Again, you’ll see the prepositions in the left column, indefinite articles along the top row, and their respective contractions.
We’ll go over more examples of prepositions and contractions throughout this and future units.
For now, you should keep in mind that, while some of these prepositions can translate smoothly between Portuguese and English, most of the time you have to step back and focus on the construction and meaning of the entire phrase. Don’t get too caught up in the exact word-to-word translation, as you’ll discover that they are wildly inconsistent.
While you’ll learn some of the general rules about when to use each preposition, you’ll have to rely on experience and repetition over time. Even advanced Portuguese learners will commonly have doubts and make mistakes, so do your best to maintain a curious and patient mindset!
Learning More
We’ll let you practice using Portuguese prepositions in the following lessons of this unit (Prepositions 1), as well as in these future units: Prepositions 2 and Prepositions 3. If you’d like a preview of some of the other topics we’ll cover, you can read more here:
- Por vs Para | Using Tonic Pronouns with Prepositions | Simple Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases | Using Prepositions in European Portuguese Questions
- Em | Combining Em With Demonstratives | De | Combining De With Demonstratives | A | Combining A With Demonstratives | Com
Thanks for pointing out that typo, Anton 🙂
Thank you for your clear explanation but also for helping me to understand that it’s not just me – Portuguese prepositions really are tricky and that the mistakes I regularly make are not me being ‘stupid’.
I’m now going to start a list of useful phrases which should (in time) help me to make fewer mistakes.
Wish me luck!
That’s a good idea, Barbara! You’re right, these are really tough. Maybe think of a couple common phrases using each preposition. Once you have those down, it should make it easier to decide which preposition to use within other contexts. Also, just listening to the language being spoken more should help. Over time, with more listening practice, you’ll start to notice that a certain preposition just “sounds right” without having to think too much about it. Best of luck!
Muito gostei de aprender de isso. Muito obrigado 🙂 ps: pardon my broken Portuguese haha
Excellent summary. I have been scratching my head over these for months. Now I can see the logic and pattern.
Estas tabelas fazem as preposições muito mais fácil! Obrigada 🙂
Oh my days, does learning Portuguese ever get any easier!
Please can you help me with the difference between á and em.
I am at the table.
Olá, Jill. The table shows you how different prepositions (on the first column) can combine with different articles (on the first row) to form several contractions, which fill up the respective cells.
– Em (in/on/at) is one of those base prepositions on the first column, and you can read more about it here: The Preposition “Em”
– À (to the) is a contraction between the base preposition a (to) (The Preposition “A”) and the feminine singular definite article a (the) (Definite Articles in Portuguese)
Apart from the Learning Notes I linked to above, you can also check this recent forum topic where we’ve been talking about precisely about how to use these words: How to Use Ao and No in Sentences
Gostei muito ,Obrigado.
This unit’s translation drills “de um” not “dum” :-
Ela precisa de um segundo
Olá, Ken. Some contractions are felt as essential, while others are optional. With indefinite articles, it often happens that contractions are not mandatory, such as in your example. With definite articles, save for some exceptions where the sentence structure requires it, not using contractions would sound very strange. For example, people don’t say “Estou em a escola”, instead of “Estou na escola” (I’m at school). It’s not easy to map out all of these variations, but we try to expose you to them throughout the units, etc.
I’m thoroughly enjoying the course but I have just been doing Smart Review and have a question. Why do you say “o cao nao quer sair da cama” but you do say “tu tens de sair de cama?” Should it not be same “de” or “da” for both? Apologies for lack of accents!
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Olá, Patrícia! With the noun cama, we always use da.
– “O cão não quer sair da cama”
– “Tu tens de sair da cama”
The only exception is when we want to say that someone is bedridden: “Ela está de cama com uma gripe” (She’s bedridden with the flu).
But maybe you meant “Tu tens de sair de casa?” -> We do use both “de casa” and “da casa”. Usually, the difference is that “de casa” (and “em casa”) refers to our home, while “da casa” (and “na casa”) refers to a house in general, and probably not our own.
Thanks for that. In the two sentences in Smart Review, they both used the verb “sair” and that is why I wondered why one used “da cama” in one sentence and the other “de casa” rather than using “da” in both. The sentence was translated by you must leave the house (rather than your home) which is why I was confused. Thanks for pointing out the difference between “de casa” and “da casa”.
Hi there a question pls : In Portuguese Num and No both mean : On.
How do we differentiate between the two ? Thx
Hi! These words are both contractions of the preposition “em” combined with either a definite article (o/a – the) or indefinite article (um/uma – a). In most cases “num” will mean “in a” and “no” will mean “in the“. (However, there are some situations in which Portuguese requires a definite or indefinite article where we do not require one in English. In those cases, it will come down to getting more exposure to the language to know whether to use just “em”, “no”, or “num”.) 🙂
About ” sair da cama” . Is it the verb sair that needs the preposition de like other verbs, for example gostar and ter?
Yes, definitely! When we want to say “leaving from” the verb sair asks for the preposition de. According to the sense of the sentence other prepositions may apply! For example: “sair para a rua” / “leaving to the street” ou “sair pela porta” / “leaving through the door”.
I love the preposition tables! They’re really helpful. Is there a way to print them out so I can hang them in my office to look at while studying?
Thank you! Unfortunately, we don’t have a way to print these tables currently, but we’re look into adding more printables in the future. Your vote has been added for this! 🙂
maybe using the printscreen option of the computer will do.
Thank you for explaining this. However, when do you “pra” and “pro”?
“Pra” and “pro” are short forms for “para”/”para a” and “para o”, respectively. These are very common orally, but they are not recommended in writing! It’s not consensual that they are correct terms.
It is good to learn
I still get confused about when to use which proposition. Tried to use the charts but still failing to understand. Any tips?
Prepositions are tricky! There’s not always a straightforward way to know which one to use, since you can’t rely on a literal translation. It’s something that gradually gets easier after more exposure to the language. There are some patterns you can learn, but it doesn’t really stick until you see/hear lots of examples over time.
I would recommend repeating the Prepositions lessons many times, and add some of the phrases to your Smart Review. Also keep an eye and ear out for prepositions every time you listen to a Shorty, to see how they are used. Try writing down some of the sentences you find in each Shorty.
Here are all our Shorties, Podcasts, Videos, and Learning Notes related to prepositions. Or you can browse the prepositions section in the Site Index — this makes it easier to find the Learning Notes.
You can also use the Translator: Search for a preposition and you will see examples down below that include that word. This will help you see how each preposition is used in different contexts.