You have learned that prepositions are usually small, but important, words that usually come before a noun to show how it relates to other elements in the sentence.
An important part of mastering European Portuguese is not only learning the meaning of each of these prepositions, but also the nuances of when each one should be used.
Prepositions can be used to establish a time or a location…
Vou partir antes do amanhecer.I will leave before dawn.
A carta está sob o livro.The letter is under the book.
To describe movement…
Vou viajar de Boston para Lisboa.I will travel from Boston to Lisbon.
To express a purpose…
Estes sapatos são para dançar.These shoes are for dancing.
…and more!
The same preposition can often have a completely different meaning depending on the context, as you may have noticed in the examples above that used the word para.
Do Prepositions Have a Gender or Number?
On their own, basic prepositions do not have a gender or number, but they are very often combined (contracted) with words that do, such as articles and pronouns.
The following shows some examples using the preposition, defrom, of, by
- de + o = do
- de + a = da
- de + este = deste
- de + esta = desta
- de + isto = disto
- de + aquilo = daquilo
Prepositions are also sometimes contracted with other invariable words (words that don’t change depending on gender or number).
Emin is another common preposition that forms the following contractions. Let’s see the contractions formed when we combine it with the same articles and pronouns:
- em + o = no
- em + a = na
- em + este = neste
- em + esta = nesta
- em + isto = nisto
- em + aquilo = naquilo
There are so many prepositions and they can be used in such diverse ways that it might take quite a bit of time to master them.
Don’t worry! This unit will continue introducing them to you gradually, pouco a poucolittle by little !
Hi one of the past lesson had the sentence Ela gosta do vestido apesar da cor. I was wondering what the difference is between saying , do vestido or
O vestido? If that makes sense lol. I have great difficulty with understanding the prepositions . Thanks for your time regards Ruth
Hi Ruth, good question! As a rule, the verb “gostar” is always followed by the preposition “de”. So the word “do” is actually a contraction of “de” + “o”. In English we wouldn’t say “I like OF the dress”, so it’s hard to remember to include that extra word there. If it helps, you could try to think of it as “to be fond OF” and that could remind you to use the “de”.
I think prepositions are one of the trickiest topics in Portuguese! There are many contexts like this in which Portuguese requires a preposition, while English does not, and vice versa. It often comes down to getting enough exposure to the language that you start to get used to the patterns.
Thank you Molly, I will try to remember this, it is so confusing, for my old brain, but I am determined to learn Portuguese to be able to talk to my neighbour lol. Regards Ruth
Im not sure I understand why one would day e.g: Ela gosta dessa amiga. Its like saying She likes from this friend instead of she likes this friend.
Same with the cat and the house.
The one sentence with the sandwich could make sense if it was like: Do you like (to eat a bit) from this sandwich?
It’s important to remember that you can’t always translate directly word for word because English and Portuguese do not follow the same grammar rules. This is especially true when it comes to prepositions. Each Portuguese preposition can translate to many different English words, or sometimes a preposition is used in Portuguese where there is none needed in English, or vice versa.
The verb gostar has to be followed by the preposition de. As mentioned in Ruth’s question above, if it helps you remember to include it, you could think of it as “to be fond of”.
Learning how to use Portuguese prepositions correctly is confusing at first, so don’t worry if it doesn’t quite make sense right away. Eventually, after much more time and exposure to the language, it will sound more natural. Over time you will see many examples in the Learning Notes, Lessons, Shorties, Videos, etc., that will help you put the pieces together.
More detail and examples here – The Preposition “De” / Choosing Between Portuguese Prepositions