Portuguese Prepositions and Contractions Explained

Prepositions in Portuguese often get a bad rap among language learners, and for good reason – mastering the usage of Portuguese prepositions is one of the most challenging aspects of the language.

Here’s a quick overview of five essential Portuguese prepositions:

1	Em Primarily a preposition of place	Ela vive em Itália. She lives in Italy.
2	De Often used to indicate origin	Eu sou de Portugal.  I come from Portugal.
3	A Typically shows movement toward a place	O Carlos vai a Lisboa. Carlos is going to Lisbon.
4	Para Emphasizes direction or destination	Este autocarro vai para Londres. This bus is going to London.
5	Por Suggests passing through or an indirect route	Podes passar por minha casa mais trade? Can you stop by my house later on?

Of course, there’s a lot more nuance than this quick table lets on. In this post, we’ll break each preposition down, explore their real-life usage, and cover how they form contractions. Let’s dive in.

👀 Heads up: Prepositional usage can vary slightly between European and Brazilian Portuguese. This article follows European Portuguese conventions.

What’s a preposition (and why are they tricky)?

What are they for?

Prepositions are single words or groups of words that show a relationship in space, time, or logic between two or more people, places, or things. Most often, they appear right before a noun phrase or pronoun.

Here’s a more colorful definition: prepositions are the lubricating agents that hold a sentence together, helping its parts move smoothly and making the whole thing easier to follow.

Take the following example — first without, then with prepositions:

1. I go work the morning.
2. I go to work in the morning.

While you might still puzzle out the first sentence, the second — thanks to to for direction and in for time — is much clearer, assertive, and easy to follow.

Why are prepositions so elusive?

Let’s start by acknowledging that prepositions only pain those learning a second language.

Native speakers couldn’t care less. They get it right without ever needing to develop a conceptual understanding of it, much like we innocently breathe in and out without ever thinking about the work performed by our lungs and diaphragm as we do it.

Here’s why prepositions tend to trip up language learners:

Ambivalence

Prepositions aren’t black and white.

Depending on the context, the same preposition can refer to time, movement, place, or something else entirely.

Subtle nuances

Prepositions love to blur the lines.

Take a look at these pairs:

• I am at the station vs. I am by the station
• I am working on it vs. I am working at it 
• Let’s look at this vs. Let’s look into this 
• He came to me vs. He came at me
• This is relevant to me vs. This is relevant for me 

The differences are real — but they’re subtle. And subtlety is the enemy of anyone trying to learn a language from scratch.

Capricious behavior

Prepositions tend to wander outside logical realms. They’re whimsical by nature.

Why do we say on the train, on the bus, on the plane… but in the car?

Why do we look to the right but look at the sky?

Portuguese prepositions play the same kind of games.

No one-to-one English-Portuguese bonding

Attention, English speakers: there’s no neat mapping between English and Portuguese prepositions.

The same Portuguese preposition can correspond to two or more English prepositions, and sometimes, English needs a preposition where Portuguese doesn’t (or vice versa).

Translation is rarely a straight line.

Contractions

And just to spice things up: Portuguese prepositions are highly contractible.

They’re constantly merging with articles and pronouns, meaning you have to track not just the preposition itself, but also its many hybrid forms.

In short, prepositions are messy.

Getting good with them requires generous doses of exposure to the target language until they become second nature.

While this article isn’t a substitute for that immersion, it will give you a solid conceptual foundation to build on.

Portuguese preposition em

Em is best known as a preposition of place. However, as we’ll see further below, we also use it to indicate time. 

In English, em can correspond to in, on, or at depending on the situation. 

Before we delve into its usage, let’s look at em‘s contracted forms. 

Contractions

Oftentimes, em merges with other word classes, mainly articles and demonstratives. Let’s break it down.

With articles

By default, em contracts with the definite and indefinite articles that follow it:

definite articles	o	a	os	as
contracted forms	no  (em + o)	na  (em + a)	nos  (em + os)	nas  (em + as)
indefinite articles	um	uma	uns	umas
contracted forms	num  (em + um)	numa  (em + uma)	nuns  (em + uns)	numas  (em + umas)

With demonstratives 

Additionally, em melts into demonstrative pronouns:

this	isto (neuter)	este/s	esta/s
contracted forms	nisto (em + isto)	neste/s (em + este/s)	nesta/s (em + esta/s)
that	isso (neuter)	esse/s	essa/s
contracted forms	nisso (em + isso)	nesse/s (em + esse/s)	nessa/s (em + essa/s)
that over there	aquilo (neuter)	aquele/s	aquela/s
contracted forms	naquilo (em + aquilo)	naquele/s (em + aquele/s)	naquela/s (em + aquela/s)

🔎Learn more about Portuguese Demonstratives Pronouns and Determiners.

Other common contractions 

Em also contracts with a few other words:

other	outro/s	outra/s
contracted forms	noutro/s (em + outro/s)	noutra/s (em + outra/s)
some	algum/ns	alguma/s
contracted forms	nalgum/ns (em + algum)	nalguma/s (em + alguma)
someone	alguém (neuter)
contracted forms	nalguém (em + alguém)

Usage

Place

We use em primarily as a preposition of place. Depending on the situation, it can correspond to in, on, or at. Here are a few examples: 

Estou a viver em Londres. 
I am living in London.

Estou a morar na Suécia. (a Suécia)
I am living in Sweden.

🔔 Note! The above sentences illustrate a clear pattern in Portuguese.

We normally use the plain form em when referring to cities, whereas we tend to use the contracted form when referring to countries. 

See, city names in Portuguese are usually gender-neutral, while countries tend to be either masculine or feminine.

As always, there are a few exceptions:

Estou a viver no Rio de Janeiro. (o Rio de Janeiro)
I am living in Rio de Janeiro.

Estou a morar em Portugal.
I am living in Portugal.

Let’s take a few more examples:

Ela já está no comboio. 
She’s already on the train.

Vivo numa pequena cidade.
I live in a small city.   

Eles estão na casa de verão. 
They are at the summer house.

🔔 Note! We use the plain form when casa means home:

Eles estão em casa.
They are at home.

Here’s em contracting with demonstratives:

Ela gosta mais de se sentar nessa cadeira. 
She prefers to sit in that chair.

Fui muito feliz nesta cidade.
I was very happy in this city.

Time

We also use em to talk about time, specifically years, seasons, months, or specific dates. Take a look at the following dialogue (where someone is waking up from a long coma):

– Em que ano estamos? (Which year are we in?)
– Em 2020, claro. (In 2020, of course.)
– E em que mês? (And in which month?)
– Estamos em outubro. (We’re in October.)
– Então estamos no outono. (Then we’re in autumn.)
– Sim, certo. (That’s right.)
– Já estamos no Natal? (Are we already at Christmas?)
– Não, o Natal é só em dezembro. (No, Christmas is only in December.)

Additionally, we use em right before the weekdays when referring to non-recurring events: 

Na segunda tenho uma reunião de trabalho.
On Monday (this Monday), I have a work meeting.

Neste sábado vou jogar futebol.
This Saturday I am playing soccer.

If we mean recurring events, though, we use the preposition a instead:

Às segundas costumo ter uma reunião de trabalho.
On Mondays, I normally have a work meeting.  

(We’ll cover the preposition a soon.)

Verbs followed by em

Some verbs naturally pair with em. Here are a few:

Morar/viver Nós moramos no Brasil. We live in Brazil.	Sentar-se O Carlos senta-se na cadeira. Carlos sits on the chair.	Deitar A Ana deita a água no tacho.  Ana pours the water into the pot.
Entrar Nós entramos no restaurante e estava vazio. We came into the restaurant and it was empty.	Pensar Penso muito em ti. I think a lot about you.	Hesitar Não hesites em contactar-me! Never hesitate to contact me!

Portuguese preposition de

The preposition de indicates origin. Additionally, we use de to modify a noun as well as in genitive constructions. In English, de often corresponds to the prepositions from and of. 

Contractions

Like em, the preposition de merges with determiners, mostly articles and demonstratives. Let’s take a look at its contracted forms.  

With articles

By default, the preposition de contracts with the articles following it:

definite articles	o	a	os	as
contracted forms	do  (de + o)	da  (de + a)	dos  (de + os)	das  (de + as)
indefinite articles	um	uma	uns	umas
contracted forms	dum  (de + um)	duma  (de + uma)	duns  (de + uns)	dumas  (de + umas)

In the vicinity of indefinite articles, its plain form is also common. Thus, we often say and write de um instead of dum, or de uma instead of duma. 

With demonstratives 

Additionally, de often precedes demonstrative determiners melting with them in a contracted form:

this	isto	este/s	esta/s
contracted forms	disto (de + isto)	deste/s (de + este/s)	desta/s (de + esta/s)
that	isso	esse/s	essa/s
contracted forms	disso (de + isso)	desse/s (de + esse/s)	dessa/s (de + essa/s)
that over there	aquilo	aquele/s	aquela/s
contracted forms	daquilo (de + aquilo)	daquele/s (de + aquele/s)	daquela/s (de + aquela/s)

Other common contractions 

other	outro/s	outra/s
contracted forms	doutro/s (de + outro/s)	doutra/s (de + outra/s)
some	algum/alguns	alguma/s
contracted forms	dalgum/dalguns (de + algum)	dalguma/s (de + alguma)
someone	alguém
contracted forms	dalguém (em + alguém)
here/there	aqui	aí
contracted forms	daqui (em + aqui)	daí (de + aí)
he/she/they	ele/s	ela/s
contracted forms	dele/s (de + ele/s)	dela/s (de + ela/s)
where	onde
contracted forms	donde (de + onde)
before	antes
contracted forms	dantes (de + antes)

Usage

Origin

We use de to denote origin much as we say from in English. Here are a few examples: 

Eu venho da Índia. 
I come from India.

Ela é do norte de Portugal. 
She’s from the north of Portugal.

Possession

We use de to indicate possession. In English, in analogous situations, we’d use the possessive suffix –’s:

Aquele é o carro do Pedro. 
That one over there is Pedro’s car.

Esta é a casa da Gabriela. 
This is Gabriela’s house.

Articulator (modifier)

We use de to articulate two nouns, or a noun and a verb – the second modifying the first. In this case, de always shows in its plain form: 

• Um copo de água (a water glass)
• Uma máquina de coser (a sewing machine)
• Uma mesa de madeira (wooden table)
• Uma casa de pedra (stone house)
• Uma colmeia de lobos (a wolf pack)
• . . . 

Note that even in English, we often use a similar structure to Portuguese, in that case by using the preposition of, for instance, a house made of stone or a pack of wolves.

Time

We also use de to denote time. For example, we use it specifically to refer to mornings: 

De manhã acordo sempre às 9h.
In the morning, I always get up at 9 am.

As you’ll see further down, we use the preposition a to mention the other parts of the day. However, we always use de when we locate time in one part of the day:  

As aulas começam às 9 da manhã e acabam às 5 da tarde.
Classes start at 9 in the morning and finish at 5 in the afternoon.

The days, months, and years are also articulated by de when we say the date:

Hoje é 18 de Novembro de 2020.
Today is the 18th of November 2020.

Finally,  we say de to denote the beginning of a time-period (and the preposition a to indicate the end): 

Eu trabalho de segunda a sexta.
I work from Monday to Friday.

Means of transport

We say de (plain form) to talk about means of transport in general, much like we say by in English:

• vou para o trabalho de carro (I’ll go to work by car)
• … de comboio (… by train)
• … de autocarro (… by bus)

But

• a cavalo (on horseback)
• a pé (by foot)

Also, we say em, not de, when we mention specifically which train or bus we mean:

• vou para o trabalho no comboio das 7h (I’ll go to work on the 7 am train)
• … no autocarro 32 (… on bus 32)

Verbs followed by de

Here are a few verbs often followed by the preposition de:

Gostar

The verb gostar (like) is always followed by de:

Eu gosto de chocolate, e tu?
I like chocolate, what about you?

Gostas disto?
Do you like this?

Ter

The verb ter  followed by de corresponds to the English modal verb must: 

Tenho de me concentrar.
I must concentrate.

Learn more about Portuguese modal verbs: Portuguese Equivalents of English Modal Verbs.

Precisar

This verb followed by de means need to (otherwise it means to precise):

Ela precisou de levantar dinheiro.
She needed to withdraw cash.

Precisas de praticar mais Português.
You need to practice more Portuguese.

A few more verbs:

Falar Estavam a falar de mim? Were you talking about me?	Mudar Quero mudar de ares. I want a change of scene.	Sair A que horas sais do escritório? What time do you leave the office?
Vir/ chegar Vim agora da casa da Filipa. I just came from Filipa’s.	Lembrar-se Não te lembras de mim? Don’t you remember me?	Acabar Ele acabou de comer foi para a cama. He finished eating and went to bed.

Portuguese preposition a

For the most part, the preposition a indicates movement, although it is also used as a preposition for time and place. In English, depending on the situation, it corresponds to either to, on, or at. 

Contractions

The preposition a combines with fewer determiners than the previous two, that is, only definite articles and demonstratives starting with the letter a. 

With articles

The preposition a will contract with definite articles only:

definite articles	o	a	os	as
contracted forms	ao  (a + o)	à  (a + a)	aos  (a + os)	às  (a + as)

With demonstratives 

Additionally, a merges with the following demonstratives:

that over there	aquilo	aquele/s	aquela/s
contracted forms	àquilo (a + aquilo)	àquele/s (a + aquele/s)	àquela/s (a + aquela/s)

Usage

Movement

We use a as a preposition of movement and, in that case, it most likely corresponds to to. Here are a few examples: 

Eles foram à praia. 
They went to the beach.

Ela foi ao restaurante para almoçar. 
She went to the restaurant to have lunch.

Time

Much like at in English, we also use a to say the hours:

A aula começa às 9 e acaba às 10 horas da manhã. 
The lecture starts at 9 am and ends at 10 am.

Acabamos de conversar ao meio-dia.
We were done chatting at midday.

What’s more, we use a to refer to the parts of the day:

À tarde vou encontrar-me com o Miguel. 
I will meet Miguel in the afternoon.

Hoje à noite há cinema.
We’re going to the cinema tonight.

But, and as we’ve seen before,

De manhã costumo ficar em casa.
I usually stay home in the mornings.

Additionally, we use a to talk about recurring events in conjunction with the days of the week:

O Vitor tem aula de Inglês à quarta-feira.
Vitor has an English class on Wednesdays.

However, we use em if we mean a one-off event:

O Vitor tem uma aula de Inglês na quarta-feira. 
Vitor has an English class this Wednesday.

Finally, we use a to indicate the end of a time period (and de to indicate its beginning):

Eu trabalho de segunda a sexta. 
I work from Monday to Friday.

Tu trabalhas das 8 horas às 17 horas.
You work from 8 am to 5 pm.

Place

Lastly, we use a to indicate proximity to someone or something:

Está alguém à porta.
There’s someone at the door.

Porquê é que estás sempre à janela?
Why are you always at the window?

Verbs followed by a

A handful of Portuguese auxiliary verbs are followed by the preposition a:

Estar Estou a gostar disto. I am enjoying this.	Começar Agora começo a perceber. Now, I start to understand.	Aprender Vou aprender a falar russo. I will learn to speak Russian.
Ajudar Ele ajudou-me a construir a casa. He helped me to build my house.	Andar Ando a frequentar aulas de Chinês. I have been taking Chinese classes.

Other verbs often followed by a:

Chegar Ela já chegou a Lisboa? Has she already arrived in Lisbon?	Assistir Vou assistir a um jogo de futebol. I will watch a soccer match.	Ir Foste ao Brasil? Did you go to Brazil?
Voltar Quando voltas a Portugal? When do you return to Portugal?	Agradecer Agradece ao Sr António. Say thanks to Mr. António.	Pedir Pede à Gabriela para vir aqui. Ask Gabriela to come here.
Pagar Já pagaste a hipoteca ao banco? Have you already paid your mortgage to the bank?	Responder Ainda não respondeste à Isabel? Haven’t you replied to Isabel yet?	Suceder Quem sucedeu ao trono? Who succeeded the throne?

Portuguese preposition para

Like the preposition a, we often use para to indicate movement. With para, however, the sense of direction and final destination is more strongly marked. Besides movement, we use para to indicate purpose. In English, para often corresponds to either to or for. 

What’s more, para is the only preposition of the Big Five that won’t merge with determiners. Thus, we’ll jump straight to the usage examples: 

Usage

Movement > direction and destination

We use para to denote both direction and final destination: 

Ele virou-se para mim. 
He turned to me.

Este comboio vai para Lisboa. 
This train is going to Lisbon.

Para vs. a > long vs. short stay

Language learners often struggle to discern between the prepositions a and para – either indicates a movement towards a destination or point. There’s a difference, however. 

While a suggests a kind of round-trip with a short stay at the implied destination, para suggests more of a one-way motion, thus implying a longer stay at the place of arrival. Let’s understand this better through a few concrete examples:

O Luís foi à Madeira passar o fim de semana.
Luís went to Madeira for the weekend.

But,

O Luís foi viver para a Madeira.
Luis went to Madeira to live there. 

Let’s look at another example on a different time scale:

A Matilde saiu de casa às 9h e foi para o teatro.
Matilde left home at 9 am and went to the theatre. (She works there.) 

But,

Ontem a Matilde foi ao teatro. 
Yesterday, Matilde went to the theatre. (She went there to watch a play.)

Purpose

We use para to denote intention and purpose:

Ela saiu para ir ao banco. 
She left to go to the bank.

Ele está a aprender Inglês para poder viajar pelo mundo.
He’s learning English so that he can travel the world.

Recipient

Also, we say para to refer to a recipient:

Isto é para ti!
This is for you.

Aqueles morangos ali são para o Carlos.
Those strawberries over there are for Carlos.

Time

Finally, we use para to indicate the time ahead:

Até para a semana.
I will see you next week.

Para o ano que vem vou à Colômbia.
Next year I will go to Colombia.

Vou marcar uma consulta para as 17 horas.
I will book an appointment with the doctor at 5 pm.

São 20 para as 18 horas.
It’s 20 to 6 pm.

Verbs followed by para

Some verbs are often followed by para. Typically, these are verbs implying either movement, direction, or purpose:

Ir Vais para Lisboa? Are you going to Lisbon?	Voltar Quando voltas para o Porto? When are you coming back to Porto?	Vir Ela vem para Portugal. She comes to Portugal.
Chegar Ele  chegou para ficar. He came to stay.	Olhar Olha para mim! Look at me!	Pedir Pedi à Joana para me dar uma ajuda. I asked Joana to give me a hand.

Portuguese preposition por

We use por as a preposition of movement to denote an “on-the-go” motion. In English, por often becomes by or through.

Let’s take a look into por’s contracted forms. 

Contractions

The preposition por only combines with the definite articles: 

definite articles	o	a	os	as
contracted forms	pelo (por + o)	pela  (por + a)	pelos  (por + os)	pelas  (por + as)

Usage

Movement > on the go

We use por as a preposition of movement to indicate passage: an on-the-go transitory state. Here are a few examples: 

Podes passar pelo supermercado?
Can you drop by the supermarket?

Hoje à tarde passei pela Catarina mas ela não me viu.
This afternoon I passed by Catarina but she didn’t notice me.

Movement > itinerary

We also use por when we talk about a route or itinerary: 

Vai por aqui, é mais perto.
Go this way, it’s closer.

Ele foi pela estrada velha.
He took the old road.

Many language learners struggle to discern between por and para. If that’s your case, here’s a read for you: Portuguese Prepositions “Para” vs. “Por” – When to Use Either.

Place > vague, faraway, and unknown

In certain contexts, por implies spatial vagueness. From the speaker’s side, it can also convey a sense of unfamiliarity/abstraction with the place in point: 

Ele está a viajar pela Ásia.
He’s travelling around Asia.

Ela está lá pela Índia.
She is somewhere in India.  

Time > approximation

We use por to indicate time approximation: 

Eles chegam hoje pelas 15h.
They arrive today around 3 pm.

Time > duration

We also use por  to refer to a time period:

Ela vai ficar na Índia por um mês.
He’s staying in India for a month.

Verbs followed by por

We often use the following verbs in conjunction with the preposition por:

Passar Passas cá por casa? Are you dropping by my place?	Ir Vou por este caminho. I am following this path.
Voltar Desta vez vou voltar por Lisboa. This time around I will return via Lisbon.	Vir Vens pela ponte? Are you taking the bridge?