Prepositions 'De' vs 'Em' in Portuguese: Talking About Means of Transport

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In Portuguese, ‘de’ is used for general references to means of transport, while ’em’ is used for specific instances. Remember, ‘de’ remains in its basic form, while ’em’ contracts with definite articles and other determiners. Let’s take a few examples.

Lesson #39 Preposition De - Portuguesepedia

Lesson #14 Preposition of place em - Portuguesepedia

Example 1

Hoje vou de carro para o trabalho.
I’m driving to work today.

as opposed to,

Hoje vou no carro do meu irmão para o trabalho.
Today I’m going to work in my brother’s car. (Not just any car.)

Example 2

O Felipe foi de metro para o aeroporto.
Felipe took the metro to the airport.

as opposed to,

O Felipe foi no metro da linha azul para o aeroporto.
Felipe took the Blue Line metro to the airport. (Not just any metro.)

Example 3

Amanhã vamos de barco até Porto Santo.
Tomorrow we’re going by boat to Porto Santo.

as opposed to,

Amanhã vamos no barco das 8h até Porto Santo.
Tomorrow we’ll take the 8 am boat to Porto Santo. (Not just any boat.)

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