Prepositions in Portuguese

Level I 1. Alphabet & Pronunciation 1.1. Vowels 2. Similarities to English 2.1. Capitalization 2.2. Negation 2.3. Punctuation & Written Accents 3. Gender & Plural 4. Cardinal Numbers 5. Subject Personal Pronouns 6. Present Indicative Tense I 7. The Articles 8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives 9. Basic Phrases Level II 1. Prepositions 2. Present Indicative Tense II – Irregular Verbs 3. The Verb “To Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar” 4. Future Tense 5. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns 6. Demonstrative Adjectives & Pronouns 7. Object Personal Pronouns 8. Relative Pronouns 9. Ordinal Numbers I 10. Times & Seasons Level III 1. “Por” vs. “Para” 2. The Verb “To Know”: “Saber” vs. “Conhecer” 3. Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns 4. Present Progressive Tense 5. Present Perfect Tense 6. Special Uses of “Haver” & “Ter” 7. Telling Time & Describing Weather 8. Adverbs 9. Directions Level IV 1. Degrees of Comparison: Comparatives & Superlatives 2. Past Tense: Preterite vs. Imperfect 3. Conjunctions 4. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs 5. Time Expressions: Ainda, Já, Acabar, and Desde 6. Present Subjunctive Tense 7. Future Perfect Tense Level V 1. Imperative Mood & Giving Commands 2. Simple Conditional Tense 3. Future Subjunctive Tense 4. Perfect Subjunctive Tense 5. Imperfect Subjunctive Tense 6. Past & Conditional Progressive Tenses 7. Interjections Level VI 1. Ordinal Numbers II 2. “Would/Should/Could Have …” 3. Pluperfect Indicative Tense 4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense 5.”Although” & “Despite” 6. Passive Voice & Impersonal “Se” 7. Diminutives & Augmentatives

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Here are some of the most used prepositions in Portuguese that will help you construct basic sentences.

Prep.	Meaning	Examples
a	to	Vou devolver esses livros à biblioteca.	I will return these books to the library.
	at	Nós nos reunimos às duas.	We meet at 2 o’clock.
	by	Feito à mão.	Made by hand (handmade).
	on	Vou voltar para casa a pé.	I will come back home on foot.
ao lado de	beside	Há um gato ao lado da cadeira.	There is a cat beside the chair.
ao longo de	along	Há casas ao longo do lago.	There are houses along the lake.
antes de	before	Eu te ligo antes de ir.	I will call you before* leaving.*
através de	across through	Viajamos através do país.	We travel across the country.
baixo debaixo de	under	O gato está debaixo da cadeira.	The cat is under* the chair*.
perto de	near	Eu moro perto da cidade.	I live near the city.
com	with	Ele fala com o amigo.	He speaks with his friend.
contra a em contra de	against	Eu sou contra a injustiça.	I am against injustice.
de	of	A cor do meu carro é azul.	The color of my car is blue.
	from	Ela é de Espanha.	She is from* Spain*.
	about	Eles falam dele.	They talk about him.
diante de	in front of	Estou diante da escola.	I am in front of the school.
dentro de	inside	A bola está dentro da caixa.	The ball is inside* the box*.
desde	since	Não fumo desde abril.	I haven’t smoked since April.
desde	from	Gosto de ver a cidade desde cima.	I like to see the city from the top.
depois de	after	Hoje eu dormi depois do almoço.	I slept after lunch today.
atrás de	behind	A árvore está atrás da casa.	The tree is behind* the house*.
durante	during	Podemos sair durante o dia.	We can go out during the day.
em	in	O gato está em uma caixa.	The cat is in a box.
em	on	A comida está na mesa.	The food is on the table.
em cima de	on top of	As chaves estão em cima do armário.	The keys are on top of the cupboard.
na frente de	in front of	Vou esperar na frente da porta.	I will wait in front of the door.
entre	between	O pássaro está preso entre os galhos.	The bird is stuck between the branches.
entre	among	Eu sou o mais alto entre meus amigos.	I am the tallest among my friends.
fora de	outside	A garagem fica fora da casa.	The garage is outside* the house*.
em direção à	toward	Ela correu em direção à saída.	She ran toward the exit.
até	until	Trabalhei até as 9 da noite.	I worked until 9 pm.
até	as far as	A luz alcança até o parque.	The light reaches as far as the park.
para	for	Parto para Barcelona amanhã.	I will leave for Barcelona tomorrow.
para	in order to	Estudamos para aprender.	We study in order to learn.
por	for	Ontem dormi por 10 horas.	I slept for 10 hours yesterday.
	by	Entrei em contato com você por telefone.	I contacted you by phone.
	per	Custa 20 dólares por dia.	It costs 20 dollars per day.
	because of	Sofriam por falta de água.	They suffered because of the lack of water.
de acordo com	according to	De acordo com a lei, é proibido.	*According to* the law, it is prohibited.
sem	without	Um peixe não pode viver sem água.	A fish can’t live without water.
sobre	over	A mosca está sobre a mesa.	The fly is over* the table*.
sobre	about	Eles falam sobre a origem da vida.	They talk about the origin of life.

Preposition Contraction with The Definite Articles in Portuguese

The propositions “a,” “de,” “em,” and “por” contract when followed by the definite article as shown below:

Preposition	Reduced Form	o	os	a	as
a	–	ao	aos	à	às
de	d–	do	dos	da	das
em	n–	no	nos	na	nas
por	pel–	pelo	pelos	pela	pelas

Notice that the above contractions are not optional. They are mandatory in all cases.

Notice also the use of the grave accent to mark the contraction of two consecutive vowels, where the first vowel is the preposition “a,” i.e.., “a” + “a” = “à” and “a” + “as” = “às.”

“por” vs. “para” meaning “for”

Note that both “para” and “por” can be used to mean “for.” Differences between the two with examples will be explained in Level III, Lesson 2 on the uses of “por” vs. “para.”

Expressing the meaning of “about”

To express the meaning of “about” (e.g., to talk about someone or watch a documentary about something), we often use “sobre” or “acerca de.” For example:

Eu vi um documentário sobre a guerra.	I watched a documentary about the war.
Eu li um livro acerca da vida no Japão.	I read a book about life in Japan.

In some contexts, we could use “de” to mean “about.” For example:

Eles falam dele.	They talk about* him.*
Quero ler um livro de ciências.	I want to read a book about science.

Next: Present Indicative Tense II: Irregular Verbs

Back to: Portuguese Lessons

Other lessons in Level II:

Level II – Beginner

1. Prepositions

2. Present Indicative Tense II: Irregular Verbs

3. The Verb “to Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar”

4. Future Tense

5. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns

6. Demonstrative Adjectives & Pronouns

7. Object Personal Pronouns

8. Relative Pronouns

9. Ordinal Numbers I

10. Times & Seasons