A Practical Guide to Portuguese Prepositions

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You can memorize hundreds of Portuguese nouns and verbs, but your sentences will still fall apart without the small words that hold them together. These words, of course, are called prepositions.

Using the right prepositions is the difference between sounding fluent and the person you’re talking with immediately knowing you ‘ain’t from ‘round these parts’.

Getting a handle on words like em, a, de, and por is a huge step toward speaking with confidence. They are the building blocks of clear sentences. This guide will walk you through the most important ones, how they work, and the common traps to avoid.

What Are Prepositions?

Simply put, prepositions are connector words. They show the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other parts of a sentence, indicating things like location, time, and direction.

Think about the English sentence: “I left the book on the table for you.” Without “on” and “for,” you get “I left the book the table you.” Obviously, that makes no sense.

It’s the exact same in Portuguese. These little words provide context and make communication precise. You don’t just learn them. You learn how to use them.

A Portuguese textbook showing a few essential prepositions for language learners

Common Portuguese Prepositions

In my experience, you’ll run into these same handful of prepositions constantly. Mastering these is key. While there’s a full list of Portuguese prepositions, this article is meant to focus on the essentials.

Em

This preposition generally means “in” or “on.” One of the first things you must learn is that it almost always contracts with the definite article that follows it, depending on the gender of the following noun.

• em + o = no (masculine)
• em + a = na (feminine)

So, you would say someone is no jardim (in the garden) or that your keys are na mesa (on the table).

De

De is incredibly versatile. It’s used to show possession (o carro de Paulo = Paulo’s car), origin (vinho de Portugal = wine from Portugal), or what something is made of (uma casa de madeira = a wooden house).

It also contracts with articles: de + o = do, de + a = da. For example, a porta da casa = the door of the house, and o telhado do prédio = the roof of the building.

[!tip] A Note on Old Spellings Sometimes you might see the spelling d’O or d’A on certain proper nouns, like street names or brands. It’s an older form of spelling that usually means something is either old or important. Just something to keep an eye out for!

Para

Use para to indicate a destination or a purpose. It’s about where you’re going or the reason you’re doing something. For example, Vou para o trabalho means “I’m going to work” (destination) and “Comprei flores para a minha mãe” means “I bought flowers for my mom” (the purpose).

[!tip] Quick Tip for Texting You’ll often see para o and para a abbreviated as pro and pra in texting and other informal communication.

Com

This one is straightforward. Com means “with.” You use it for accompaniment, like in the classic café com leite (coffee with milk).

Sem

The opposite of ‘com’, sem simply means “without.” It’s what you need to order um café sem açúcar (a coffee without sugar).

Por

Por can indicate a cause, a means of travel, or a duration. It’s the “why” or “how.” For example:

• “Estive fora por duas semanas” = I was away for two weeks
• “Obrigado pela ajuda” = Thanks for the help. Here, pela is a contraction of por + a because ajuda is a feminine noun.
• “Obrigado pelo livro” = Thanks for the book. Here, it’s pelo because livro is a masculine noun.

Here’s a quick summary of how the most common prepositions and their mandatory contractions work:

Common Prepositions and Contractions

Preposition	Common Meaning	Contractions (o/a/os/as)	Example Sentence (PT)	Example Sentence (EN)
Em	In, on, at	no / na / nos / nas	O livro está na mesa.	The book is on the table.
De	Of, from, ‘s	do / da / dos / das	Gosto do carro novo.	I like the new car.
A	To, at	ao / à / aos / às	Nós vamos ao cinema.	We are going to the cinema.
Por	For, by, through	pelo / pela / pelos / pelas	Andámos pela praia.	We walked along the beach.
Com	With	(none)	Queres um café com leite?	Do you want a coffee with milk?

Prepositions of Movement

This is something that confuses a lot of us native English speakers, and where paying attention to detail can make a huge difference in how natural you sound.

In Portuguese, they’ve got specific “prepositions of movement”, which isn’t super intuitive for us.

About halfway down this article, there is a helpful guide to movement prepositions if you’d like to check it out.

The Main Rule in European Portuguese: a vs. para

In European Portuguese, the fundamental rule of thumb is about intention vs duration.

Use a for short, temporary movements where you don’t intend to stay long. It implies a round trip.

• “Vou a Lisboa amanhã.” — “I’m going to Lisbon tomorrow.” (short trip, coming back)
• “Fui ao café esta manhã.” — “I went to the café this morning.” (brief visit)
• “Fui ao supermercado.” — “I went to the supermarket.”

[!tip] Explaining “ao” Ao is the contraction of a + o.

One ‘a’ = “to”

One ‘o’ = “the” (masculine)

You can’t say “Eu vou a o supermercado” with both words separate, so they’re combined into ao.

Thus… “Eu vou ao supermercado”.

Also…

• “Eu vou à praia.” = I am going to the beach.

[!tip] Explaining “à” À (with the accent on top) is the contraction of a + a.

One ‘a’ = “to”

Two ‘a’s’ = “to the” (feminine)

But you can’t just say “Eu vou a a praia” with two a’s, so they shorten it to à.

Thus… “eu vou à praia”. Make sense?

Meanwhile, use para for more permanent or long-duration moves, or when the destination is the final goal of the journey.

• “Vou para Lisboa uns dias.” — “I’m going to Lisbon for a few days.” (Strangely, keeping it vague with uns dias strengthens the sense of a longer, more definite stay).
• “Eles mudaram-se para o Porto.” — “They moved to Porto.”

Using ‘para’ is common for showing clear movement and direction between two points, like traveling from Lisbon to Porto.

Think of it this way:

In Lisbon, you might say, “Vou ao Rossio tomar um café,” (I’m going to Rossio to have a coffee) implying a quick, temporary trip.

…But you would say, “Mudei-me para Alfama no ano passado,” (I moved to Alfama in the last year) for a permanent move. Here, the verb mudar-se (to move oneself) itself implies a longer-term stay, which is why para is the natural choice.

A Critical Difference: chegar a vs. chegar em

The most classic and clear-cut example of the difference between European and Brazilian Portuguese is with the verb chegar (to arrive). Getting this right is a major step towards sounding authentic in Portugal.

• In European Portuguese, the grammatically correct and universally used form is ‘chegar a’.

  • Eu cheguei a casa. (I arrived home.)
  • O avião chegou a Lisboa. (The plane arrived in Lisbon.)

• In Brazilian Portuguese, it is standard to use chegar em.

  • Eu cheguei em casa.
  • O avião chegou em São Paulo.

[!warning] This is Specific to Chegar! Using “chegar em” in Portugal is one of the clearest markers that you’ve learned Brazilian Portuguese. While perfectly understood, it’s not how a native speaker would say it here. Focusing on using ‘chegar a’ is a small change that has a big impact on sounding local.

Prepositions of Time

Just like with movement, talking about when something happens in Portuguese requires a specific set of prepositions that don’t always align with English.

This is a brief overview of the most important concepts, which we will explore more deeply in a future article.

One of the most useful distinctions is how you talk about days of the week. The preposition you choose changes the meaning from a one-time event to a recurring habit.

• For a single action, use em + article (no/na). “Na terça-feira, fui ao cinema.” (On Tuesday, I went to the cinema.) This implies it happened on that specific Tuesday and not necessarily any other.
• For a habitual action, use a + article (ao/à). “Às terças-feiras, vou ao cinema.” (On Tuesdays, I go to the cinema.) This implies it’s a routine that happens every Tuesday (notice the day of the week also becomes plural: terça-feira becomes terças-feiras).

This same logic applies to parts of the day. Notice the different prepositions for morning, afternoon, and night:

• De manhã, bebo café. (In the morning, I drink coffee.)
• À tarde, gosto de passear. (In the afternoon, I like to walk.)
• À noite, leio um livro. (At night, I read a book.)

Finally, the way you talk about duration can add a subtle layer of meaning.

• Em suggests completion: “Corri a maratona em 2 horas.” (I ran the marathon in 2 hours - meaning, I finished it).
• Durante suggests the process: “Corri durante 2 horas.” (I ran for 2 hours - that was the duration of my activity, with no mention of finishing a race).

Learning the days of the week and months is a fundamental foundation

Contractions with Prepositions

As you’ve seen, Portuguese is full of contractions. Prepositions constantly merge with the articles (o, a, os, as) and pronouns that follow them.

This isn’t optional slang. It’s a mandatory rule of the language.

Forgetting to contract them is one of the clearest signs of a non-native speaker. You don’t say “em a” casa; you must say “na” casa. A good way to think about it is to just extend the “mmm” sound from em right into the ‘o’ or ‘a’ that follows: ‘em-o’ becomes ‘no’, ‘em-a’ becomes ‘na’.

Here are a few more examples:

• “Estou no carro.” = I’m in the car. (em + o → no)
• “Ela mora na cidade.” = She lives in the city. (em + a → na)
• “As chaves estão nos bolsos.” = The keys are in the pockets. (em + os → nos)
• “As toalhas estão nas gavetas.” = The towels are in the drawers. (em + as → nas)

This fluid connection between words is part of what gives the language its rhythm.

Challenges and Tips

Prepositions are tricky because they don’t map perfectly from English to Portuguese. A single English word like “for” could be por or para depending on the context.

Worse yet, some Portuguese verbs require a preposition where English requires none. The classic example is gostar (to like), which must be followed by 'de'.

• English: “I like the movie.”
• Portuguese: Eu gosto do filme. (de + o filme)

[!warning] Another Common Trap: Assistir

You might know that assistir means “to watch” or “to attend,” but did you know it requires the preposition a? To watch the game? You translate it to say you watch to the game.

Flashcards are a great way to memorize verbs that require a specific preposition, like ‘gostar de’ (to like).

So, what can you do?

1. Practice in Context. Don’t just memorize lists. Write full sentences. Pay attention to prepositions when you’re reading or listening to Portuguese.
2. Learn Verbs With Their Prepositions. When you learn a new verb, learn the preposition that goes with it. Think of gostar de (to like), precisar de (to need), and falar com (to speak with) as single units.
3. Listen Actively. Pay attention to how native speakers connect their words. You’ll start to hear the contractions and patterns naturally.
4. Accept Mistakes. You will get them wrong. Everyone does. The key is to notice your mistake, look up the correct usage, and try to get it right the next time.

Conclusion

Getting prepositions right is a process. It takes time and exposure. But focusing on these small but mighty words will have an outsized impact on your fluency and confidence.

They are a key piece of the puzzle. But remembering lists of words isn’t enough; you need to know how they fit into the bigger picture. To see how prepositions act as the “directional glue” for your entire sentence, check out my master guide on Portuguese Sentence Structure.

Keep practicing, stay curious, and you’ll get there.

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Frequently Asked Questions

[!faq]- What is the main difference between ‘por’ and ‘para’? It’s one of the trickiest distinctions. Generally, para indicates a destination, a recipient, or a purpose (the “end goal”). Por indicates a cause, a means, a duration, or an exchange. For example: “Vou para casa” = I’m going home vs. “Vou pela rua”= I’m going through the street.

[!faq]- As an example, how do I say “on Monday” in Portuguese? It depends on the context. If you are talking about a single event, you say “Na segunda-feira” (e.g., Na segunda-feira, tenho uma reunião). If you are talking about a recurring, habitual action, you say “Às segundas-feiras” (e.g., Às segundas-feiras, vou ao ginásio).

[!faq]- Do I always have to use contractions like ‘no’ and ‘da’? Yes, in almost all cases. When a preposition like em or de is followed by a definite article (o, a, os, as), the contraction is mandatory in standard spoken and written Portuguese. Saying em o or de a sounds very unnatural.

[!faq]- Why do some verbs need a preposition in Portuguese but not in English? This is a feature of many languages called “verb government” or “complementation.” Certain verbs require a specific preposition to connect to their object. There’s often no direct logical reason that translates to English; it’s simply a grammatical rule you have to memorize. Think about how in English you “listen to” music, but you just “hear” a noise with no preposition—it’s just convention. Portuguese is the same with verbs like gostar de (to like) or precisar de (to need).

[!faq]- Are there big differences in prepositions between European and Brazilian Portuguese? For the most part, the core prepositions are the same. However, there are differences in usage, especially with verbs of motion. For example, the use of em with chegar is common in Brazilian Portuguese (cheguei em casa) whereas European Portuguese requires a (cheguei a casa). The examples in this article are for European Portuguese.