Preposition and Article Contractions in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese normally joins de, em, a, and por to a following definite article: de + o = do, em + a = na, a + o = ao, and por + a = pela. These are standard grammatical forms, not informal abbreviations. Match the ending to the noun: no mercado, na escola, nos mercados, nas escolas.

Overview

A preposition is a short linking word that can express ideas such as “from,” “in,” “to,” or “through.” An article is a word placed before a noun, such as English “the.” Portuguese regularly combines certain prepositions with the definite articles o, a, os, and as. Instead of saying the equivalent of “in the” as two words, Portuguese uses one word: no, na, nos, or nas.

These contractions appear in some of the first sentences an A1 learner needs: Vou ao mercado (“I’m going to the market”), Venho do trabalho (“I’m coming from work”), and Estou na escola (“I’m at school”). Unlike English contractions such as “isn’t,” they do not signal an informal tone. In the contexts covered by the beginner rule, separating the words is incorrect.

The contraction also preserves gender and number—whether the following noun is grammatically masculine or feminine, singular or plural. If you know that it is o mercado but a escola, you can predict ao mercado and na escola. Learning each noun with its article therefore makes contractions much easier.

How It Works

The core table

Start with the four rows below. The article determines the final part of the contraction.

Preposition	Basic meanings	o	a	os	as
de	of, from	do	da	dos	das
em	in, on, at	no	na	nos	nas
a	to, at	ao	à	aos	às
por	through, along, by, for	pelo	pela	pelos	pelas

The simple procedure is:

1. Choose the preposition required by the verb, expression, or meaning.
2. Decide whether the noun takes a definite article.
3. If it does, combine the preposition and article and keep the article’s gender and number.

For example, ponte is feminine, so it takes a ponte. With por, this becomes pela ponte. The plural is as pontes, so por + as pontes becomes pelas pontes.

de: origin, possession, and required complements

The forms do, da, dos, and das often mean “from the” or “of the”:

• Saí do escritório. — “I left the office.”
• A janela da cozinha está aberta. — “The kitchen window is open.”
• Ela conhece os nomes dos alunos. — “She knows the students’ names.”

They also occur after verbs and expressions that require de. A complement is simply the word or phrase that completes the meaning of another word. Portuguese says gostar de (“to like”), precisar de (“to need”), and lembrar-se de (“to remember”), so an article after de produces a contraction: gosto do bairro, preciso da chave.

Do not translate each contraction with one fixed English word. In o livro do Pedro, do expresses a relationship much like English possessive “Pedro’s”: “Pedro’s book.”

em: location and situation

The forms no, na, nos, and nas commonly locate someone or something:

• O leite está no frigorífico. — “The milk is in the refrigerator.”
• Estamos na estação. — “We are at the station.”
• Há flores nas mesas. — “There are flowers on the tables.”

English chooses among “in,” “on,” and “at,” but Portuguese often uses em for all three. Learn the Portuguese phrase rather than trying to map one English preposition onto it every time.

a: destination, time, and the grave accent

With masculine articles, a produces ao and aos. With feminine articles, it produces à and às:

• Vou ao banco. — “I’m going to the bank.”
• Entreguei a carta aos vizinhos. — “I gave the letter to the neighbors.”
• Cheguei à estação. — “I arrived at the station.”
• A loja fecha às oito. — “The shop closes at eight.”

The mark in à is a grave accent, not the acute accent found in words such as café. In Portuguese grammar it indicates crase, the merging of preposition a with article a or as. It does not change the basic meaning of the article.

A useful check is to replace a feminine noun with a comparable masculine noun. If the masculine version has ao, the feminine version usually has à: vou ao banco → vou à farmácia. This test helps with the accent, but you must still know whether the original noun normally takes an article.

por: route, means, agent, and duration

The modern forms are pelo, pela, pelos, and pelas:

• Caminhamos pelo centro. — “We walked through the city center.”
• A mensagem foi enviada pela diretora. — “The message was sent by the director.”
• Ficámos lá pelas férias. — “We stayed there during the holidays.”

The meaning comes from the whole sentence. Pela ponte can mean “across/by way of the bridge,” while escrito pela autora means “written by the author.”

What if there is no definite article?

Do not invent a contraction when Portuguese does not use an article. Compare:

• Estou em casa. — “I’m at home.” No article in the common expression em casa.
• Estou na casa da Ana. — “I’m at Ana’s house.” Here the specific house has a, so em + a = na.
• Vou a Lisboa. — “I’m going to Lisbon.” Lisboa normally has no article.
• Vou ao Porto. — “I’m going to Porto.” o Porto normally takes an article.

This is why “preposition + noun” does not always produce a contraction. First ask whether the noun phrase actually contains o, a, os, or as.

Indefinite articles

Portuguese also commonly joins em with the indefinite articles um, uma, uns, and umas: num, numa, nuns, numas. These mean “in/on/at a” or “in/on/at some”: Moro num apartamento pequeno (“I live in a small apartment”).

The forms dum, duma, duns, and dumas (de + um/uma/uns/umas) are standard and especially frequent in European Portuguese. In Brazilian Portuguese, separate de um, de uma, and so on are often preferred in careful writing, although the contracted forms also occur. For a beginner, num/numa are essential; recognize dum/duma and follow the variety you are learning.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Vou ao mercado depois do trabalho.	I’m going to the market after work.	a + o = ao
Venho do trabalho de autocarro.	I’m coming from work by bus.	de + o = do
A Marta está na escola.	Marta is at school.	em + a = na
Passamos pela ponte todas as manhãs.	We go across the bridge every morning.	por + a = pela
As chaves estão no bolso do casaco.	The keys are in the coat pocket.	em + o = no
O telhado das casas é vermelho.	The roofs of the houses are red.	Feminine plural: de + as
Chegámos à estação às nove.	We arrived at the station at nine.	Two instances of a + a/as
Ela entregou os documentos aos clientes.	She gave the documents to the clients.	Masculine plural: a + os
Caminhámos pelas ruas antigas.	We walked along the old streets.	Feminine plural: por + as
Eles moram num apartamento perto daqui.	They live in an apartment near here.	em + um = num
Gosto deste café.	I like this café.	de + este = deste
Encontrámo-nos naquele restaurante.	We met at that restaurant.	em + aquele = naquele
O voo parte daquele aeroporto.	The flight departs from that airport.	de + aquele = daquele
Voltaremos àquela praia no verão.	We’ll return to that beach in the summer.	a + aquela = àquela

Common Mistakes

Leaving a required contraction as two words

• Wrong: Vou a o mercado.
• Right: Vou ao mercado.
• Why: When preposition a is followed by article o, standard Portuguese requires ao. English “to the” stays separate, but Portuguese does not copy that pattern.

Using the wrong gender

• Wrong: Estou no escola.
• Right: Estou na escola.
• Why: The noun is a escola, so em + a gives na. Learn nouns together with their articles, not as isolated words.

Omitting the grave accent

• Wrong: Cheguei a estação.
• Right: Cheguei à estação.
• Why: chegar takes preposition a in this construction, and estação takes article a. Their meeting is written à.

Adding an article where Portuguese has none

• Wrong: Estou na casa when you simply mean “I’m at home.”
• Right: Estou em casa.
• Why: The fixed everyday expression em casa has no article. Na casa points to a particular house, usually with more information: na casa dos meus pais.

Choosing a contraction from the English translation

• Wrong: Preciso de chave. when you mean a particular key.
• Right: Preciso da chave.
• Why: The verb pattern is precisar de, and the specific noun phrase is a chave. Combine the Portuguese pieces even though natural English says simply “I need the key.”

Confusing à and há

• Wrong: Moro aqui à dois anos.
• Right: Moro aqui há dois anos.
• Why: À is the contraction a + a. Há is a form of haver used for elapsed time (“for/two years ago”) and is not a contraction.

Usage Notes

Contractions are used in both speech and formal writing. Saying that do or na is merely a “short form” can be misleading: in ordinary article-containing phrases, it is the grammatically expected form. Pronunciation may be reduced in rapid conversation, but spelling remains standard.

Place names need to be learned individually. Many cities take no article (em Lisboa, de São Paulo), while some do (no Porto, do Rio de Janeiro). Countries also vary: no Brasil, em Portugal, na Argentina. A practical memory test is the traditional rhyme quem vai a, volta de; quem vai ao, volta do: if you say volto do Porto, you also say vou ao Porto. It is a memory aid, not a substitute for observing real usage.

Brazilian and European Portuguese sometimes choose different prepositions before destinations. In careful usage, ir a gives ao/à; ir para gives para o/para a. Colloquial Brazilian Portuguese also often uses ir em, producing no/na in everyday speech. These regional choices do not change how the contraction itself is formed.

An article before a person’s name varies by region, style, and familiarity. Where speakers say a Ana, they naturally say da Ana and com a Ana. Elsewhere, de Ana may be normal. Follow the usage of the Portuguese variety and community you are learning from.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A1, but these forms are common enough to recognize.

Contractions with demonstratives

A demonstrative is a pointing word such as “this” or “that.” De and em combine with demonstratives beginning in e- or a-:

Combination	Result	Example meaning
de + este/esta/estes/estas	deste/desta/destes/destas	of/from this, these
em + este/esta/estes/estas	neste/nesta/nestes/nestas	in/on this, these
de + esse/essa/esses/essas	desse/dessa/desses/dessas	of/from that, those
em + esse/essa/esses/essas	nesse/nessa/nesses/nessas	in/on that, those
de + aquele/aquela/aqueles/aquelas	daquele/daquela/daqueles/daquelas	of/from that, those
em + aquele/aquela/aqueles/aquelas	naquele/naquela/naqueles/naquelas	in/on that, those

The same pattern applies to the neutral forms isto, isso, and aquilo: disto, nisso, daquilo. These forms do not mark masculine or feminine because the neutral demonstratives do not refer directly to a gendered noun.

Preposition a also merges with aquele, aquela, aqueles, aquelas, and aquilo: àquele, àquela, àqueles, àquelas, àquilo. For example, Refiro-me àquele problema means “I’m referring to that problem.” The grave accent again signals that two a sounds have merged. By contrast, a este and a essa are normally written as two words.

When standard writing keeps the words separate

A valuable advanced exception occurs when the article or pronoun introduces the subject of an infinitive—the person or thing doing the infinitive action. Standard careful writing keeps the elements distinct:

• Está na hora de a criança dormir. — “It is time for the child to sleep.”
• Apesar de ele estar cansado, continuou. — “Although he was tired, he continued.”

Here a criança is the subject of dormir, and ele is the subject of estar. Writing da criança dormir or dele estar can obscure that structure and is avoided in formal standard usage, though contracted forms may be heard in speech. This is a later-level distinction; at A1, concentrate first on ordinary noun phrases such as a hora da aula.

Practice Tips

1. Build four-way sets. Take one preposition and say all four article forms aloud: do, da, dos, das; then attach familiar nouns: do livro, da mesa, dos livros, das mesas.
2. Mark both hidden parts. When reading, expand a contraction mentally: na estação → em + a estação. This trains you to notice both the preposition and the noun’s article.
3. Collect whole phrases. Record useful chunks such as ao trabalho, no fim de semana, às oito, and pela manhã. Whole phrases become automatic faster than isolated tables, while the table helps you create new ones accurately.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Definite Articles — learn o, a, os, and as before combining them with prepositions.