Portuguese Prepositions

Hey, everyone! What’s new? Ready to learn more Portuguese? Today, we’ll learn Portuguese prepositions.

Let’s learn Portuguese Prepositions

There are sixteen prepositions in Portuguese. Let’s take a look at a chart with them all:

Would you like to know how to say them? Let’s listen!

Pronunciation of Prepositions in Portuguese

Examples with Portuguese prepositions

Ante tantos problemas, não podemos ver uma solução.
Faced with so many problems, we can’t see a solution.

O livro está sob a mesa.
The book is under the table. 

Pablo saiu com sua namorada.
Pablo went out with his girlfriend.

Ele vai a Roma no próximo mês.
He will go to Rome next month.

Eu sou de Pernambuco.
I am from Pernambuco.

Ele falou perante o público.
He spoke before the public.

Eles partiram após duas semanas na cidade.
They left after two weeks in the city.

Nós somos contra o aumento do preço da gasolina.
We are against the increase in the price of gas.

Eles vão ficar até o próximo ano.
They will stay until next year.

Sobre o que vocês estão discutindo?
What are you arguing about?

Eles querem ficar em casa no fim de semana.
They want to stay at home on the weekend.

Nós vamos para a praia.
We’ll go to the beach.

Ela está aqui desde a semana passada.
She has been here since last week.

Copacabana está entre Ipanema e o Leme.
Copacabana is between Ipanema and Leme.

Comprei essa calça por R$79,90.
I bought these pants for R$ 79,00.

Você saiu sem guarda-chuva?
Did you leave without an umbrella?

Now we have one sentence for each. Any questions, friends?

You are probably going to find these prepositions in texts with a little variation. That happens because some of them have a contracted form. Don’t worry, we’ll explain the contractions to you right now.

Prepositions and contractions in Portuguese

You already know that we have a lot of prepositions, right? It’s very important to know how to use the Portuguese prepositions correctly. Furthermore, the prepositions often have contracted forms in Portuguese. But what is a contraction? A contraction is when we join two words together into one, creating a new word. For example, when we have the preposition em with an indefinite article like um we create the word num (em + um). 

If you don’t know the contractions , maybe you won’t be able to understand a Brazilian speaking. To learn all of the contractions and know how to use them, check out our Dica about contractions.

To learn more about some contractions separately check out these Dicas:

• Preposition EM with indefinite articles
• The preposition EM with definite articles
• Preposition PARA in Portuguese
• Preposition POR in Portuguese

Verbs that need prepositions in Portuguese

Did you know that in Portuguese we have some verbs that need prepositions? If you use these verbs without a preposition, it’s wrong! One of them is very common. Do you know which verb I’m talking about? We use it to talk about the things we like…. Gostar is a verb that always come with the preposition de after it. Here there’s a list for you with some verbs that need a preposition with it.

Now that you know the verbs that need prepositions, it’s time to see some Portuguese prepositions examples with these verbs:

Nós gostamos das aulas de Português em grupo!
We like the Portuguese classes in group!

Eu fui para a Bahia mês passado.
I went to Bahia last month.

Ele vai de avião para São Paulo.
He will go by plane to São Paulo.

Estou cansado, vou voltar para casa.
I’m tired, I’m going back home.

Não se preocupe, vou voltar de uber.
Don’t worry, I’ll come back by uber.

Jonas chegou na Suíça ontem.
Jonas arrived in Switzerland yesterday.

Não se esqueça de mim!
Don’t forget about me!

Quando vier ao Rio, lembre de vir visitar a Rio & Learn!
When you come to Rio, remember to visit Rio & Learn!

Clara mora em Copacabana.
Clara lives in Copacabana.

John vai começar a estudar Português com aulas privadas.
John will start to study Portuguese in a private class.

Quero aprender a andar de bicicleta.
I want to learn how to ride a bike.

Marie está pensando em viajar.
Marie is thinking about traveling. 

Ontem Jonathan sonhou com você!
Yesterday Jonathan dreamed of you!

Eles sonham em morar no Brasil.
They dream of living in Brasil.

Ele precisa aprender a dirigir.
He needs to learn to drive.

Sometimes the use of the preposition depends on what you are going to say after the verb. The verb aprender needs the preposition a when we use a verb after it. If we use a noun, we don’t need to use the preposition. Take a look at the example:

Valéria aprendeu Português.
Valéria learned Portuguese.

Portuguese is a noun, not a verb, so we don’t use the preposition. The same thing happens with the verb terminar. Check out:

Eu terminei o livro.
I finished the book.

And, finally, the verb sonhar is a bit different. We can use it with two prepositions: em and com. When we use a verb after it, we must use the preposition em and when we use a noun, we must put the preposition com. 

With the verb precisar it can also vary. We use the preposition de when we are using a noun after it, when we use a verb, we don’t use any preposition. Take a look:

Eu preciso de um caderno.
I need a notebook.

Prepositions of place in Portuguese

We also have some prepositions of place that are used to explain and describe where something or someone is located. To learn more about these prepositions check it here.

Prepositional Phrases

We also have another type of preposition in Portuguese: the prepositional phrases. They are called this because it’s not only a word that is a preposition, is a combination of more than one word. Take a look at the list of the preposition phrases that are more common.

Now let’s see some examples with preposition phrases:

Graças a Deus, não perdemos o voo.
Thank God we didn’t miss our flight.

Eu preciso falar com você a respeito do trabalho.
I need to talk to you about work.

Joana vai viajar junto com Sylvia.
Joana is traveling with Sylvia.

Marcos vai à praia em vez de ir à floresta.
Marcos will go to beach instead of going to the forest.

Apesar da chuva, vamos à praia.
Despite the rain, we are going to the beach.

A fim de viajar no final do ano, você precisa economizar dinheiro.
In order to travel at the end of the year, you need to save money.

Now it’s your turn!

Read the text below and choose the correct prepositions to complete it. Here are you options:

O fim de semana está chegando e estamos planejando uma viagem _____________ a família. O problema é que precisamos decidir o lugar então vamos nos reunir para votar _____________ Rio de Janeiro ou Salvador. _____________ a votação, precisamos decidir se vamos ficar _____________ o próximo final de semana ou não. Minha esposa está _____________ trabalho agora então para ela tanto faz, mas precisamos falar com todos _____________ isso. Espero que ninguém seja _____________.

If you want to practice even more about prepositions in Portuguese, do more exercises here!

Remember: you can learn more about Portuguese and Brazil on our Facebook.

A big hug to all of you!
We‘ll see you in Rio de Janeiro.

         
Click on the links below to see more related Dicas
Portuguese Contractions
Preposition De in Portuguese
Prepositions of place in Portuguese
Portuguese preposition exercises

Answers

O fim de semana está chegando e estamos planejando uma viagem com a família. O problema é que precisamos decidir o lugar então vamos nos reunir para votar entre Rio de Janeiro ou Salvador. Após a votação, precisamos decidir se vamos ficar até o próximo final de semana ou não. Minha esposa está sem trabalho agora então para ela tanto faz, mas precisamos falar com todos sobre isso. Espero que ninguém seja contra.