Contractions

In Portuguese, contraction is mandatory, not stylistic. de o carro is not casual-versus-formal — it is simply wrong. It must be do carro. There is no version of the language in which you can skip this chapter.

Four prepositions contract: de, em, a, por.

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Grammar

1. de (of, from) + article

dum / duma are optional in Brazil — de um is also written. The others are compulsory.

2. em (in, on, at) + article

3. a (to) + article

à sounds exactly like a. The grave accent is written-only — it marks that a contraction happened. You will hear no difference; you need it only for reading and writing.

4. por (by, through, for) + article

5. de and em + pronouns

You met dele / dela in chapter 03 — this is where they come from. de + ele = dele.

6. de and em + demonstratives

And with the place words:

| de + aqui | daqui | from here | | de + ali | dali | from there | | de + aí | daí | from there / and then |

7. para → pra

Not a formal contraction but universal in speech and increasingly in writing:

8. a vs para — which "to"?

In practice Brazilians use para/pra for nearly everything. a survives in fixed expressions and formal speech. If you always say pra, you will be right most of the time.

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Examples

de — of, from

em — in, on, at

a — to

por — by, through, for

pra in the wild

Contrast drill

Same sentence, four prepositions. Watch what changes.

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What to take from this chapter

1. de + o = do, em + o = no, a + o = ao, por + o = pelo. And their feminine and plural forms.
2. This is compulsory. Never say de o or em a.
3. de also contracts with pronouns (dele), demonstratives (desse), and place words (daqui).
4. à is pronounced exactly like a — the accent is for readers, not speakers.
5. Use pra for to and for. It covers almost every case.