Prepositions and directions

Chapter 06 covered how prepositions contract. This chapter covers what they mean and how to use them to find things.

Grammar

1. The core prepositions

Preposition	Respelling	Core meaning
`de`	jee	of, from; by (transport)
`em`	eng	in, on, at
`a`	ah	to (formal, round trip)
`para` / `pra`	prah	to, for
`por`	poor	by, through, along, per
`com`	kong	with
`sem`	seng	without
`até`	ah-TEH	until, as far as
`entre`	EN-tree	between
`sobre`	SOH-bree	on top of; about (topic)
`desde` [+]	DEHZ-jee	since

em covers English in, on, and at all at once. na mesa = on the table. no hotel = at the hotel. na cidade = in the city. One word, three English prepositions — this is a simplification, not a difficulty.

2. Position words

These are all built with de or a and therefore contract:

Portuguese	Respelling	Meaning
`perto de`	PEHR-too jee	near
`longe de`	LONG-zhee jee	far from
`ao lado de`	ow LAH-doo jee	next to
`na frente de`	nah FREN-chee jee	in front of
`atrás de`	ah-TRAHS jee	behind
`em cima de`	eng SEE-mah jee	on top of
`embaixo de`	em-BAI-shoo jee	under
`dentro de`	DEN-troo jee	inside
`fora de`	FOH-rah jee	outside
`no fim de`	noo feeng jee	at the end of
`no meio de`	noo MAY-oo jee	in the middle of

Contraction in action: perto **do** hotel, ao lado **da** farmácia, atrás **do** banco.

Drop the de and they become standalone adverbs: É perto (it's near), Fica longe (it's far), Está aqui embaixo (it's down here).

3. Movement words

Portuguese	Meaning
`à direita` (ah jee-RAY-tah)	to the right
`à esquerda` (ah es-KEHR-dah)	to the left
`em frente` / `reto` (HEH-too)	straight ahead
`para trás`	back
`na esquina` (nah es-KEE-nah)	on the corner
`no cruzamento` [+]	at the intersection
`no fim da rua`	at the end of the street
`depois do banco`	past the bank
`antes da praça` [+]	before the square
`do outro lado`	on the other side

4. Transport takes `de`

de + vehicle, with no article

de ônibus, de táxi, de carro, de avião [+], de metrô [+]

The exception is on foot: a pé (ah peh).

5. `a` vs `para` vs `em` for going places

	Sense	Example
`ir a` / `ao`	going, coming back; formal	`Vou ao mercado`
`ir para` / `pra`	going, staying; the Brazilian default	`Vou pra praia`
`chegar em`	arriving — not chegar a	`Cheguei no hotel`
`estar em`	being at	`Estou no hotel`
`sair de` [+]	leaving from	`Saio de casa às oito`

Use pra for going and em for arriving and being. That covers nearly everything.

Note: em casa and para casa drop the article. Estou em casa (I'm at home), Vou pra casa (I'm going home).

6. The two useful verbs for directions

ficar — where a place is: Onde **fica** o banco?
ir — how to get there: Como eu **vou** pro centro? / Como eu **chego** lá?

7. `por` — through, along, per

por is the "movement across" preposition and the "per" preposition:

Passa **pela** rua — it goes along the street
Vou **pelo** centro — I'll go through downtown
duas vezes **por** semana — twice a week
R$ 50 **por** dia — 50 a day

Examples

Where things are

Portuguese	Respelling	English
A chave está na mesa	ah SHAH-vee tah nah MEH-zah	The key is on the table
O dinheiro está na mala	… nah MAH-lah	The money is in the bag
A gente está no hotel	… noo oh-TEW	We're at the hotel
Ele está em casa	… eng KAH-zah	He's at home
O banheiro fica no fim	… noo feeng	The bathroom is at the end
A farmácia fica perto do hotel	… PEHR-too doo oh-TEW	The pharmacy is near the hotel
O banco fica ao lado da loja	… ow LAH-doo dah LOH-zhah	The bank is next to the shop
O carro está atrás do restaurante	… ah-TRAHS doo hes-tow-RAHN-chee	The car is behind the restaurant
A mala está embaixo da cama	… em-BAI-shoo dah KAH-mah	The suitcase is under the bed
O mercado fica na esquina	… nah es-KEE-nah	The market is on the corner
Fica longe daqui?	FEE-kah LONG-zhee dah-KEE	Is it far from here?
É perto	eh PEHR-too	It's close

Asking for directions

Portuguese	Respelling	English
Com licença, onde fica a estação?	kong lee-SEN-sah, OHN-jee FEE-kah…	Excuse me, where's the station?
Como eu chego no centro?	KOH-moo eh-oo SHEH-goo noo SEN-troo	How do I get downtown?
É longe?	eh LONG-zhee	Is it far?
Dá pra ir a pé?	dah prah eer ah peh	Can I walk there?
Quanto tempo a pé?	KWAHN-too TEM-poo ah peh	How long on foot?
Tem um banco por aqui?	teng oong BAHN-koo poor ah-KEE	Is there a bank around here?
Qual ônibus vai pro centro?	kwaw OH-nee-boos vai proo SEN-troo	Which bus goes downtown?
Este ônibus vai pra praia?	EHS-chee OH-nee-boos vai prah PRAH-yah	Does this bus go to the beach?
Eu estou perdido [+]	eh-oo toh per-JEE-doo	I'm lost
Pode me mostrar [+] no mapa? [+]	PAW-jee mee mos-TRAR noo MAH-pah	Can you show me on the map?

Understanding the answer

These are the sentences that will come back at you. Recognition matters more than production here.

Portuguese	Respelling	English
Vai reto	vai HEH-too	Go straight
Vira à direita [+]	VEE-rah ah jee-RAY-tah	Turn right
Vira à esquerda	VEE-rah ah es-KEHR-dah	Turn left
É na primeira [+] rua	eh nah pree-MAY-rah HOO-ah	It's on the first street
Fica depois do banco	FEE-kah deh-POYS doo BAHN-koo	It's past the bank
Do outro lado da rua	doo OH-troo LAH-doo dah HOO-ah	Across the street
É logo ali [+]	eh LOH-goo ah-LEE	It's right there — literally it's soon there
Fica a duas quadras [+]	FEE-kah ah DOO-ahs KWAH-drahs	It's two blocks away
É bem perto	eh beng PEHR-too	It's very close

Transport

Portuguese	Respelling	English
Vou de ônibus	voh jee OH-nee-boos	I'm going by bus
A gente vai de táxi	… jee TAHK-see	We'll take a taxi
Eu vou a pé	eh-oo voh ah peh	I'll walk
Cheguei de avião [+]	sheh-GAY jee ah-vee-OWNG	I arrived by plane
Vou pro aeroporto	voh proo ah-eh-roh-POR-too	I'm going to the airport
A gente chega no hotel às seis	… noo oh-TEW ahs says	We arrive at the hotel at six
Eu saio [+] do hotel amanhã	… doo oh-TEW ah-mah-NYANG	I leave the hotel tomorrow

`com` and `sem`

Portuguese	Respelling	English
Com açúcar [+]	kong ah-SOO-kar	With sugar
Sem açúcar	seng ah-SOO-kar	Without sugar
Café com leite [+]	kah-FEH kong LAY-chee	Coffee with milk
Água sem gás [+]	AH-gwah seng gahs	Still water
Eu vou com você	eh-oo voh kong voh-SEH	I'm going with you
Sem problema	seng proh-BLEH-mah	No problem
Um quarto com banheiro	oong KWAR-too kong bah-NYAY-roo	A room with a bathroom

`até` — as far as, until

Portuguese	English
Até a praia	As far as the beach
Vai até o fim da rua	Go to the end of the street
Fico até sexta	I'm staying until Friday
Aberto até às dez	Open until ten
Até amanhã	See you tomorrow
Até logo	See you later — literally until soon

What to take from this chapter

em = in, on, and at. One word covers all three.
Position words end in de and therefore contract: perto **do** hotel.
Transport takes bare de: de ônibus, de táxi. Walking is a pé.
ir **pra** to go, chegar **em** to arrive, estar **em** to be there.
Onde fica…? to ask where. Como eu chego…? to ask how.