Study Resource: Contractions with Prepositions
In Brazilian Portuguese, it is common to form between the de, a, em, and certain function words that follow them, including:
→ o, a, os, as(the)
Some → ele(he), ela(she), eles(they m.), elas(they f.)
and → e.g. esse(this), este(that, nearby), aquele(that, distant),...
Below, we summarize the forms of all of the Brazilian Portuguese contractions between de, a, em, and the function words listed above.
All contractions with ‘de’
In Brazilian Portuguese, we can form contractions between de + definite articles, de + subject pronouns, de + demonstrative pronoun, or de + demonstrative adjectives.
Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives | Definite articles | Subject pronouns |
|---|---|---|
de + esse(s) → desse(s) | de + o(s) → do(s) | de + ele(s) → dele(s) |
de + essa(s) → dessa(s) | de + a(s) → da(s) | de + ela(s) → dela(s) |
de + isso → disso | ||
de + este(s) → deste(s) | ||
de + esta(s) → desta(s) | ||
de + isto → disto | ||
de + aquele(s) → daquele(s) | ||
de + aquela(s) → daquela(s) | ||
de + aquilo → daquilo |
All contractions with ‘a’
In Brazilian Portuguese, you can form contractions between a + definite article, a + demonstrative pronoun, or a + demonstrative adjective.
Subject pronouns | Definite articles |
|---|---|
a + aquele(s) → àquele(s) | a + o(s) → ao(s) |
a + aquela(s) → àquela(s) | a + a(s) → à(s) |
a + aquilo → àquilo |
All contractions with ‘em’
In Brazilian Portuguese, we can form contractions between de + definite articles, de + subject pronouns, de + demonstrative pronoun, or de + demonstrative adjectives.
Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives | Definite articles | Subject pronouns |
|---|---|---|
em + esse(s) → nesse(s) | em + o(s) → no(s) | em + ele(s) → nele(s) |
em + essa(s) → nessa(s) | em + a(s) → na(s) | em + ela(s) → nela(s) |
em + isso → nisso | ||
em + este(s) → neste(s) | ||
em + esta(s) → nesta(s) | ||
de + isto → disto | ||
em + isto → nisto | ||
em + aquele(s) → naquele(s) | ||
em + aquela(s) → naquela(s) | ||
em + aquilo → naquilo |
