Brazilian Portuguese prepositions of movement are used to indicate the direction in which something is moving or to give information about the path something is traveling.
Prepositions of movement are often used together with verbs of motion like ir meaning to go or vir meaning to come. In this post, we will review each of the specific prepositions of movement and when to use them, while providing you with some tips about the differences between particularly tricky pairs. Curious to know more? Let’s go!
How to use the preposition ‘a’ for movement?
In Brazilian Portuguese, the preposition a means “to,” and it is used before the destination of a movement. Generally we will only use a if the person or thing that is moving will remain at the destination for a short period of time, so a is usually used for nearby destinations such as shops and other places where you might remain for just a while.
Verbs of movement like ir meaning to go, vir meaning to come, voltar meaning to come back, and chegar meaning to arrive are frequently followed by the preposition a.
A is a very common preposition in Brazilian Portuguese, but sometimes its form will change depending on the rest of the sentence. Let’s move on to the contractions of a.
Contractions of ‘a’
Most of the time, the preposition a is followed by the definite articles o, a, os, as meaning the. When this happens, a and the definite article will always form a contraction meaning “to the”:
a + a → à | feminine singular |
a + as → às | feminine plural |
a + o → ao | masculine singular |
a + os → aos | masculine plural |
For example:
- feminine singularNós vamos à padaria.Translation: We'll go to the bakery.
- masculine singularVocê foi ao supermercado?Translation: Did you go to the supermarket?
How to use the preposition ‘para’ for movement?
Like a, we can use the preposition para meaning to to refer to final destinations, in two circumstances:
For a destination where you will stay for a long period of time
We use para after the verbs of movement ir meaning to go, vir meaning to come, voltar meaning to come back, and chegar meaning to arrive, before giving a destination where you will stay for a significant period of time, usually to a country or a city.
- Ele vai para o Brasil estudar português.Translation: He is going to Brazil to study Portuguese.
- Ele se mudará para São Paulo.Translation: He will move to São Paulo.
Recall that for short-term destinations, like stores or local destinations, you’ll use a meaning to instead!
When the destination represents the direction of movement
In this use, para is translated more like “towards” + destination. We often use this preposition to describe travel via some particular means of transport.
- Esse trem vai para o centro da cidade?Translation: Does this train go to the city center?
- Eles viajaram para a Bahia de avião.Translation: They traveled to Bahia by plane.
Contractions of ‘para’
We normally contract the preposition para with the definite articles, especially in spoken Brazilian Portuguese. The forms are:
para + a → pra | feminine singular |
para + as → pras | feminine plural |
para + o → pro | masculine singular |
para + os → pros | masculine plural |
For example:
Before countries, we generally do use definite articles.
para o / pro Brasil meaning to Brazil
para a / pra Argentina meaning to Argentina
However, we generally do not use articles before cities:
para São Paulo meaning to São Paulo
para Buenos Aires meaning to Buenos Aires
‘A’ or ‘para’?
As mentioned above, a and para are both prepositions used to say that we are going somewhere, but there is a distinction between them:
a meaning to states a short permanence in a place, whereas
para meaning to states a long permanence in a place.
However, in informal spoken and written Brazilian Portuguese, this distinction is mostly ignored. Brazilians often use para (and its contractions) not only for long permanence, but for short stays in a place, too.
This means that each of the following is acceptable in Brazilian Portuguese:
✅Você vai para o trabalho hoje?
✅Você vai pro trabalho hoje?
How to use the preposition ‘por’ for movement?
Por is commonly used with the same verbs of movement we have seen earlier in the post (ir, vir, voltar, chegar), and it is used to describe the route of movement, meaning “by,” “for,” “through,” or “around” in English. For example:
Por can also be combined with additional verbs of movement, such as passar meaning to pass and andar meaning to go/walk.
- O ônibus passa por essa rua?Translation: Does the bus pass (by) this street?
- Você sempre anda por este caminho?Translation: Do you always walk this way?
Contractions of ‘por’
Like with the other prepositions of movement in Brazilian Portuguese, it is also very common to use the contractions of por and the definite articles:
por + a → pela | feminine singular |
por + as → pelas | feminine plural |
por + o → pelo | masculine singular |
por + os → pelos | masculine plural |
For example:
- feminine singularVocê vem pela avenida principal?Translation: Are you coming through the main avenue?
- masculine singularEu andei pelo bairro procurando um lugar para comer.Translation: I went around the neighborhood looking for a place to eat.
How to use the preposition ‘de’ for movement?
The preposition de meaning from, by can be used to refer to the starting point of the movement.
The preposition de can also introduce certain methods of transport, as in:
Contractions of ‘de’
You must also use the contractions of de and the definite articles according to the gender and number of the following noun:
de + a → da | feminine singular |
de + as → das | feminine plural |
de + o → do | masculine singular |
de + os → dos | masculine plural |
For example:
How to use the preposition ‘em’ for movement?
The preposition em can also be used to show movement, meaning “into, onto.” For example:
Contractions of ‘em’
Use the contractions of em with the definite articles, again according to the gender and number of the following noun:
em + a → na | feminine singular |
em + as → nas | feminine plural |
em + o → no | masculine singular |
em + os → nos | masculine plural |
For example:
How to use the preposition ‘até’ for movement?
The preposition até meaning until, to can be used to indicate the limits of the movement in question. For example:
Unlike the prepositions a, para, de, and em, there are no contractions for the preposition até.
What are compound prepositions of movement?
Compound prepositions of movement are groups of words that together act like a preposition of movement. Let’s take a look at some examples of these in Brazilian Portuguese.
em volta de / ao redor de meaning around
Nós caminhamos em volta do parque.
Nós caminhamos ao redor do parque.Translation: We walked around the park.em direção a meaning toward
Em direção a meaning toward can be used in place of para, but em direção a is a bit more precise.
As crianças estão andando em direção à escola.
As crianças estão andando para a escola.Translation: The kids are walking toward the school.
In summary
In this post, we reviewed all of the prepositions of place in Brazilian Portuguese and when they are each used. These prepositions often accompany the verbs of movement ir meaning to go, vir meaning to come, voltar meaning to come back, and chegar meaning to arrive. Here’s a recap of what we’ve learned:
a meaning to → short permanence in a place, contracts with the definite articles
para meaning to → long permanence in a place, contracts with the definite articles
por meaning by, for, through, around → describes the route the movement takes
de meaning from → indicates the starting point of movement
até meaning to, until → indicates the limits of the movement
em volta de meaning around, ao redor de meaning around, em direção a meaning toward → compound prepositions
Are you ready to practice prepositions of movement in Brazilian Portuguese with some activities?
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