Study Resource: Contractions with Prepositions
In Brazilian Portuguese, it is common to form contractions between the prepositions de, a, em, and certain function words that follow them, including:
Definite articles → o, a, os, as (meaning the)
Some subject pronouns → ele (meaning he), ela (meaning she), eles (meaning they m.), elas (meaning they f.)
Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives → e.g. esse (meaning this), este (meaning that, nearby), aquele (meaning 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 |
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