Portuguese Contractions

ContraçõesContractionsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Plural, Feminine are simply the result of merging two words into one. In English, this includes words like I’m (I + am), you’re (you + are), we’ll (we + will), etc. With Portuguese contractions, however, it typically happens when certain prepositions are combined with certain other types of words.

Which Words Form Contractions in Portuguese?

When these words…

• definite articles (o, a, os, as)
• indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)
• demonstratives (este, esse, isto, aquele, etc.)
• certain pronouns (eles, elas, vocês, mim, ti, si, nós, algum, etc.)
• certain adverbs (aqui, aí, ali, etc.)

… are preceded by the prepositions below, sometimes a contraction is formed. Here are the general rules for contracting with each preposition:

• em – Add the letter n to the other word (em + o = no).
• de – Add the letter d to the other word (de + o = do).
• a – The words are merged into one (a + os = aos) with no deletions, or, if it’s merged with a word beginning with a, it simply gets a grave accent (à).
• por – To contract with definite articles, add pel- before the article.
• para – To contract with articles, add pr- before the article. Contractions with para are more informal and are generally only used in spoken language. You may see them in informal written communication such as texts or emails, though.
• com – Forms contractions with certain pronouns (see below).

We’ve covered some of these Portuguese contractions within other units, but here you can see them all together in this handy chart. This may seem like an overwhelming list at first, but it’s really just applying the same simple patterns to different words.

Chart of Portuguese Contractions

The prepositions are shown along the top (x-axis) and the various words they combine with are found along the side (y-axis).

	em	de	a	por
otheCommunity Slow audio Play audio Article, Singular, Masculine	noCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Masculine	doCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition	aoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Masculine	peloCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition
atheCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition	naCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Feminine	daCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Feminine	àCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Feminine	pelaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Feminine
ostheCommunity Slow audio Play audio Article, Plural, Masculine	nosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Masculine	dosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Plural, Masculine	aosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Masculine	pelosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Masculine
astheCommunity Slow audio Play audio Article, Plural, Feminine	nasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Feminine	dasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Plural, Feminine	àsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Feminine	pelasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Feminine
um	numCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Masculine *	dumCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Masculine *
uma	numaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Feminine *	dumaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Singular, Feminine *
uns	nunsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Masculine *	dunsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Masculine *
umas	numasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Feminine *	dumasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Contractions, Plural, Feminine *
este	nesteCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Masculine	desteCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Masculine
esta	nestaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Feminine	destaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Feminine
estes	nestesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Masculine	destesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Masculine
estas	nestasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Feminine	destasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Feminine
esse	nesseCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Masculine	desseCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Masculine
essa	nessaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Feminine	dessaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Feminine
esses	nessesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Masculine	dessesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Masculine
essas	nessasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Feminine	dessasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Feminine
aquele	naqueleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Masculine	daqueleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions	àqueleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Masculine
aquela	naquelaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Feminine	daquelaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Feminine	àquelaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Feminine
aqueles	naquelesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Masculine	daquelesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Masculine	àquelesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Masculine
aquelas	naquelasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Feminine	daquelasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Feminine	àquelasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Plural, Feminine
aquilo	naquiloCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions	daquiloCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions	àquiloCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions, Singular, Masculine
isto	nistoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions	distoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions
isso	nissoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions	dissoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Demonstratives, Contractions
ele	neleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Contractions *	deleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Determiner, Contractions, Singular, Masculine *
ela	nelaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Contractions *	delaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Determiner, Contractions, Singular, Feminine *
eles	nelesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Contractions, Plural, Masculine *	delesCommunity Slow audio Play audio Determiner, Contractions, Plural, Masculine *
elas	nelasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Contractions *	delasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Determiner, Contractions, Plural, Feminine *
algum	nalgumCommunity Slow audio Play audio Contractions, Singular, Masculine *
alguma	nalgumaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Contractions, Singular, Feminine *
aqui		daquiCommunity *
aí		daíCommunity *
ali		daliCommunity *
onde		dondeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Contractions *	aondeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adverb, Contractions *
outro	noutroCommunity *	doutroCommunity Slow audio Play audio *
outra	noutraCommunity Slow audio Play audio *	doutraCommunity Slow audio Play audio *
outros	noutrosCommunity Slow audio Play audio *	doutrosCommunity *
outras	noutrasCommunity Slow audio Play audio *	doutrasCommunity Slow audio Play audio *

In addition, the preposition comwithCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition sometimes combines with certain tonic pronouns (y-axis):

	com
mim	comigowith meCommunity Slow audio Play audio Pronoun, Contractions
ti	contigowith you (informal)Community Slow audio Play audio Pronoun, Contractions
si	consigowith him, with her, with you (formal)Community Slow audio Play audio Pronoun, Contractions
nós	connoscowith usCommunity Slow audio Play audio Pronoun *
vocês	convoscowith you (plural)Community Slow audio Play audio Pronoun, Contractions *
eles elas	consigowith themCommunity Slow audio Play audio Pronoun, Contractions *

There are also contractions formed when combining direct and indirect object pronouns, which we’ll cover separately here: Merging Clitic Object Pronouns.

Are Contractions Mandatory?

(*) The contractions marked with * in the chart above are not always mandatory.
You may be wondering when you should use contractions, and when you shouldn’t. You must use the contraction in these contexts:

• Prepositions + demonstrative pronouns
• Prepositions + definite articles (o/os/a/as)
  • Note: The words o/os/a/as are not always definite articles. The same words are also used as direct object pronouns. In those cases, there is no contraction — it remains de o, etc. The contraction only applies when it’s preposition + definite article. For example, it’s okay to say:
    • ✅ Estou farto de o ouvir falarI’m tired of hearing him talkCommunity

When it comes to the preposition com…

• mim, ti, si: The contraction is mandatory. (In other words, you can’t say ❌ com mim, ❌  com si, or ❌  com ti.)
• nós: The contraction is mandatory, except for when nós is followed by words such as outros, mesmos, próprios, etc. In every other situation, we use connosco. For example:
  • ✅ Estamos irritados com nós própriosWe are annoyed with ourselvesCommunity
  • ✅ Venham connosco!Come(pl.) with us!Community Slow audio Play audio
• consigo: The contraction is optional. For example, you can say either of these — they mean the same thing:
  • • ✅ Eles trouxeram o material consigoThey brought the material with themCommunity
    • ✅ Eles trouxeram o material com elesThey brought the material with themCommunity
    • Consigo is more commonly used to refer to você (you – sing.,formal), but it is sometimes used to refer to ele(s)/ela(s) if it’s reflexive (as in the example above) or if it’s very clear from context who you’re referring to. When in doubt, you can stick to com ele, com elas, etc. to reduce the ambiguity. More info

Colloquial Contractions in Portuguese

There are some common ways Portuguese speakers like to shorten their words when speaking. We even made a video about it!

estar → ‘tar

The verb estar often become ‘tar in spoken language. For example:

• • estouI amCommunity Slow audio Play audio Conjugated Verbs → 'touCommunity Slow audio Play audio Conjugated Verbs, Slang
  • estavaI wasCommunity → 'tavaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Conjugated Verbs, Slang

With the Simple Past, by removing the ‘es’ from the verb, the slang version of the verb estar essentially becomes the same as the verb terto haveCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb . This might cause some confusion for non-native speakers but, luckily, you can usually get the meaning from the context of the sentence. For example:

• • Eu estive em casa → Eu 'tive em casaI was at homeCommunity vs. Eu tive esse livroI had that bookCommunity
  • Estivemos com os nossos amigos → 'Tivemos com os nossos amigosWe were with our friendsCommunity vs. Tivemos um jantar com os nossos amigosWe had a dinner with our friendsCommunity

não é → né

This phrase is often used at the end of a statement to turn it into a question that serves as a confirmation of what was just said.

• • não é?isn't it?, right?Community Slow audio Play audio → né?Community

para o → pro

Contractions formed with para are generally only used in spoken form, when speaking fast and informally. However, you might also see the words below written in an informal context, such as a text message:

• • para o → proCommunity Slow audio Play audio Preposition, Slang, Singular
  • para os → prosCommunity
  • para a → praCommunity
  • para as → prasCommunity

Examples: Portuguese Contractions Within Sentences

Let’s see how some of these Portuguese contractions are used in sentence form. Remember that, while sometimes prepositions can translate smoothly between Portuguese and English, most of the time you have to step back and focus on the construction and meaning of the entire phrase. Don’t get too caught up in the exact word-to-word translation, as you’ll discover that they are wildly inconsistent.
A família passa o dia na praiaThe family spends the day at the beachCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Ela está no carroShe is in the carCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Está em cima da televisãoIt's on top of the TVCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Eu não conheço nenhum dos meus avósI don't know any of my grandparentsCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Deve estar numa prateleiraIt must be on a shelfCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Eu não faria as coisas dessa formaI wouldn't do things (in) that wayCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Concordo contigoI agree with you(inf.)Community Slow audio Play audio
Obrigada pelo presenteThank you for the presentCommunity
Ela vai à festaShe goes to the partyCommunity Slow audio Play audio

Learning More

You can practice with Portuguese contractions throughout the other units, especially these:

• Which One?
• This and That
• Prepositions 1, Prepositions 2, Prepositions 3
• Tonic Pronouns