Contractions with 'De' | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

In Brazilian Portuguese, de almost never stands alone in front of an article, a demonstrative, or a place adverb — it fuses with the following word into a single contracted form. De + o is not "de o," it is do. This is not a stylistic choice or a casual shortcut; with definite articles and demonstratives it is obligatory. Writing de o João instead of do João is a spelling error, full stop. The good news is that the system is regular: once you see the pattern, every contraction falls out of it. This page lays out the entire set, marks which fusions are mandatory and which are optional, and — just as important — shows you the few cases where you must not contract.

Articles: the mandatory core

The fusion of de with the definite articles (o, a, os, as) is the bedrock of the system. It is required in every register, from a text message to a legal document.

de +	=	Example
o	do	o fim do filme (the end of the film)
a	da	a cor da parede (the color of the wall)
os	dos	o som dos pássaros (the sound of the birds)
as	das	o cheiro das flores (the smell of the flowers)

A chave do carro está em cima da mesa.

The car key is on top of the table. (de+o=do, de+a=da)

Gostei muito dos quadros e das esculturas da exposição.

I really liked the paintings and the sculptures in the exhibition. (de+os, de+as, de+a)

Because Brazilians routinely put an article before personal names (o João, a Maria), the contraction is nearly guaranteed there too: a casa do João, o cachorro da Maria.

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There is no English equivalent of this fusion — "of the" stays two words forever. In Portuguese, "of the" is a single inseparable word: do, da, dos, das. If you ever write de o or de a, you have made a mistake.

Personal pronouns: third person

De fuses with the third-person subject pronouns to express possession — the everyday Brazilian way of saying "his," "her," "their."

de +	=	Example
ele	dele	o pai dele (his father)
ela	dela	a bolsa dela (her bag)
eles	deles	a casa deles (their house, masc./mixed)
elas	delas	os filhos delas (their children, fem.)

O carro dele é vermelho, e o da irmã dele é azul.

His car is red, and his sister's is blue. (de+ele=dele, de+a=da)

These fusions are obligatory: de ele is never written. (The first- and second-person pronouns mim, ti, nós, vocês do not contract: perto de mim, gosto de você — see the note below.)

Demonstratives: this, that, that-over-there

De fuses with the whole demonstrative family. This is one of the most error-prone areas, because there are three "distances" (este = near me, esse = near you, aquele = far from both), each with masculine, feminine, and neuter forms.

de +	=	Meaning
este / esta / estes / estas	deste / desta / destes / destas	of this (near me)
esse / essa / esses / essas	desse / dessa / desses / dessas	of that (near you)
aquele / aquela / aqueles / aquelas	daquele / daquela / daqueles / daquelas	of that (far off)
isto	disto	of this (neuter)
isso	disso	of that (neuter)
aquilo	daquilo	of that thing (neuter)

Não gosto disso, prefiro o sabor daquele outro.

I don't like that, I prefer the flavor of that other one. (de+isso=disso, de+aquele=daquele)

A capa deste livro é mais bonita que a desse aí.

The cover of this book is prettier than the one of that book of yours. (de+este=deste, de+esse=desse)

The neuter forms disto/disso/daquilo are what you use to mean "of this/that" when there is no specific noun — pointing at an idea, a situation, a vague thing. Gosto disso = "I like that"; tenho medo disso = "I'm afraid of that."

Place adverbs: from here, from there

De also fuses with the three locative adverbs aqui, aí, and ali (and, less commonly, acolá).

de +	=	Meaning
aqui	daqui	from here (near me)
aí	daí	from there (near you)
ali	dali	from there (over there)

Saí daqui às seis e cheguei lá em casa só às oito.

I left here at six and only got home at eight. (de+aqui=daqui)

Tira o pé daí, você vai sujar o sofá.

Get your foot off there, you'll dirty the couch. (de+aí=daí)

A bonus: daí has taken on a life of its own in casual speech as a discourse marker meaning "and then / so" — Daí eu falei pra ele... ("So then I told him...") (informal).

The optional ones: dum, duma, doutro

Here the rule softens. De can fuse with the indefinite articles um/uma into dum/duma, but this is optional and feels informal. In careful writing most Brazilians keep them separate: de um, de uma.

de +	contraction	register
um / uma	dum / duma	(informal — written de um / de uma in careful prose)
uns / umas	duns / dumas	(informal)
outro / outra	doutro / doutra	(rare, literary — usually de outro)

Ouvi o barulho dum carro passando lá fora.

I heard the noise of a car passing outside. (dum is informal; de um is the careful form)

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The contrast is the whole point: do/da (with the definite article) is obligatory and you cannot un-fuse it; dum/duma (with the indefinite article) is optional and leans casual. When you write formally, prefer de um but never de o.

When NOT to contract

This is the subtle part that even advanced learners miss. De does not fuse with a following word when that word is the subject of an infinitive clause. Compare:

Antes do filme, comemos pipoca.

Before the film, we ate popcorn. (de+o=do — o filme is just a noun)

Antes de o filme começar, comemos pipoca.

Before the film started, we ate popcorn. (NO contraction — o filme is the subject of começar)

In the second sentence, o filme is not the object of de — it is the subject of the verb começar. The preposition de governs the whole little clause o filme começar ("the film starting"), not the noun alone. Brazilian grammar therefore keeps de and o apart. This is the classic antes de o filme começar construction, and the same holds with depois de, apesar de, por causa de, etc., whenever an explicit subject sits before an infinitive.

Apesar de a chuva ter parado, o jogo foi cancelado.

Despite the rain having stopped, the game was canceled. (NO contraction — a chuva is the subject of ter parado)

A few other non-contracting cases: before the pronouns mim and ti (gosto de você, perto de mim — these simply have no contracted forms), and in some fixed titles or quotations where the article belongs to the cited name.

Common Mistakes

❌ A casa de o João é grande.

Incorrect — de + o is obligatorily do.

✅ A casa do João é grande.

João's house is big.

❌ Tenho medo de isso.

Incorrect — de + isso fuses to disso.

✅ Tenho medo disso.

I'm afraid of that.

❌ Saí de aqui correndo.

Incorrect — de + aqui fuses to daqui.

✅ Saí daqui correndo.

I rushed out of here.

❌ Antes do filme começar, comemos pipoca.

Incorrect here — o filme is the subject of começar, so de stays separate.

✅ Antes de o filme começar, comemos pipoca.

Before the film started, we ate popcorn.

❌ A opinião de ele não importa.

Incorrect — de + ele fuses to dele.

✅ A opinião dele não importa.

His opinion doesn't matter.

Key Takeaways

De
- article/pronoun/demonstrative/place-adverb contracts obligatorily: do, da, dele, dela, deste, desse, daquele, disso, daquilo, daqui, dali.
De
- indefinite article (dum, duma) is optional and informal; in careful writing use de um, de uma.
Never write de o, de a, de ele, de isso — those are spelling errors.
Do not contract when the following article introduces the subject of an infinitive: antes de o filme começar, apesar de a chuva ter parado.
Mim and ti never contract with de: perto de mim, gosto de você.

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