Contractions with 'Em' | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

The preposition em ("in / on / at") fuses with what follows exactly the way de does — and, helpfully, on a parallel pattern. Where de gives you do, da, dele, deste, disso, daqui, em gives you no, na, nele, neste, nisso (and there is no em-equivalent of daqui because em + aqui simply isn't formed — you use aqui alone for location). If you have already learned the de contractions, the em set is mostly a matter of swapping the initial d- for n-. As with de, fusion with definite articles and demonstratives is obligatory in Brazilian Portuguese: na casa, never em a casa.

Articles: the mandatory core

The fusion of em with o, a, os, as is required in every register.

em +	=	Example
o	no	no banco (in/at the bank)
a	na	na mesa (on the table)
os	nos	nos Estados Unidos (in the United States)
as	nas	nas férias (on vacation)

As crianças estão brincando no quintal e os adultos estão na cozinha.

The kids are playing in the backyard and the adults are in the kitchen. (em+o=no, em+a=na)

Coloquei suas coisas nas gavetas e os livros nos armários.

I put your things in the drawers and the books in the cabinets. (em+as=nas, em+os=nos)

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Notice how the de and em tables line up: do/da/dos/das ↔ no/na/nos/nas. Same vowels, same endings — only the first consonant changes (d- vs n-). Learn one set and the other comes almost for free.

Personal pronouns: third person

em +	=	Example
ele	nele	confio nele (I trust him)
ela	nela	pensei nela (I thought about her)
eles	neles	acredito neles (I believe in them)
elas	nelas	confio nelas (I trust them, fem.)

Pode confiar nele, é uma pessoa séria.

You can trust him, he's a serious person. (em+ele=nele)

Eu nem tinha pensado nisso, mas você tem razão.

I hadn't even thought about that, but you're right. (em+isso=nisso)

This is where the contraction is not just spelling but also meaning: many Portuguese verbs govern em (pensar em, acreditar em, confiar em, mexer em), so the contracted pronoun forms nele/nela/nisso come up constantly. Penso nele = "I think about him." (The forms mim/ti do not contract: pensei em mim, confio em você.)

Demonstratives: this, that, that-over-there

As with de, em fuses across the whole demonstrative family — three distances, three genders, plus the neuters.

em +	=	Meaning
este / esta / estes / estas	neste / nesta / nestes / nestas	in this (near me)
esse / essa / esses / essas	nesse / nessa / nesses / nessas	in that (near you)
aquele / aquela / aqueles / aquelas	naquele / naquela / naqueles / naquelas	in that (far off)
isto	nisto	in/on this (neuter)
isso	nisso	in/on that (neuter)
aquilo	naquilo	in that thing (neuter)

Naquele verão a gente passava o dia inteiro na praia.

That summer we'd spend the whole day at the beach. (em+aquele=naquele)

Anota isso neste caderno, não nesse aí.

Write that down in this notebook, not in that one of yours. (em+este=neste, em+esse=nesse)

A very common time expression hides here: nesse dia, naquela época, neste momento — Portuguese marks "on that day / at that time" with em + demonstrative, fused.

The optional ones: num, numa

Em fuses with the indefinite articles um/uma into num/numa. This contraction is more accepted in writing than its de counterpart (dum/duma) — you will see num in published prose without it feeling sloppy — but it still leans toward the informal/neutral end and many careful writers prefer em um, em uma.

em +	contraction	register
um / uma	num / numa	(neutral-to-informal; em um / em uma is the careful form)
uns / umas	nuns / numas	(informal)
outro / outra	noutro / noutra	(rare, literary — usually em outro)

Moro num apartamento pequeno perto do centro.

I live in a small apartment near downtown. (num is common and natural; em um is the careful variant)

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Both num and dum are optional, but num is more readily accepted in print than dum. The definite-article fusions (no, na, nele, neste) remain obligatory in every register — there is no "uncontracted" option for those.

Em and motion: "into"

A note on meaning, not just form. English splits "in" (static) from "into" (motion), but Portuguese often uses the same em (contracted) for both — context and the verb supply the direction.

Entrei no carro e fui embora.

I got into the car and left. (entrar + em → no)

Ela mergulhou na piscina sem pensar duas vezes.

She dove into the pool without thinking twice. (em+a=na)

The verb entrar ("to enter / get in") takes em, so "I got into the car" is entrei no carro — a place where English speakers wrongly reach for entrei o carro or entrei dentro do carro. Just entrar em, contracted to no/na.

Common Mistakes

❌ Os livros estão em a estante.

Incorrect — em + a is obligatorily na.

✅ Os livros estão na estante.

The books are on the shelf.

❌ Eu acredito em ele.

Incorrect — em + ele fuses to nele.

✅ Eu acredito nele.

I believe in him.

❌ Não tinha pensado em isso.

Incorrect — em + isso fuses to nisso.

✅ Não tinha pensado nisso.

I hadn't thought about that.

❌ Entrei dentro do carro.

Redundant — entrar already takes em; entrar dentro de is pleonastic.

✅ Entrei no carro.

I got into the car.

❌ Em aquele dia choveu muito.

Incorrect — em + aquele fuses to naquele.

✅ Naquele dia choveu muito.

It rained a lot that day.

Key Takeaways

Em
- article/pronoun/demonstrative contracts obligatorily: no, na, nos, nas, nele, nela, neste, nesse, naquele, nisso, naquilo.
The em set mirrors the de set form-for-form: do/da ↔ no/na, dele ↔ nele, disso ↔ nisso.
Em
- indefinite article (num, numa) is optional; it is more print-acceptable than dum/duma but still leans informal.
There is no em fusion with place adverbs (no "naqui") — location adverbs like aqui, ali stand alone.
Verbs that govern em (pensar, acreditar, confiar, entrar) make the fused pronouns nele/nela/nisso very frequent.

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