De is the workhorse of the Brazilian preposition system. It covers four things English splits across the apostrophe-s, the words of and from, and bare noun-modifiers like "wooden table." It is also the preposition that contracts the most aggressively — it fuses with articles (do, da), with pronouns (dele, dela), with demonstratives (disso, daquele), and even with the adverb aqui (daqui). If you only deeply learn one preposition first, make it this one.
Possession: where English uses 's
English shows possession with an apostrophe-s: "João's book." Portuguese has no apostrophe and no 's; instead it reverses the order and links the two nouns with de: literally "the book of João."
O livro do João está em cima da estante.
João's book is on top of the bookshelf. (de + o = do, de + a = da)
A casa da minha avó fica numa rua tranquila.
My grandmother's house is on a quiet street. (de + a = da)
Notice that de immediately contracts with the article in front of the owner's name or noun. In Brazil people very often put an article before a person's name (o João, a Maria), so the contraction is almost guaranteed: do João, da Maria.
Origin: where you're from
De answers the question de onde? ("from where?"). This is the from sense, used above all to say where a person is from.
Eu sou de Recife, mas moro em São Paulo há dez anos.
I'm from Recife, but I've lived in São Paulo for ten years.
Esse vinho vem do Rio Grande do Sul.
This wine comes from Rio Grande do Sul. (de + o = do)
With many countries the article triggers a contraction: do Brasil, dos Estados Unidos. With most cities there is no article, so de stays bare: de Recife, de Salvador.
Material: what something is made of
To say what something is made of, Portuguese uses de with no article at all — just the bare material word.
Ganhei uma mesa de madeira de presente.
I got a wooden table as a gift.
Prefiro copos de vidro a copos de plástico.
I prefer glass cups to plastic cups.
Here is a place where English often uses a bare adjective ("wooden," "plastic") or a noun-modifier ("glass cups"). Portuguese has no such adjective for most materials — it builds the meaning with de + the noun for the substance: de madeira, de vidro, de plástico, de algodão (cotton), de ouro (gold).
Content and type: what's inside, what kind
The same bare-de pattern describes what a container holds or what type something is.
Me vê um copo de água, por favor.
Get me a glass of water, please.
Comprei uma caixa de bombons e um pote de sorvete.
I bought a box of chocolates and a tub of ice cream.
Ela é professora de matemática numa escola pública.
She's a math teacher at a public school.
Note copo de água (a glass of water — describing the type/content) versus copo com água (a glass with water in it — emphasizing the water is actually in it right now). In everyday speech copo de água is the default.
The contractions of de
This is the part to drill. De merges with everything it can.
| de + | contraction | example |
|---|---|---|
| o | do | o fim do filme |
| a | da | a porta da casa |
| os | dos | o som dos pássaros |
| as | das | o cheiro das flores |
| ele / ela | dele / dela | o pai dele |
| eles / elas | deles / delas | a casa deles |
| isso / isto / aquilo | disso / disto / daquilo | gosto disso |
| este / esse / aquele | deste / desse / daquele | perto daquele prédio |
| aqui / ali / aí | daqui / dali / daí | saí daqui cedo |
| um / uma | dum / duma (informal) | o teto dum prédio |
O título do livro eu esqueci, mas lembro do autor.
I forgot the book's title, but I remember the author. (de + o = do)
Não gosto disso, prefiro aquilo ali.
I don't like that, I prefer that one over there. (de + isso = disso)
Third-person possession lives in de
Because there is no separate word for "his," "her," or "their," Brazilian Portuguese leans on de + pronoun. Seu/sua technically exists but in Brazil it usually means "your," so to avoid ambiguity people overwhelmingly say dele/dela/deles.
A bolsa dela é igualzinha à minha.
Her bag is exactly like mine. (de + ela = dela)
Os amigos deles vão chegar mais tarde.
Their friends are going to arrive later. (de + eles = deles)
De in compound prepositions
Many two-word prepositions end in de, and that final de contracts just like any other.
| Compound | Meaning | With article |
|---|---|---|
| perto de | near | perto do, perto da |
| longe de | far from | longe do, longe da |
| antes de | before | antes do, antes da |
| depois de | after | depois do, depois da |
| dentro de | inside | dentro do, dentro da |
| em vez de | instead of | em vez do, em vez da |
| além de | besides | além do, além da |
A padaria fica perto da minha casa, depois do semáforo.
The bakery is near my house, after the traffic light. (perto + da, depois + do)
Verbs that require de
A whole class of verbs simply demands de before its object. There is no logic you can derive from English — gostar takes de even though "to like" takes a direct object in English. You must store these verbs together with their preposition. Here are the most common:
| Verb + de | Meaning |
|---|---|
| gostar de | to like |
| precisar de | to need |
| lembrar de | to remember |
| esquecer de | to forget |
| depender de | to depend on |
| reclamar de | to complain about |
| desistir de | to give up on |
| cuidar de | to take care of |
Eu gosto muito de música brasileira.
I really like Brazilian music.
A gente precisa de mais tempo para terminar isso.
We need more time to finish this.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu gosto muito Brasília.
Incorrect — gostar requires de before its object.
✅ Eu gosto muito de Brasília.
I really like Brasília.
❌ O carro de o meu irmão.
Incorrect — de + o must contract to do.
✅ O carro do meu irmão.
My brother's car.
❌ Essa casa é de ela.
Incorrect — de + ela contracts to dela.
✅ Essa casa é dela.
That house is hers.
❌ Uma mesa madeira.
Incorrect — material needs de between the noun and the substance.
✅ Uma mesa de madeira.
A wooden table.
❌ Eu preciso mais dinheiro.
Incorrect — precisar takes de before its object.
✅ Eu preciso de mais dinheiro.
I need more money.
Key Takeaways
- De covers English 's, of, from, and "made of" — flip the word order and link with de.
- It contracts obligatorily with articles (do, da, dos, das), pronouns (dele, dela), demonstratives (disso, daquele), and aqui/ali (daqui, dali).
- Third-person possession is normally dele/dela, not seu/sua, in Brazil.
- Materials and contents use bare de: de madeira, de água.
- Verbs like gostar de and precisar de require de — memorize them as chunks.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A map of the Brazilian Portuguese preposition system, the obligatory contractions with articles and pronouns, and why prepositions almost never map one-to-one to English.
- Preposition 'Em': In, On, AtA1 — How 'em' collapses English in/on/at into a single preposition for location and time — its obligatory contractions (no, na, nele, nisso) and the verbs that take it.
- Contractions with 'De'A1 — The full system of 'de' contractions in Brazilian Portuguese — do/da/dos/das, dele/dela, deste/desse/daquele, disso/daquilo, daqui/dali — which are obligatory, which are optional, and when not to contract at all.
- GostarA1 — Full conjugation and usage reference for 'gostar' (to like) — a perfectly regular -ar verb whose one cardinal rule is the mandatory preposition 'de' before its object.
- PrecisarA1 — The regular -ar verb 'precisar' (to need), with the crucial 'precisar de + noun' construction, the BR habit of dropping 'de' before an infinitive ('Preciso sair'), and the formal sense 'to specify'.
- Contraction ErrorsA2 — Why Brazilian Portuguese contractions are mandatory, not optional — failing to contract de/em/a/por with articles, missing the crase à, and the over-contraction trap before infinitives.