Article Contractions with Prepositions | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

Every time a preposition meets an article in Portuguese, they fuse. You will never write de o livro — it is always do livro. These contractions are not a stylistic choice; they are obligatory. Skipping them sounds wrong the way of the book written as ofthe book would look wrong in English. This page gives you the complete map: the four essential preposition–article fusions (de, em, a, por), the optional indefinite contractions, and the demonstrative and pronoun contractions you will bump into next.

The four essential contractions

These are the four prepositions that fuse with the definite article in every normal context. Memorise this table cold.

Preposition	o	a	os	as
de (of, from)	do	da	dos	das
em (in, on, at)	no	na	nos	nas
a (to, at)	ao	à	aos	às
por (by, through, for)	pelo	pela	pelos	pelas

De + article — do, da, dos, das

Used for possession, origin, material, topic, and dozens of idiomatic phrases.

O carro do meu irmão está na garagem.

My brother's car is in the garage.

A capital da França é Paris.

The capital of France is Paris.

Vim a pé, vindo dos correios.

I came on foot, coming from the post office.

Uma das minhas amigas é médica em Coimbra.

One of my friends is a doctor in Coimbra.

Em + article — no, na, nos, nas

Used for location, time, and containment.

Deixei as chaves no bolso do casaco.

I left the keys in the coat pocket.

Vamos encontrar-nos na praça do Rossio às seis.

We'll meet at Rossio Square at six.

Nas férias de verão vamos sempre para o Algarve.

On summer holidays we always go to the Algarve.

Escondeu o presente nos armários da cozinha.

He hid the present in the kitchen cupboards.

A + article — ao, à, aos, às

Used for direction, indirect objects, and time.

Vou ao supermercado antes de voltar para casa.

I'm going to the supermarket before heading home.

A reunião começa às nove em ponto.

The meeting starts at nine sharp.

Dei um livro aos meus sobrinhos no Natal.

I gave my nephews a book at Christmas.

Às sextas-feiras vou sempre à piscina.

On Fridays I always go to the swimming pool.

The form à carries a grave accent to distinguish it from the preposition a alone. The accent marks crase — the fusion of two identical vowels, here the preposition a and the feminine article a. The same device is used in Brazilian Portuguese, and PT-PT usage is identical. Without the accent, a is just the preposition; à signals contraction with the feminine article.

Por + article — pelo, pela, pelos, pelas

Used for cause, means, duration, and places traversed.

Vou pela avenida principal, é mais rápido.

I'll go down the main avenue, it's quicker.

Obrigado pela boleia, foste muito simpático.

Thanks for the lift, you were very kind.

Passei pelos correios esta manhã.

I stopped by the post office this morning.

O livro foi escrito pelas irmãs Brontë.

The book was written by the Brontë sisters.

Unlike do, no, ao, the contraction of por plus article is irregular in form — it is not written poro or pora but pelo / pela. This is a historical remnant of an older preposition per that survived in the fused form.

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The four contractions de + o = do, em + o = no, a + o = ao, por + o = pelo sit at the top of the frequency list for Portuguese function words. Get them fluent early. If you hesitate on do or no in reading, you will hesitate on every third or fourth word.

Optional indefinite-article contractions

With the indefinite article (um, uma, uns, umas), contractions are possible but optional. European Portuguese tolerates these contractions more readily than Brazilian Portuguese, where the separated form dominates in writing.

Preposition	um	uma	uns	umas
de	dum / de um	duma / de uma	duns / de uns	dumas / de umas
em	num	numa	nuns	numas

For em + um, the contraction num / numa is standard and near-universal in PT-PT, both in speech and writing. You will rarely see em um written in native Portuguese prose.

Vivo num apartamento pequeno perto do mar.

I live in a small apartment near the sea.

Guardei as fotografias numa caixa no sótão.

I kept the photos in a box in the attic.

Pus as toalhas nuns armários que trouxemos do Porto.

I put the towels in some cupboards we brought from Porto.

For de + um, both dum and de um are acceptable. In careful formal writing, de um is often preferred; in speech and newspapers, dum is common.

Ouvi o barulho dum carro a travar a fundo.

I heard the sound of a car braking hard.

Uma das vantagens duma cidade pequena é que se conhece toda a gente.

One advantage of a small city is that you know everyone.

Precisamos de uma solução urgente para este problema.

We need an urgent solution to this problem.

The form de um in the last example is equally valid. Native speakers move between the two fluidly.

Note also: a does not normally contract with um/uma in PT-PT. You write a um amigo, a uma festa — never ãoum or similar. Same for por: por um and por uma stay separate.

Demonstrative and pronoun contractions

The same four prepositions fuse with demonstratives (este, esse, aquele), personal pronouns (ele, ela), and neutral demonstratives (isto, isso, aquilo). These are also obligatory.

With demonstratives

	de + dem.	em + dem.	a + dem.
este	deste	neste	(no contraction)
esta	desta	nesta	(no contraction)
esse	desse	nesse	(no contraction)
essa	dessa	nessa	(no contraction)
aquele	daquele	naquele	àquele
aquela	daquela	naquela	àquela
isto	disto	nisto	(no contraction)
isso	disso	nisso	(no contraction)
aquilo	daquilo	naquilo	àquilo

Deste lado da rua vende-se pão; daquele lado há uma pastelaria.

On this side of the street they sell bread; on that side there's a pastry shop.

Neste momento não posso falar — estou numa reunião.

At this moment I can't talk — I'm in a meeting.

Disso não quero saber nada.

I don't want to know anything about that.

Vamos àquela praia que descobrimos no verão passado.

Let's go to that beach we found last summer.

Notice that a only contracts with forms of aquele / aquela / aquilo, because only those start with a stressed vowel that merges cleanly. With este, esse, and their derivatives, you simply write a este, a esse.

With personal pronouns (nele, dela, etc.)

	de + pron.	em + pron.
ele	dele	nele
ela	dela	nela
eles	deles	neles
elas	delas	nelas

Não penses mais nele — não vale a pena.

Don't think about him anymore — it's not worth it.

A mala dela ficou no comboio.

Her suitcase was left on the train.

Gosto deles, são boas pessoas.

I like them, they're good people.

Note that dele / dela doubles as the third-person possessive in most contexts, since seu / sua is ambiguous. O carro dele = his car; o carro dela = her car. This is discussed in the possessive pages.

The crase accent — à and às

The grave accent on à and às marks the contraction of a (preposition) with a / as (feminine article). Without the accent, a is just the preposition; with it, the preposition has fused with the article.

Vou a Lisboa amanhã.

I'm going to Lisbon tomorrow. (no article — *Lisboa* takes none)

Vou à feira no sábado.

I'm going to the market on Saturday. (contraction with feminine article)

Escreveu a carta à mão.

He wrote the letter by hand. (à = a + a)

In PT-PT, the rules around à are identical to Brazilian Portuguese: you write à whenever a (preposition) meets a feminine noun that would carry the definite article. If you hesitate, test by swapping in a masculine noun and checking whether you get ao: vou ao mercado → vou à feira, both contractions.

An archaic curiosity: dalgum, nalgum

You will occasionally see older texts use contractions like dalgum (de + algum), nalgum (em + algum), dalguma, nalguma. These were standard a century ago and survive in literary, legal, and regional writing. In modern PT-PT prose, they are considered archaic — the standard form is the separated de algum / em algum.

Tens notícias dalguma amiga da tua avó? (literary / archaic)

Do you have news of any of your grandmother's friends?

Tens notícias de alguma amiga da tua avó? (modern)

Do you have news of any of your grandmother's friends?

Recognise these contractions when you meet them in older books, but do not use them in your own writing unless you want a deliberately archaic tone.

Common mistakes

❌ Venho de o Porto.

Incorrect — *de + o* must contract.

✅ Venho do Porto.

I come from Porto.

❌ Deixei as chaves em a mesa.

Incorrect — *em + a* must contract.

✅ Deixei as chaves na mesa.

I left the keys on the table.

❌ A reunião começa a as nove.

Incorrect — *a + as* must contract and take the grave accent.

✅ A reunião começa às nove.

The meeting starts at nine.

❌ Obrigado por a ajuda.

Incorrect — *por + a* must contract to *pela*.

✅ Obrigado pela ajuda.

Thanks for the help.

❌ Vamos a aquela praia no domingo.

Incorrect — *a + aquela* must contract.

✅ Vamos àquela praia no domingo.

Let's go to that beach on Sunday.

Key takeaways

Four prepositions obligatorily contract with the definite article: de + o/a/os/as → do/da/dos/das; em + o/a/os/as → no/na/nos/nas; a + o/a/os/as → ao/à/aos/às; por + o/a/os/as → pelo/pela/pelos/pelas.
With the indefinite article, em + um → num / numa is near-universal; de + um → dum / duma is common in PT-PT speech and writing but de um is equally accepted.
With demonstratives: deste, nesta, disso, daquilo, àquela — the same mechanic, obligatory.
With personal pronouns ele / ela: dele, dela, nele, nela — obligatory.
The grave accent on à marks the fusion of preposition a with feminine article a. Forget the accent and the sentence is ungrammatical.
Archaic forms like dalgum survive in old texts but are not used in modern writing.