Preposition Differences | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

Prepositions are small words that do enormous grammatical work. They also happen to be one of the places where European Portuguese (PT-PT) and Brazilian Portuguese (BR) part ways most audibly. These aren't minor quibbles — the choice of a vs em for movement, or estar a vs estar + gerund for the progressive, is a reliable diagnostic of which variety a speaker is using. A single sentence can out a speaker to a native listener within seconds.

This page catalogues the main preposition differences between the two varieties, organised by function. For each contrast, you get the PT-PT form, the BR form, an indication of which is standard and which is colloquial, and natural examples. If you are a BR-trained learner moving to PT-PT, this is one of the highest-yield pages in the Differences group — prepositions recur constantly, so every retuned habit pays off many times over. For individual prepositions in depth, see the Prepositions group.

1. Movement: a vs em

The biggest contrast. PT-PT uses a for directional movement ("going to"); BR colloquially uses em for the same meaning (widespread but considered non-standard by prescriptive grammars).

Meaning	PT-PT	BR (standard)	BR (colloquial)
I'm going to Lisbon	Vou a Lisboa.	Vou a Lisboa.	Vou em Lisboa.
I'm going to the cinema	Vou ao cinema.	Vou ao cinema.	Vou no cinema.
I'm going to the doctor	Vou ao médico.	Vou ao médico.	Vou no médico.
I'm going to the supermarket	Vou ao supermercado.	Vou ao supermercado.	Vou no supermercado.

Vou ao Pingo Doce comprar leite e pão.

I'm going to Pingo Doce to buy milk and bread. (PT-PT — 'ao' for destination)

Amanhã vamos à praia se o tempo melhorar.

Tomorrow we're going to the beach if the weather gets better. (PT-PT)

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In colloquial BR, ir em + place is everywhere — taxi drivers say it, newscasters say it in interviews, songs use it. It is prescriptively flagged as non-standard but fully productive in speech. In PT-PT, ir em + place is not acceptable at any register level. A Portuguese ear hears Vou no cinema and registers it immediately as Brazilian or as a learner error.

2. Movement with a sense of commitment: para

Both varieties use para for movement with the implication of staying. Ir a suggests a brief visit; ir para suggests a longer or more committed trip.

Vou a Lisboa no fim de semana — volto na segunda.

I'm going to Lisbon for the weekend — I'm back Monday. (short visit, 'a')

Vou para Lisboa no próximo mês — vou viver lá um ano.

I'm moving to Lisbon next month — I'm going to live there for a year. (committed move, 'para')

BR usage is broadly similar, but BR tends to use para more liberally, including for contexts where PT-PT would insist on a. Vou para o trabalho is normal in both, but Vou para o supermercado sounds slightly heavy in PT-PT, where Vou ao supermercado is more natural. The rule of thumb: if the stay is brief, PT-PT prefers a; BR is more flexible.

3. Verbs of arrival: chegar a vs chegar em

Another sharp split. The verb chegar ("to arrive") takes a in PT-PT. BR colloquial widely uses chegar em, treated as non-standard by prescriptive grammars but extremely common.

Meaning	PT-PT	BR (standard)	BR (colloquial)
I arrived in Lisbon	Cheguei a Lisboa.	Cheguei a Lisboa.	Cheguei em Lisboa.
I arrived at the airport	Cheguei ao aeroporto.	Cheguei ao aeroporto.	Cheguei no aeroporto.
We arrived home late	Chegámos a casa tarde.	Chegamos em casa tarde.	Chegamos em casa tarde.

Notice that chegar a casa in PT-PT has no article — a casa, not à casa. Casa in this sense is treated almost as a generic destination ("home"), and the article drops. BR allows both chegar em casa (no article contraction with em) and chegar a casa.

Chegámos a Lisboa às sete da tarde.

We arrived in Lisbon at seven in the evening. (PT-PT)

Quando chegares ao hotel, avisa-me.

When you arrive at the hotel, let me know. (PT-PT — future subjunctive 'chegares' + 'ao')

4. Living in a place: morar / viver em (both varieties)

This one is shared. Both varieties use em for residence.

Moro em Lisboa há quinze anos.

I've been living in Lisbon for fifteen years. (both varieties)

A minha irmã vive no Porto com o namorado.

My sister lives in Porto with her boyfriend. (both varieties)

The only wrinkle is that PT-PT uses the definite article with cities historically treated with one (no Porto, na Figueira, na Covilhã, no Rio de Janeiro) and drops it with others (em Lisboa, em Braga, em Coimbra, em Faro). BR largely follows the same conventions for Portuguese cities and adds its own for Brazilian cities. This isn't a PT/BR difference — it's a lexical pattern to memorise.

5. Entering a place: entrar em (both) vs entrar na / entrar no

Shared across both varieties. Entrar takes em in both:

Entrei na sala e ninguém me viu.

I entered the room and nobody saw me. (both varieties)

Ele entrou no escritório a correr.

He ran into the office. (both varieties)

6. The progressive: estar a + infinitive vs estar + gerund

The most visible grammatical diagnostic between the varieties — discussed in detail in Progressive Differences. In short:

PT-PT: estar a + infinitive. Estou a ler.
BR: estar + gerund. Estou lendo.

Both are technically grammatical in both varieties, but each sounds strongly like the other region when used in the wrong place.

Estou a fazer o jantar — podes pôr a mesa?

I'm making dinner — can you set the table? (PT-PT)

Estou fazendo o jantar — você pode pôr a mesa?

I'm making dinner — can you set the table? (BR)

7. Other verbs with a + infinitive in PT-PT

PT-PT productively uses a + infinitive in several constructions that BR renders differently:

Construction	PT-PT	BR
begin doing	começar a + infinitive	começar a + infinitive OR começar + gerund
spend time doing	passar + time + a + infinitive	passar + time + gerund
leave (do)ing	sair a + infinitive (less common)	sair + gerund
continue doing	continuar a + infinitive	continuar a + infinitive OR continuar + gerund
go around doing	andar a + infinitive	ficar + gerund

Passei a tarde inteira a arrumar o sótão.

I spent the entire afternoon tidying the attic. (PT-PT)

Passei a tarde inteira arrumando o sótão.

I spent the entire afternoon tidying the attic. (BR)

Ando a pensar em mudar de emprego.

I've been thinking about changing jobs. (PT-PT — 'andar a + infinitive' for an ongoing mental state)

Estou pensando em mudar de emprego.

I've been thinking about changing jobs. (BR equivalent with gerund)

8. acabar de vs acabar por

Both exist in both varieties, with slightly different meanings and frequencies.

acabar de + infinitive = to have just done something. Shared usage, though PT-PT may prefer acabar de while BR may lean on recém or simple preterite.
acabar por + infinitive = to end up doing something. More common in PT-PT than in BR, where acabar + gerund or terminar + gerund may replace it.

Acabo de receber uma notícia incrível.

I just got some incredible news. (both varieties, more PT-PT)

Depois de tanta discussão, acabei por concordar.

After all that arguing, I ended up agreeing. (PT-PT preferred)

Depois de tanta discussão, acabei concordando.

After all that arguing, I ended up agreeing. (BR preferred)

9. com + pronoun — contractions

Both varieties have fused forms for com + personal pronoun: comigo, contigo, consigo, connosco (PT-PT) / conosco (BR), convosco (PT-PT, mostly archaic), com ele(s) / com ela(s).

Pronoun	PT-PT	BR
with me	comigo	comigo
with you (tu)	contigo	contigo (rare, mostly fixed expressions)
with him/her/you-formal	consigo (= with you-formal / with him/her reflexive)	consigo (reflexive only; "with you" is 'com você')
with us	connosco	conosco
with you all (vós)	convosco (archaic/formal)	— (use 'com vocês')
with you all (vocês)	com vocês	com vocês

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The spelling connosco (with double n) is a PT-PT orthographic peculiarity that the Acordo Ortográfico kept distinct from BR conosco. Both are pronounced identically — the double n is purely graphical in PT-PT. Watch for this in spelling tests.

Vens connosco ao concerto esta noite?

Are you coming with us to the concert tonight? (PT-PT — 'connosco')

Ela quer falar consigo depois da reunião.

She wants to speak with you after the meeting. (PT-PT — 'consigo' here addresses the listener formally)

The PT-PT use of consigo as "with you" (formal/neutral) is a trap for BR speakers. In BR, consigo is strictly reflexive (ele fala consigo mesmo = "he talks to himself"). In PT-PT, Falo consigo can mean "I'm talking to you" (formal third-person neutral).

10. Time prepositions: por, durante, em, há, desde

Several subtle contrasts:

Meaning	PT-PT	BR
for (duration, completed)	durante + time	por + time OR durante + time
for (planned future duration)	por + time OR durante + time	por + time
ago	há + time	há + time OR + time + atrás
since	desde + point	desde + point
in (X minutes from now)	daqui a + time	em + time OR daqui a + time

Vivi em Londres durante cinco anos.

I lived in London for five years. (PT-PT preferred with 'durante')

Morei em Londres por cinco anos.

I lived in London for five years. (BR preferred with 'por')

Conheci a Marta há dez anos.

I met Marta ten years ago. (both varieties)

O comboio chega daqui a dez minutos.

The train arrives in ten minutes. (PT-PT — 'daqui a')

O trem chega em dez minutos.

The train arrives in ten minutes. (BR common alternative)

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The BR construction dez anos atrás ("ten years ago") is grammatical but redundant — há already means "ago", and atrás repeats the meaning. PT-PT prescriptively avoids this and prefers há dez anos alone. The redundancy is widely tolerated in BR speech and writing.

11. por / para — general distribution

The classic por vs para contrast works similarly in both varieties (see Por vs Para for full details), but some idioms differ:

For a year (duration) — PT-PT: durante um ano (preferred) / por um ano. BR: por um ano (preferred) / durante um ano.
For you (benefit) — both para ti / para você, no difference.
By (agent in passive) — both por, no difference.
Through (means) — both por, no difference.

12. em with cities and places

Both varieties use em for "in a city/place", but article use varies by tradition. Key cities:

City	PT-PT	BR
Lisbon	em Lisboa	em Lisboa
Porto	no Porto	no Porto
Coimbra	em Coimbra	em Coimbra
Rio de Janeiro	no Rio / no Rio de Janeiro	no Rio / no Rio de Janeiro
São Paulo	em São Paulo	em São Paulo
Brazil	no Brasil	no Brasil
Portugal	em Portugal	em Portugal
the United States	nos Estados Unidos	nos Estados Unidos

This table is essentially shared. The quirks are lexical: Porto takes the article, Lisboa does not, in both varieties.

13. de + article contractions — mostly shared

Contractions like do, da, dos, das, dele, dela, deste, desse, daquele are uniform in both varieties. The difference is which demonstrative is preferred:

PT-PT speech uses este/esse/aquele with their classical three-way distinction (close to speaker / close to listener / far from both).
BR speech tends to collapse este and esse in informal use, with esse doing double duty.

This affects contractions: disto, disso, daquilo are all grammatical in both varieties, but a PT-PT speaker is more likely to differentiate disto (close to me) from disso (close to you), whereas a BR speaker might use disso for both.

Não gosto disto — prefiro aquilo.

I don't like this — I prefer that. (PT-PT three-way distinction clear)

Side-by-side: same message in both varieties

Natural everyday exchange, rendered in each variety:

PT-PT: > — Amanhã vou a Braga visitar a minha avó. Chego lá por volta das onze. Fico a almoçar com ela e depois vou ao supermercado comprar umas coisas. Estou a pensar em voltar cedo porque tenho muito trabalho. Queres vir comigo?

BR: > — Amanhã vou em Braga visitar a minha avó. Chego lá por volta das onze. Fico almoçando com ela e depois vou no supermercado comprar umas coisas. Tô pensando em voltar cedo porque tenho muito trabalho. Quer vir comigo?

Every underlined preposition (a vs em, ao vs no, a almoçar vs almoçando, a pensar vs pensando) is a diagnostic. The BR em + destination and + gerund progressives are the most audible differences.

Quick diagnostic list for PT-PT

A shortlist of preposition habits to internalise for PT-PT:

Movement: a / ao / à — never em / no / na for destination.
Arrival: chegar a, not chegar em.
Progressive: estar a + infinitive, not estar + gerund.
Duration (past): prefer durante, tolerate por.
"In X minutes" (future): daqui a X, not bare em X.
Ongoing habit: andar a + infinitive (Ando a treinar), not ficar + gerund.
"Starting to do": começar a + infinitive.
"Ending up doing": acabar por + infinitive.
With us: connosco (double n in spelling).
Formal "with you": consigo.

Common mistakes

Mistake 1: Using em for destination in PT-PT.

❌ Vou no cinema hoje à noite.

BR colloquial — not acceptable in PT-PT at any register.

✅ Vou ao cinema hoje à noite.

I'm going to the cinema tonight. (PT-PT)

This is the single most diagnostic error. A BR-trained learner who says Vou no... in Lisbon is immediately identifiable as Brazilian-educated.

Mistake 2: chegar em instead of chegar a in PT-PT.

❌ Cheguei em Lisboa cansadíssimo.

BR colloquial — not acceptable in PT-PT.

✅ Cheguei a Lisboa cansadíssimo.

I arrived in Lisbon exhausted. (PT-PT)

Same pattern — PT-PT treats chegar as an a-verb, not an em-verb.

Mistake 3: Using the gerund progressive in PT-PT.

❌ Estou fazendo o jantar.

BR progressive — not standard in PT-PT.

✅ Estou a fazer o jantar.

I'm making dinner. (PT-PT)

The progressive is rebuilt around estar a + infinitive in PT-PT. Reflexively replace every estou Xing with estou a Xar when speaking PT-PT.

Mistake 4: conosco spelling in PT-PT.

❌ Vens conosco ao cinema?

BR spelling — in PT-PT, write 'connosco' with double n.

✅ Vens connosco ao cinema?

Are you coming with us to the cinema? (PT-PT spelling)

Pronunciation is identical — [kuˈnoʃku] — but PT-PT orthography retains the double n. Post-1990 spelling reform kept this difference.

Mistake 5: Confusing PT-PT consigo (= with you, formal) with BR reflexive consigo.

❌ (BR context) Posso falar consigo um momento?

Sounds archaic/Portuguese in BR context.

✅ (PT-PT) Posso falar consigo um momento?

May I speak with you for a moment? (PT-PT formal you)

✅ (BR) Posso falar com você um momento?

May I speak with you for a moment? (BR — 'com você')

In PT-PT, consigo routinely addresses the listener at formal/neutral register. In BR, this use is antique or regional; BR speakers say com você.

Key takeaways

Destination prepositions are the sharpest split. PT-PT uses a exclusively; BR colloquially allows em (ir em, chegar em), but PT-PT does not accept this at any register.
The progressive is estar a + infinitive in PT-PT, estar + gerund in BR. This is the single biggest structural preposition difference.
Several PT-PT gerund replacements — passei a tarde a trabalhar, ando a pensar, continuo a ler — become gerund
in BR.
Connosco / conosco is a pure spelling difference; pronunciation is identical.
Consigo in PT-PT routinely means "with you" (formal); in BR it's strictly reflexive.
Duration prepositions overlap but lean differently — durante is PT-PT's first choice, por is BR's.
Preposition habits are among the fastest diagnostics of which variety a speaker uses. Actively retrain them when switching.