The preposition entre covers what English splits into two words: between and among. In Portuguese, both senses share a single preposition, and the choice between them depends only on how many entities you are relating. Entre is used for position between two points, for a period between two moments, for a range of values, for membership in a group, and for reciprocal relationships.
Entre has one notorious pitfall: it takes personal pronouns in the oblique case, not the subject case. That means entre mim e ti is correct, while entre eu e tu — which feels natural to many learners and is even heard in casual Brazilian speech — is prescriptively wrong. This page walks through all the uses and nails down that pronoun rule so you never get it wrong in an exam, a newspaper, or a job interview.
No contractions
Like sem and sobre, entre does not contract with articles or pronouns. Every combination remains as separate words:
Entre o café e o chá, prefiro sempre o chá.
Between coffee and tea, I always prefer tea.
Entre os meus amigos há pessoas de todos os feitios.
Among my friends there are people of every personality type.
No entro, entra, entros — these do not exist.
1. Spatial position — "between" (two points)
The most concrete use of entre places something in the space between two other things. The two reference points are usually joined by e (and).
A padaria fica entre o banco e a farmácia, não tem perda.
The bakery is between the bank and the pharmacy, you can't miss it.
O comboio entre Lisboa e o Porto demora cerca de três horas.
The train between Lisbon and Porto takes about three hours.
Sentei-me entre o meu pai e a minha irmã durante o jantar.
I sat between my father and my sister during dinner.
Note that entre pairs the two endpoints with e, not a. English can say "between X and Y" or sometimes "between X to Y," but in Portuguese the linking word is always e.
2. Temporal "between" — a period
The same pattern works for time. If an event happens in the span between two moments, entre introduces it.
A feira decorre entre 15 e 22 de junho, no Parque das Nações.
The fair runs between 15 and 22 June at Parque das Nações.
As aulas são entre as nove e as cinco, com uma hora de almoço.
Classes are between nine and five, with an hour for lunch.
Entre janeiro e março as noites ainda são frias em Lisboa.
Between January and March the nights are still cold in Lisbon.
Passei lá entre as duas e as quatro da tarde.
I was there between two and four in the afternoon.
Portuguese also accepts entre with a specific time point on both sides when talking about a recurring slot: entre as cinco e as seis = "between five and six" (as a time window).
3. Range of amounts — "between X and Y"
When you express an approximate quantity by bracketing it between two numbers, entre is the preposition you want. The usage is identical to English.
Deve haver entre vinte e trinta pessoas lá fora à espera.
There must be between twenty and thirty people outside waiting.
O novo apartamento custa entre trezentos mil e quatrocentos mil euros.
The new apartment costs between three hundred thousand and four hundred thousand euros.
Uma receita simples leva entre vinte e trinta minutos a preparar.
A simple recipe takes between twenty and thirty minutes to prepare.
4. Membership in a group — "among"
When the group has three or more members — or when the group is a single collective noun (among the Portuguese, among friends) — English typically switches from between to among. Portuguese does not. It is still entre.
Entre os portugueses há uma grande tradição de emigração.
Among the Portuguese there is a strong tradition of emigration.
Entre amigos não se fazem cerimónias.
Among friends there's no standing on ceremony.
Esta foi, entre todas as propostas, a mais bem recebida.
This was, among all the proposals, the best-received one.
Entre os alunos dele há sempre quem se destaque.
Among his students there's always someone who stands out.
entre does both jobs. If you are translating from English, do not worry about whether the original said "between" or "among"; the Portuguese will be entre either way.5. The pronoun rule — entre mim e ti
This is the single most important point on this page. When entre is followed by personal pronouns, Portuguese uses the oblique (prepositional) case, not the subject case. For first and second person singular, this means mim and ti, not eu and tu.
| Subject pronoun | Form after entre |
|---|---|
| eu | mim |
| tu | ti |
| ele / ela | ele / ela (unchanged) |
| nós | nós (unchanged) |
| vós | vós (unchanged — rare in modern speech) |
| eles / elas | eles / elas (unchanged) |
Este assunto fica entre mim e ti, nem mais uma palavra a ninguém.
This stays between you and me — not a word to anyone else.
Havia uma certa tensão entre ele e mim naquele dia.
There was a certain tension between him and me that day.
Dividimos a conta entre nós três.
We split the bill among the three of us.
The error most learners make — and that some native speakers commit in sloppy speech — is to use the subject pronouns after entre, producing entre eu e tu. This pattern has gained some informal acceptance in Brazil but is still considered incorrect in careful European Portuguese. In Portugal, if you say entre eu e tu in a job interview or write it in an email, it will look like a grammatical slip.
comigo (com + mim). Keep it consistent and you will never slip.Entre si — the reciprocal and reflexive form
For the third person, si is the oblique form used after prepositions when the reference is reflexive or reciprocal. After entre, this produces the fixed phrase entre si, meaning among themselves or between themselves.
Entre si, os dois combinaram tudo sem contar a ninguém.
Between themselves, the two of them arranged everything without telling anyone.
Si is still the oblique form — the rule holds: oblique pronouns after every preposition.
6. Reciprocity — "each other"
When a group does something mutually — they look at each other, they argue with each other, they help each other — Portuguese uses entre si or entre eles / entre elas.
As crianças zangaram-se entre si e não se falaram durante dias.
The children fell out with each other and didn't speak for days.
Os vizinhos ajudam-se entre si sempre que é preciso.
The neighbours help each other whenever necessary.
As duas teorias contradizem-se entre si num ponto fundamental.
The two theories contradict each other on a fundamental point.
This construction has the same function as the English each other / one another. It is particularly useful with reciprocal verbs (zangar-se, olhar-se, falar-se, ajudar-se) where the reflexive pronoun alone leaves the reciprocity implicit.
7. Choice from a small set — "between A and B"
When the choice is between two (or a few) options, entre introduces the set. This overlaps with the spatial use but feels more abstract.
Entre o café e o chá, prefiro o chá preto sem açúcar.
Between coffee and tea, I prefer black tea without sugar.
Tive de escolher entre ficar no emprego antigo e aceitar o novo.
I had to choose between staying at the old job and accepting the new one.
Entre ir à praia ou ficar em casa, optámos pela praia.
Between going to the beach or staying home, we went with the beach.
8. Fixed phrases and idioms
Several high-frequency expressions use entre in fixed ways. Learn them as vocabulary:
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| entre aspas | in quotes, in quotation marks |
| entre parênteses | in parentheses, in brackets |
| entre outros / entre outras | among others |
| entre si | between themselves, among themselves |
| entre nós | between us (= just between us) |
| ler nas entrelinhas | to read between the lines |
| entre mortos e feridos | one way or another, amid the chaos (idiom) |
| entre a espada e a parede | between a rock and a hard place |
A palavra 'democracia' aparecia entre aspas no artigo.
The word 'democracy' appeared in quotes in the article.
Eça de Queirós, entre outros, é leitura obrigatória no secundário.
Eça de Queirós, among others, is required reading in secondary school.
Entre nós, eu não acredito muito naquilo que ele disse.
Just between us, I don't really believe what he said.
Estou entre a espada e a parede — qualquer decisão que tome vai chatear alguém.
I'm between a rock and a hard place — whatever I decide will annoy someone.
Entre vs. dentro de vs. no meio de
Three related prepositions can all be misread as in/among/inside, but they describe different spatial configurations:
- Entre — positioned between two endpoints or among members of a group; implies the subject is one of several or is flanked.
- Dentro de — positioned inside a container; implies enclosure, not flanking.
- No meio de — positioned in the middle of; implies being at the centre of a crowd, area, or mass.
A criança estava entre os pais.
The child was between her parents (flanked by them).
A criança estava dentro do carro.
The child was inside the car (enclosed).
A criança estava no meio da multidão.
The child was in the middle of the crowd (at the centre).
These are not interchangeable. Entre a multidão ("between the crowd") would sound odd because a crowd is a mass, not two endpoints; no meio da multidão is correct. Similarly, dentro dos pais would be ungrammatical because parents are not a container.
Common Mistakes
❌ Entre eu e tu nunca houve segredos.
Incorrect — prepositions take oblique pronouns in PT-PT.
✅ Entre mim e ti nunca houve segredos.
Between you and me there have never been any secrets.
❌ A escola fica entre da padaria e do café.
Incorrect — entre does not take de before its nouns.
✅ A escola fica entre a padaria e o café.
The school is between the bakery and the café.
❌ Os irmãos ajudam-se entre eles.
Marked — after a reciprocal verb, prefer entre si for the third person.
✅ Os irmãos ajudam-se entre si.
The siblings help each other.
❌ Entre vinte a trinta pessoas apareceram na reunião.
Incorrect — the paired preposition is e, not a.
✅ Entre vinte e trinta pessoas apareceram na reunião.
Between twenty and thirty people showed up at the meeting.
❌ O artigo fala entre a guerra e a paz.
Incorrect — this sense of 'about' requires sobre, not entre.
✅ O artigo fala sobre a guerra e a paz.
The article talks about war and peace.
The entre eu e tu error is so common that it is worth repeating: after a preposition, always reach for mim (not eu) and ti (not tu). This rule holds not just for entre but for every preposition in Portuguese.
Key Takeaways
Entrecovers both English between (two entities) and among (three or more).- It pairs two items with
e, never witha: entre X e Y. - It does not contract with articles or pronouns. Always two words.
- After
entre, personal pronouns take the oblique case: entre mim e ti, not entre eu e tu. - Use
entre sifor reciprocal ("each other") with three or more parties. - Fixed phrases like entre aspas, entre parênteses, entre outros, entre nós are everyday vocabulary.
- For physical inside, use
dentro de; for in the middle of, useno meio de.Entreonly fits when there are two endpoints or a countable group.
Related Topics
- The Preposition sobreA2 — Uses of the preposition sobre — topic ('about'), elevated placement ('on top of'), and approximate time, with comparison to acerca de and em cima de.
- Portuguese Prepositions OverviewA1 — Introduction to Portuguese prepositions and their uses, including the obligatory contractions that set European Portuguese apart.
- Prepositions of Place: em, a, para, de, por, sobre, entre, junto aA2 — A complete map of Portuguese spatial prepositions — static location, motion toward, motion from, through, between, next to, in front of, behind, on, below, inside, outside, and around.
- Prepositions of Time: em, a, de, para, por, desde, até, duranteA2 — How Portuguese uses em, a, de, para, por, desde, até, durante, and há to mark points, durations, starting points, endpoints, and frequencies in time.