Demonstrative Contractions (Deste, Nesse, Àquele)

Portuguese has a deeply rooted habit of fusing short function words with what follows. When the prepositions de (of/from), em (in/on/at), and a (to/at) meet a demonstrative (este, esse, aquele, isto, isso, aquilo), they do not stand as separate words — they contract into single forms: deste, neste, àquele, and so on. These contractions are mandatory in modern European Portuguese. Writing de este livro or em aquela casa instead of deste livro or naquela casa is a spelling mistake, not a stylistic choice. This page gives you the full tables, explains the logic, and warns you about the trickiest fusion of all — the one with a, which takes a grave accent (à, àquele) to mark its origin.

1. Contractions with de

The preposition de (of, from, about) drops its final vowel and fuses with the demonstrative.

2. Contractions with em

The preposition em (in, on, at) fuses more dramatically — its whole form disappears, leaving just an n- prefix on the demonstrative.

3. Contractions with a — the grave accent

The preposition a (to, at) behaves differently from de and em. It does not contract with este or esse forms — there is no aeste or aesta. It contracts only with aquele forms and aquilo, and the contraction is marked by a grave accent on the a — à. This grave accent is the orthographic signal that a fusion has occurred.

3.1 Why the grave accent?

The grave accent (`) in Portuguese has a single, specific job: it marks the fusion of the preposition a with a following word that begins with a. Historically, a aquele was written and pronounced as two a sounds; over time they coalesced into a single long a, and the grave accent was introduced to record this merger. The same logic gives us à, às, àquilo and related fused forms.

The grave accent is not optional. Omitting it is a spelling error, not a shortcut. On screens and keyboards, you must input the accented character: à (U+00E0), not a plain a.

3.2 Why no contraction with este/esse?

Unlike de (which ends in a vowel sound) and em (which behaves like a nasalising prefix), the preposition a doesn't carry sufficient phonetic weight to merge with este or esse. Portuguese orthography simply doesn't have a contracted form aeste — you write a este as two separate words. The contraction logic kicks in only when the demonstrative itself starts with an a- (the aquele series), which is where the grave accent becomes useful to record the merger.

Notice the stark contrast: a este stays as two words; àquele is a single contracted word with an accent.

4. The complete three-way × three-preposition table

Here is every combination at once, with approximate English equivalents.

5. Common patterns and collocations

Certain contracted forms appear in extremely high-frequency constructions. Memorising these will make your Portuguese sound native and idiomatic.

5.1 Neste momento — right now, at this moment

5.2 Nesta altura — at this point, at this stage

5.3 Naquele tempo — in those days, back then

5.4 Desta vez — this time

5.5 Disto / disso / daquilo — about this/that

5.6 À hora / àquela hora — at that hour

6. Distinguishing nesta (demonstrative) from na (definite article)

A detail worth flagging: when em combines with feminine demonstratives, the result retains the feminine -a-: em + esta → nesta, em + aquela → naquela. This is distinct from the preposition em combining with the definite article a (which would yield na). Don't confuse:

• em + esta (demonstrative) → nesta casa (in this house)
• em + a (definite article) → na casa (in the house)

Both are correct in different contexts; the meaning differs.

7. Formal and informal register

All contractions are fully normal in every register — they are not formal or informal markers. Deste is just as natural in a casual WhatsApp message as in a legal document. What changes across registers is vocabulary and syntax around the contractions, not the contractions themselves.

8. European vs Brazilian Portuguese

The contraction rules are identical in EP and BP at the spelling level — deste, neste, àquele are written the same way in both varieties. What differs is frequency of certain demonstratives: BP speakers use esse/essa much more loosely (often where EP would use este/esta), so you'll hear nesse in BP where an EP speaker would say neste. The orthographic reform of 1990 (Acordo Ortográfico) did not alter these contractions.

9. Intersection with clitic pronouns

When a demonstrative contraction appears in a sentence with clitic pronouns, the pronoun rules (próclise, ênclise) apply normally to the verb, not to the contraction. The contraction is simply a prepositional phrase that functions like any other adjunct.

10. Separating the preposition in writing — almost never

In older Portuguese, writers sometimes separated the preposition from the demonstrative for emphasis or poetic effect — de este dia, em aquela hora. In modern EP, this is unacceptable. Always contract. The only exception is when the preposition introduces an infinitive clause whose subject happens to be este/esse/aquele, in which case the prepositions governs the infinitive, not the demonstrative — but even here, contraction often still occurs if the structure allows it.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Contractions are mandatory in modern European Portuguese, not optional.
• de
  • demonstrative → deste, desta, desse, dessa, daquele, daquela, disto, disso, daquilo, etc.
• em
  • demonstrative → neste, nesta, nesse, nessa, naquele, naquela, nisto, nisso, naquilo, etc.
• a contracts only with the aquele series and aquilo, marked with a grave accent: àquele, àquela, àqueles, àquelas, àquilo.
• a does not contract with este/esta/esse/essa/isto/isso — those stay separate.
• The grave accent on à is an orthographic requirement — never omit it.
• High-frequency contracted forms: neste momento, naquele tempo, desta vez, nesta altura, disto, disso, daquilo.