Breakdown of Ela prefere comprar revistas na livraria perto de casa.
Questions & Answers about Ela prefere comprar revistas na livraria perto de casa.
Prefere is the present tense of preferir (to prefer).
In this sentence it expresses a general preference or habit, similar to English she prefers or she tends to prefer. It does not sound like a one‑time choice; it sounds like what she usually likes to do.
With preferir (to prefer), Portuguese normally uses the pattern:
preferir + infinitive
→ prefere comprar = (she) prefers to buy
You do not add de here.
✗ prefere de comprar is incorrect.
Some other verbs do take de + infinitive (for example, gostar de fazer, precisar de estudar in European Portuguese), but preferir is not one of them in standard Brazilian Portuguese.
After a verb of preference like preferir, Portuguese uses the infinitive for the second verb:
- Ela prefere comprar revistas.
She prefers to buy magazines.
This is the usual structure:
[conjugated verb] + [infinitive]
→ prefere comprar
You do not need anything like English to; the infinitive by itself covers that meaning.
Portuguese often omits an article when talking about things in a general or indefinite way in the plural:
- comprar revistas = to buy magazines / some magazines
- comprar flores = to buy flowers / some flowers
If you said:
- comprar as revistas = to buy the magazines (specific magazines already known in the context)
So comprar revistas here is naturally understood as to buy magazines (not any specific set).
Yes, but it would change the meaning:
Ela prefere comprar revistas na livraria.
She prefers to buy magazines (in general) at the bookstore.Ela prefere comprar as revistas na livraria.
She prefers to buy the magazines at the bookstore (a specific group of magazines that both speaker and listener know about).
So as revistas sounds more specific; revistas alone is more general.
Na is a contraction of:
- em + a = na
So literally:
- em (in/at) + a livraria (the bookstore)
→ na livraria (in/at the bookstore)
Similarly:
- em + o = no (for masculine nouns)
no mercado = in/at the market
In Brazilian Portuguese:
- livraria = a bookstore, a place where you buy books (and often magazines).
- biblioteca = a library, a place where you borrow books or read them, not buy them.
Since the sentence is about buying (comprar), livraria is the correct word.
In Brazilian Portuguese, casa often works like home in English.
When you say:
- perto de casa
without an article, it is usually understood as near (her/my/our) home depending on the context.
To say near the house (a specific house as a building), you would normally use the article:
- perto da casa = near the house
So perto de casa here is most naturally understood as near her home.
Because casa here is used in the special, almost idiomatic sense of home:
- em casa = at home
- para casa = (going) home
- de casa (in perto de casa) = of/near home
When casa means someone’s own home, Portuguese often drops the article:
- Vou para casa. = I’m going home.
- Ela está em casa. = She is at home.
- perto de casa = near (her) home.
If you say perto da casa, it usually sounds like a more literal near the house (as a building), not necessarily home.
It is mostly understood from context and convention.
In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, if you simply say:
- perto de casa
it is usually taken to mean near my house (if I’m talking about myself) or near her house (if we are already talking about her), etc.
If you really need to be explicit and avoid any ambiguity, you can say:
- perto da casa dela = near her house
- perto da minha casa = near my house
But in this kind of simple example sentence, perto de casa is enough and is the most natural phrasing.
Yes, that is grammatically correct and very natural in Portuguese.
Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, meaning subject pronouns (like eu, tu, ele, ela) can often be omitted because the verb ending shows who the subject is.
- Ela prefere comprar revistas...
- Prefere comprar revistas...
Both are fine. Including ela just makes the subject explicit or can be used for emphasis or clarity.
The word order is somewhat flexible. These are all natural:
- Ela prefere comprar revistas na livraria perto de casa.
- Ela prefere comprar, na livraria perto de casa, revistas. (more written/formal style)
- Ela prefere, na livraria perto de casa, comprar revistas. (also more formal/emphatic)
But the original order:
- Ela prefere comprar revistas na livraria perto de casa.
is the most neutral and common in everyday speech.
Putting na livraria perto de casa before comprar is unusual in normal conversation and may sound overly formal or poetic.
Prefere is present indicative (she prefers).
In the simple past (preterite), you would say:
- Ela preferiu comprar revistas na livraria perto de casa.
She preferred to buy magazines at the bookstore near her house.
That sounds more like a specific, one‑time choice in the past.
Both are possible but they do not mean the same:
Ela prefere comprar revistas na livraria perto de casa.
She prefers buying magazines at the bookstore near her house.
→ There is an implied comparison (this is her favorite option compared to others).Ela gosta de comprar revistas na livraria perto de casa.
She likes buying magazines at the bookstore near her house.
→ This says she enjoys doing it, without necessarily comparing it to other options.
So preferir is about preference/choice between options, while gostar de is about liking/enjoyment.