O livro está na prateleira de cima, e eu vou colocar o jornal nela.

Because Portuguese usually uses estar for location.

• O livro está na prateleira = the book is on the shelf
• Ser is more for identity, definition, or permanent characteristics.

So:

• Ela é professora = She is a teacher
• Ela está em casa = She is at home

For physical location of people or things, estar is the normal choice.

Na is a contraction of em + a.

• em = in / on / at
• a = the (feminine singular)

So:

• na prateleira = em a prateleira → na prateleira

This is very common in Portuguese:

• no = em + o
• na = em + a
• nos = em + os
• nas = em + as

Because Portuguese em can cover meanings that English splits into in, on, and sometimes at.

So na prateleira is the normal way to say on the shelf.

A literal word-for-word match does not always work between English and Portuguese. Here, Portuguese uses em, but the natural English translation is on.

Prateleira de cima means the upper shelf or the top shelf.

Literally, it is something like shelf of above/upstairs/up top, but the natural meaning is:

• the shelf on top
• the upper shelf
• the top shelf

This structure is very common in Portuguese:

• o andar de cima = the upstairs floor / the floor above
• a gaveta de baixo = the bottom drawer
• a prateleira de cima = the upper shelf

Because they do different jobs.

• de cima describes which shelf it is: the one on top / the upper one
• em cima usually means on top or above as a location

Compare:

• a prateleira de cima = the upper shelf
• O livro está em cima da mesa = The book is on top of the table

So in this sentence, de cima identifies the shelf, not the book’s position relative to something else.

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English does. In this sentence, o livro and o jornal sound completely natural and expected.

• O livro = the book
• o jornal = the newspaper

You generally would not omit them here. Saying just Livro está... or vou colocar jornal... would sound unnatural in normal speech.

In Brazilian Portuguese, ir + infinitive is a very common way to talk about the future.

• eu vou colocar = I am going to put / I will put

It is often more common in everyday speech than the simple future:

• colocarei

Both are correct, but they feel different:

• vou colocar = very common, natural in conversation
• colocarei = more formal, more written, or sometimes more deliberate

Nela means in it / on it, and here it refers to a prateleira.

It is formed from:

• em
  • ela → nela

Since prateleira is feminine, the pronoun is feminine too:

• prateleira → nela
• if it were o armário, you would say nele

In this sentence:

• vou colocar o jornal nela = I’m going to put the newspaper on it

Even though English says on it, Portuguese still uses em here.

Because the verb idea here requires the preposition em.

You are not just saying I will put it her—that would not make sense. You are saying I will put the newspaper on/in it.

So Portuguese uses:

• em ela → nela

This kind of contraction is standard:

• nele = em + ele
• nela = em + ela
• neles = em + eles
• nelas = em + elas

Yes. Portuguese often allows the subject pronoun to be omitted when the verb already makes the subject clear.

So both are possible:

• e eu vou colocar o jornal nela
• e vou colocar o jornal nela

Why include eu here?

• for emphasis
• for clarity
• for rhythm or contrast in the sentence

In Brazilian Portuguese, subject pronouns are used more often than in European Portuguese, so eu sounds very normal here.

Because nela is attached to the idea put the newspaper on it, and its position after the noun phrase is the normal, natural order here.

The structure is:

• colocar = to put
• o jornal = the newspaper
• nela = on it / in it

So:

• colocar o jornal nela = put the newspaper on it

This word order is very common and natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

Yes. Pôr and colocar can both mean to put.

So you could also say:

• eu vou pôr o jornal nela

However:

• colocar is very common and neutral
• pôr is also common, but some learners find colocar easier at first because its forms are more regular

Both are correct in Brazilian Portuguese.

Yes. Jornal can mean:

• newspaper
• TV news / news program, depending on context

In this sentence, because you are putting it on a shelf, jornal clearly means newspaper, meaning the physical object.

Context tells you which meaning is intended.