Coloquei os livros novos na prateleira de cima.

I placed the new books on the top shelf.

Breakdown of Coloquei os livros novos na prateleira de cima.

• eu: I
• novo: new
• o livro: the book
• em: on
• colocar: to place
• a prateleira de cima: the top shelf

Questions & Answers about Coloquei os livros novos na prateleira de cima.

Why is the verb coloquei used here? Could I use pus or puseram instead?

Portuguese has two common verbs for “to put/place”: colocar and pôr. Coloquei is the first-person singular preterite of colocar (“I placed/put”). The first-person singular preterite of pôr is pus (“I put”).
– You can say pus os livros novos na prateleira de cima, and it means the same thing. colocar is just more neutral.
– puseram means “they put,” so it wouldn’t match the subject “I.”

What is the difference between os livros novos vs os novos livros?

Both translate as “the new books,” but with a nuance:
• os livros novos (noun + adjective) is the normal order, simply “books that are new.”
• os novos livros (adjective + noun) puts extra emphasis on novos, as if highlighting that these are the recently acquired ones.
In everyday speech you’ll almost always hear os livros novos.

Why is there a definite article os before livros? Could I say livros novos instead?

When you refer to specific items known to speaker and listener, Portuguese usually uses the definite article. os livros novos = “the new books” (those particular books).
If you say livros novos without os, it sounds like “some new books” in general (indefinite).

What does na mean in na prateleira de cima?

na is the contraction of em (“in/on”) + a (feminine singular article “the”). Since prateleira is feminine singular, em a prateleira becomes na prateleira, meaning “on the shelf.”

Why is it prateleira de cima and not cima da prateleira?

Portuguese uses [noun] de cima to mean “the top [noun].” So prateleira de cima = “top shelf.”
Saying cima da prateleira grammatically means “top of the shelf,” which usually refers to its flat upper surface rather than the highest shelf level.

Could I say em cima da prateleira instead of na prateleira de cima?

Yes, but:
– na prateleira de cima = on the top shelf among several.
– em cima da prateleira = on top of the shelf’s surface.
Use na prateleira de cima when you mean the highest compartment; em cima da prateleira if you place something literally on its very top surface.

How would I use a pronoun to replace os livros in this sentence?

In European Portuguese, object pronouns attach after the verb with a hyphen. For os livros (masculine plural) you use -os.
So the sentence becomes:
Coloquei-os na prateleira de cima.

Why isn’t there a preposition before os livros novos?

Colocar is a transitive verb that directly takes an object. In Portuguese, direct objects follow the verb without a preposition. Adding one would change the meaning (e.g. para would mean “for the books” or “to the books”).

Where is the stress in coloquei and prateleira?

• coloquei is stressed on -quei: [kɔ.loˈkej].
• prateleira is stressed on -tei-: [pɾa.tɨˈlɛj.ɾɐ] (European Portuguese pronunciation).