Eu moro no piso de cima.

I

Breakdown of Eu moro no piso de cima.

• em: on
• morar: to live
• o piso: the floor

Questions & Answers about Eu moro no piso de cima.

Do I need the subject pronoun "Eu" here, or can I just say "Moro no piso de cima"?

You can drop it. Portuguese is a pro‑drop language; the ending -o in moro already shows “I”. Use Eu only for emphasis or contrast: Eu moro no piso de cima, não a minha irmã.

What exactly does no mean here? Why not just em?

no = em + o (“in/on/at the”). With common countable nouns like piso, the article is normally used:

• no = em + o (masc. sing.)
• na = em + a (fem. sing.)
• nos = em + os (masc. pl.)
• nas = em + as (fem. pl.)

Hence no piso (not just em piso).

Why is it piso de cima and not piso em cima?

After a noun, Portuguese uses de cima to mean “upper/upstairs” as a descriptor. em cima is an adverb (“upstairs/on top”) and isn’t used right after a noun.

• o piso de cima = the upstairs floor
• moro em cima = I live upstairs (adverbial, no noun)

“piso” vs “andar”: which should I use?