Log inSign up

Mete o livro na mochila antes de sair.

Mete o livro na mochila antes de sair.
Put the book in the backpack before leaving.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Portuguese grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Portuguese now

Questions & Answers about Mete o livro na mochila antes de sair.

What does mete mean here, and is it a command?

Yes. Mete is the tu imperative form of meter, so here it means something like put or stick/place.

In this sentence, Mete o livro na mochila antes de sair, the speaker is telling one person informally:

Put the book in the backpack before leaving.

In European Portuguese, meter is very common in everyday speech for put.

Why is it mete and not metes?

Because this is an imperative sentence, not a normal present-tense statement.

  • Tu metes o livro na mochila. = You put the book in the backpack.
  • Mete o livro na mochila. = Put the book in the backpack.

For regular -er verbs, the affirmative imperative for tu usually looks like the ele/ela/você form of the present tense:

  • tu metes
  • ele mete
  • imperative tu: mete

So mete is the correct informal command form.

Why is there no word for you in the sentence?

Because Portuguese often leaves out the subject pronoun when it is clear from the verb form.

So instead of saying:

  • Tu mete o livro... — which would actually be wrong here

Portuguese simply says:

  • Mete o livro...

The verb form already shows that this is a command to tu.

If you wanted a more formal command, you could say:

  • Meta o livro na mochila antes de sair.

That would be for você / o senhor / a senhora.

Why is it o livro and not just livro?

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

So o livro literally means the book, and in many everyday situations Portuguese prefers the article where English might or might not use one.

Here, o livro suggests a specific book that both speaker and listener know about.

If you said Mete um livro na mochila, that would mean Put a book in the backpack — any book, not a specific one.

What is na? Why not em a mochila?

Na is a contraction of:

  • em
    • a = na

So:

  • na mochila = in the backpack

These contractions are required in standard Portuguese:

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

So em a mochila is not correct here.

Does na mochila mean in the backpack or into the backpack?

In this sentence, it effectively means into the backpack, even though Portuguese uses em/na where English often uses in or into.

With verbs like meter, pôr, and similar verbs of placement, em often covers the idea of movement into a place:

  • Mete o livro na mochila. = Put the book into/in the backpack.

So the Portuguese structure is normal, even if English chooses into more naturally in some contexts.

Why is it antes de sair?

Antes de means before, and when Portuguese uses a verb after antes de, that verb normally goes in the infinitive.

So:

  • antes de sair = before leaving / before you leave

Here, sair means to leave / to go out.

This is a very common pattern:

  • antes de comer = before eating
  • antes de dormir = before sleeping
  • antes de estudar = before studying
Who is doing the leaving in antes de sair?

Normally, it is understood to be the same person being addressed by the command.

So:

  • Mete o livro na mochila antes de sair.

means:

  • Put the book in the backpack before you leave.

Portuguese often leaves that subject unspoken when it is obvious from context.

If you needed to make a different subject clear, you would usually say it more explicitly.

Is meter the most natural verb here, or could I also use pôr?

Both are possible, but they feel a bit different.

In European Portuguese, meter is very common in everyday speech and often sounds natural and conversational:

  • Mete o livro na mochila.

You could also say:

  • Põe o livro na mochila.

That also means Put the book in the backpack.

Very roughly:

  • meter = very common, informal, everyday
  • pôr = also very common, slightly more neutral in some contexts

A learner should understand both.

Is this sentence specifically European Portuguese?

It fits European Portuguese very well, especially because of mete and the general everyday tone.

A Brazilian Portuguese speaker would understand it, but in Brazil people might often prefer:

  • Coloca o livro na mochila antes de sair.
  • Põe o livro na mochila antes de sair.

In Portugal, meter is especially common in casual speech for put.

Also, in European Portuguese, unstressed vowels are often reduced in pronunciation, so the sentence may sound more compressed than an English speaker expects.

How would this change if I wanted to be more polite or formal?

You would change the imperative form.

Informal tu:

  • Mete o livro na mochila antes de sair.

Formal você / o senhor / a senhora:

  • Meta o livro na mochila antes de sair.

Plural informal vocês:

  • Metam o livro na mochila antes de sair.

So the main change is the verb form.

Where would object pronouns go if I wanted to say Put it in the backpack?

In affirmative commands in European Portuguese, object pronouns usually come after the verb, attached with a hyphen.

So:

  • Mete-o na mochila antes de sair. = Put it in the backpack before leaving.

If it refers to a feminine noun, you would use a:

  • Mete-a na mochila.

This post-verbal pronoun placement is very typical in European Portuguese.

How is this sentence pronounced in European Portuguese?

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

MEH-tuh u lee-vru nɐ mu-SHEE-lɐ AN-tesh dɨ suh-EER

A few useful points for European Portuguese:

  • mete: the final e is usually very weak, almost like uh
  • o livro: o is often reduced, and livro sounds closer to LEE-vru
  • na mochila: mochila has stress on -chi-
  • antes de: often sounds compressed, with de reduced
  • sair: usually has two syllables, roughly sa-ir

In fast speech, the whole sentence may sound more connected and less clearly separated than in careful speech.