Pega no livro, por favor.

In European Portuguese, when pegar means to pick up / take in your hand / grab, it very often uses the preposition em.

So:

• pegar em + o livro → pegar no livro

That is why you see no here. It is the contraction of:

• em + o = no

A native English speaker often expects a direct object with no preposition, but in Portugal pegar em alguma coisa is very common and natural for physically taking hold of something.

In Brazil, pegar o livro is much more common and natural.

No is a contraction:

• em + o = no

So pega no livro literally contains in/on the book, but you should not translate it word for word. With pegar em, this is just how Portuguese expresses take hold of or pick up something.

Other examples:

• pega na caneta = pick up the pen
• pega nos livros = pick up the books
• pega nas chaves = pick up the keys

Pega is the affirmative imperative form used with tu.

The verb is pegar.
For tu, the command is:

• pega! = pick up! / take!

So Pega no livro, por favor. is an informal singular command, used when speaking to one person you would address as tu.

It is addressed to one person, informally: tu.

In Portugal, tu is very common with family, friends, children, classmates, and many everyday situations.

If you wanted a more formal version, you would usually say:

• Pegue no livro, por favor.

That matches você or a more polite way of speaking.

The negative command changes form.

Instead of pega, you use the subjunctive-based form:

• Não pegues no livro, por favor.

So:

• Pega no livro. = Pick up the book.
• Não pegues no livro. = Don’t pick up / touch the book.

This difference between affirmative and negative commands is very common in Portuguese.

Not always. Depending on context, pegar em can mean things like:

• pick up
• take hold of
• grab
• handle
• sometimes even touch

So Pega no livro could mean:

• pick up the book
• take the book in your hand
• grab the book

The exact nuance depends on the situation.

Because o livro means the book — a specific book.

Portuguese uses articles very naturally, often more consistently than English learners expect.

Compare:

• Pega no livro. = Pick up the book.
• Pega num livro. = Pick up a book.

Here, num is em + um.

No, it is flexible.

You can say:

• Pega no livro, por favor.
• Por favor, pega no livro.

Both are natural. Putting por favor at the end is very common and sounds polite and straightforward.

By itself, the imperative is a direct command, but adding por favor softens it and makes it polite.

So:

• Pega no livro. = more direct
• Pega no livro, por favor. = polite request or softened command

Still, the tone depends on your voice and the situation. With friends or family, this is perfectly normal.

A common more formal version is:

• Pegue no livro, por favor.

You could also use a question to sound softer:

• Pode pegar no livro, por favor?

That is often a good choice if you want to be especially polite.

A rough pronunciation is:

• PEH-gah nuh LEE-vru, pur fuh-VOR

A few useful points for European Portuguese:

• pega: the first e is open, roughly like eh
• no sounds like nu in connected speech
• livro often sounds closer to LEE-vru
• unstressed vowels are reduced more than in Brazilian Portuguese

So in real speech it may sound more compressed than you expect.

Sometimes, but the meaning changes a bit.

• pegar no livro = pick up / take hold of the book
• agarrar o livro = grab the book, often with a stronger or more forceful feeling

So pegar no livro is the more neutral choice here.

The same pattern stays the same, but em contracts with different articles:

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

Examples:

• Pega na caneta. = Pick up the pen.
• Pega nos livros. = Pick up the books.
• Pega nas chaves. = Pick up the keys.