Left, Right, and the de That Comes With Them
à direita de and à esquerda de are built from the contraction a + a that you met in the time lesson, and they behave like the place prepositions of the previous lesson: the final de contracts with whatever article follows.
| à direita do banco | to the right of the bank |
| à esquerda da escola | to the left of the school |
Drop the de and you get a bare adverb — é à direita, é à esquerda — which is what you answer when the landmark is already understood.
| The museum is to the left of the library. | O museu está à esquerda da biblioteca. |
Near, and the Portuguese Idiom for It
ao pé de literally says at the foot of, and it is the everyday European Portuguese way of saying next to. It is interchangeable with ao lado de in most contexts and you will hear it constantly in Portugal.
longe and atrás are bare adverbs — no de — used when the reference point is obvious.
| The café is next to the park. | O café está ao pé do parque. |
Directions of Travel
para cima and para baixo are up and down as DIRECTIONS, not positions; they pair with verbs of motion. sempre em frente is the standard answer to where do I go? — note that Portuguese says always straight ahead, and the sempre is not optional padding.
| The bus goes straight ahead. | O autocarro vai sempre em frente. |
Two Words for the Journey
seguir is a regular -ir verb: sigo, segues, segue. devagar is slowly, and it is the word you want when you ask someone to repeat themselves more clearly.
