The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Movement with por

Use the preposition por to express movement through, by, or along a place. You will often see it with verbs like passar (to pass), caminhar (to walk), or ir (to go).

When por is followed by a location word like aqui (here) or ali (there), it stays in its basic form.

I always pass through here.
Eu passo sempre por aqui.
We pass through there.
Nós passamos por ali.

Contractions with "the"

When por is followed by a definite article (o, a, os, or as), the two words merge into a single, new word.

PrepositionArticleContractionMeaning
poropelothrough the (masc. sing.)
porapelathrough the (fem. sing.)
porospelosthrough the (masc. pl.)
poraspelasthrough the (fem. pl.)

Use these contractions to describe pathways, routes, and geographic features.

The dog walks through the park.
O cão caminha pelo parque.
She walks along the street with me.
Ela caminha pela rua comigo.
They go through the new paths.
Eles vão pelos caminhos novos.

Depending on the context, these contractions can also translate to taking a specific route, or traveling over something like a bridge.

I do not take the stairs.
Eu não vou pelas escadas.
The train passes over the bridge.
O comboio passa pela ponte.

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