Breakdown of As chaves estão em cima da cadeira.
a chave
the key
estar
to be (temporary / location)
em cima de
on top of
a cadeira
the chair
Questions & Answers about As chaves estão em cima da cadeira.
Why does this sentence use da instead of just de in em cima da?
The phrase for 'on top of' is em cima de. Because we are saying 'on top of the chair', we need the feminine word for 'the' (a cadeira). In Portuguese, the preposition de and the article a combine to form the contraction da.
Why do we use estão here for 'are' instead of são?
Could I just say na cadeira instead of em cima da cadeira?
Yes! na cadeira (a contraction of em + a) means 'on the chair' or 'in the chair' and is very common. However, em cima da cadeira is specifically used to emphasize that the keys are resting exactly on top of the surface.