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O gato está em cima da cadeira.

O gato está em cima da cadeira.
The cat is on top of the chair.
From Lesson 30:Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O gato está em cima da cadeira.

Why is it da cadeira and not just de cadeira?
The phrase for "on top of" is em cima de. When the word de (of) comes right before the feminine word a (the), they combine to form the contraction da (of the). Because cadeira (chair) is feminine, we use da to say "on top of the chair".
Do I always need the de (or da, do) part after em cima?
Yes, if you are naming the object the cat is resting on. If you drop the de and just say O gato está em cima, it changes the meaning to "The cat is upstairs" or "The cat is on top" without saying what it is actually on.
Why do we use está instead of é for "is" in this sentence?
We use está (from the verb estar) because it describes a location. In Portuguese, we always use estar to talk about where physical things are located. We use é (from the verb ser) for permanent traits, like what an animal is or what an object is made of.
Is em cima written as one word or two?
It is always written as two separate words: em and cima. This is different from its opposite, debaixo (underneath), which is written as a single word.

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