Question 1

Where does the word pelo come from?

Accepted Answer

Pelo is a contraction. It combines the preposition por (which can mean through, by, or for) with the masculine definite article o (the). In Portuguese, you must always combine por and o into pelo. You will never see por o written as two separate words.

Question 2

Why does pelo mean through the in this sentence instead of for the?

Accepted Answer

The preposition por has a few different meanings depending on the context. When used with a verb of movement like passa (passes), it translates to through or by way of. So, passa pelo centro means the bus physically travels through the center of town.

Question 3

If it was passing through a feminine place, like the city (a cidade), how would this change?

Accepted Answer

You would change the contraction to match the feminine noun. The preposition por combined with the feminine article a becomes pela. To say the bus does not pass through the city, you would change it to O autocarro não passa pela cidade.

Question 4

Does the negative word não always go before the verb?

Accepted Answer

Yes! In Portuguese, negative words like não (not) are placed directly before the verb they negate. While English uses extra helping verbs like does not, Portuguese keeps it simple by just putting não right in front of passa.

O autocarro não passa pelo centro.

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