Portuguese · Chapter 4 · Lesson 14 · Grammar primer
Prepositions and contractions: do, da, no, na
A preposition meets an article and they weld into one word. Do is not new vocabulary; it is de plus o.
The short version
Do and na are two words you already know
When de, em, a or por meet the definite article, they fuse, and the fusion is compulsory. De plus o is do, em plus a is na, a plus a is Ă , por plus o is pelo. De o and em a are not formal Portuguese; they are simply wrong.
O livro estĂĄ na mesa.
Gostar always brings de with it
I like coffee is eu gosto de cafĂ©, never eu gosto cafĂ©. The de is part of the verb, and it fuses with any article that follows: gosto do Brasil, gosta da mĂșsica. Leaving it out is the commonest preposition mistake English speakers make in Portuguese.
Eu gosto de café.
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