Preposition Contractions 1
Come together
Sometimes in Portuguese, words will get smooshed together into one. For example, de gets combined with forms of the.
de + o → do
de + a → da
de + os → dos
de + as → das
de + a → da
de + os → dos
de + as → das
Os macacos gostam das bananas.
The monkeys like the bananas.
Ele gosta dos gatos.
He likes the cats.
Dele e dela
The same thing happens with ele, eles, ela, and elas! Any time they follow de, the words smoosh together.
Nós falamos dele.
We talk about him.
Ele precisa dela.
He needs her.
Whose cat?
You've already seen that seu, sua, seus, and suas can mean your, his, her or their.
Confusing, huh? That's why you’ll often hear people use dele, dela, deles and delas to say his, her and their. It’s a little more specific!
o gato dele
his cat
o cachorro dela
her dog
Note that words like dele always come after the noun!
a maçã deles
their apple