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Quick Grammar Reference
P o r t u g u e s e O n l i n e

>>Prepositions > Prepositional Phrases

These are the more complex prepositions that involve short phrases, often combining nouns or adverbs with the basic prepositions to form new ideas.

Here is a short list of complex or compound prepositions in Portuguese and their English equivalents.

Prepositions

Portuguese English
acima de on top of, above
abaixo de beneath
ao lado de next to, beside
em frente de in front of, facing
dentro de inside of
fora de outside of
atrás de in back of, behind
adiante de ahead of
antes de before
depois de after
desde since, from the time of
até until

There are also adverbs that correspond to most of these prepositions. Most of them can be formed by simply removing the final basic preposition. Abaixo also has the variant debaixo. Using the preposition para with these adverbs indicates that an action moves toward their direction: para abaixo downwards, para cima upwards, para frente forwards / to the front.

The adverb atrás behind is more common than adiante. When speaking about time or a timepiece, you will use both. A watch can be atrasado behind or adiantado ahead (where the adjective forms are used).

Desde can also have the meaning of from / out of a place. In this case, it pairs with até, which then takes on the meaning towards or with the destination of a place. Desde Brasil ataté Lisboa means from Brazil to Lisbon, and focuses more on the origin, distance and travel than do Brasil a Lisboa.