Colloquial Contractions (A1) | Brazilian Portuguese Grammar Guide | Falando

Colloquial Contractions (A1) | Brazilian Portuguese Grammar Guide | Falando | Falando

PARA Contractions (Direction/Purpose)

Standard → Colloquial:

Formal	Colloquial	Example	Translation
para a	pra	Vou pra praia	I'm going to the beach
para o	pro	Olha pro céu	Look at the sky
para as	pras	Flores pras meninas	Flowers for the girls
para os	pros	Livros pros alunos	Books for the students

Also contracts with other words:

para + aqui = praqui (to here)
para + ali = prali (to there)
para + onde = pronde (to where)

Common uses:

"Pra que?" (What for?)
"Pra mim" (For me)
"Pro seu bem" (For your own good)
"É pra já!" (Right away!)

EM Contractions (Location)

Standard → Colloquial:

Formal	Colloquial	Example	Translation
em um	num	Tô num bar	I'm in a bar
em uma	numa	Mora numa casa	Lives in a house
em uns	nuns	Vi nuns sites	I saw on some sites
em umas	numas	Tava numas	Was in some (situations)

With demonstratives:

em + esse = nesse (in this)
em + essa = nessa (in this)
em + isso = nisso (in this)
em + aquele = naquele (in that)

DE Contractions (Origin/Possession)

Standard → Colloquial:

Formal	Colloquial	Example	Translation
de um	dum	Preciso dum favor	I need a favor
de uma	duma	Dentro duma hora	Within an hour
de uns	duns	Gosto duns	I like some
de umas	dumas	Lembro dumas	I remember some

With demonstratives:

de + esse = desse (of this)
de + essa = dessa (of this)
de + isso = disso (of this)
de + aquele = daquele (of that)

Common Colloquial Patterns

Question formations:

"Cadê?" = Onde está? (Where is?)
"Peraí" = Espera aí (Wait)
"Né?" = Não é? (Right?)
"Tá?" = Está? (OK?)

Verb + preposition fusions:

"Vambora" = Vamos embora (Let's go)
"Deixestar" = Deixa estar (Let it be)
"Tomara" = Tomara a Deus (God willing)

Written vs. Spoken Usage

Formal writing: Use full forms

❌ "Vou pra escola"
✅ "Vou para a escola"

Informal writing (texts/social media): Contractions normal

✅ "Vou pra escola"
✅ "To numa festa"

Speech: Contractions universal

Everyone says "pra" not "para a"
Saying full forms sounds unnatural

Regional Variations

All of Brazil uses these, but some regions have extras:

Carioca (Rio): "Qualé?" = Qual é?
Paulista: "Cêviu?" = Você viu?
Mineiro: "Procê" = Para você
Nordestino: "Oxe" = Ô gente!

Colloquial contractions: pra, pro, numa, dessa

Related topics

PARA Contractions (Direction/Purpose)

Standard → Colloquial:

Also contracts with other words:

Common uses:

EM Contractions (Location)

Standard → Colloquial:

With demonstratives:

DE Contractions (Origin/Possession)

Standard → Colloquial:

With demonstratives:

Common Colloquial Patterns

Question formations:

Verb + preposition fusions:

Written vs. Spoken Usage

Regional Variations