Regência: the preposition a verb or noun demands

Regência is where a fluent-sounding learner is most likely to be marked wrong, because the errors are invisible in conversation and glaring on paper. It also carries real meaning: implicar and implicar com are two different verbs, and so are proceder, proceder a and proceder de. On top of that, every crase in the language depends on a preposition that regência put there, so a shaky grip here quietly breaks the accent rules downstream. Learning the preposition with the word is a small habit that pays off in every formal text you write.

1. The word chooses the preposition, not you

Regência is the principle that a verb, a noun or an adjective selects its own preposition, and that the choice is a property of the word itself rather than something you can reason out from the meaning. English works exactly the same way — you depend on, you are interested in, you listen to — and you learned those one at a time, without ever asking why.

Portuguese asks for the same deal. Store the preposition with the word: gostar de, precisar de, assistir a, obedecer a, concordar com, sonhar com, reclamar de.

There are two families. Regência verbal is about verbs; regência nominal is about nouns and adjectives, which very often inherit the preposition of the verb they come from — depender de gives dependência de, interessar-se por gives interesse por, orgulhar-se de gives orgulho de.

One note before the details: this point used to carry crase as well. Crase now has a point of its own, because the two problems are different. Regência tells you whether a preposition a belongs there at all; crase only tells you how to write it once it does.

2. The verbs that change meaning with the preposition

Common Pitfalls

• Dropping the a of assistir in writing. ❌ Assisti o jogo. → ✅ Assisti ao jogo. (I watched the game.) Everyone says the first one; only the second survives an editor. And remember that assistir with a direct object means to treat or assist someone.

• Using do que after preferir. ❌ Prefiro trem do que ônibus. → ✅ Prefiro trem a ônibus. (I prefer the train to the bus.) Preferir compares with a, never with do que, and it does not take mais either.

• Writing implicar em in a formal text. ❌ A decisão implica em mudanças. → ✅ A decisão implica mudanças. (The decision entails changes.) Keep com for the other verb: implicar com alguém is to pick on someone.

• Carrying chegar em and ir na into an essay. ❌ Cheguei em casa e fui na padaria. → ✅ Cheguei a casa e fui à padaria. (I got home and went to the bakery.) Both are perfectly normal in speech; neither belongs in formal writing.

• Matching the pronoun to the wrong pattern. ❌ Obedeço-o. → ✅ Obedeço-lhe. (I obey him.) or, more naturally in Brazil, Obedeço a ele. Verbs that demand a take lhe, not o.

• Importing English prepositions. ❌ Estou procurando por um apartamento. → ✅ Estou procurando um apartamento. (I am looking for a flat.) Procurar takes a direct object in Portuguese; the por is English showing through.