Location

Pronunciation Focus — Location, do/da, onde?, em/na

Unit 4 focuses on talking about location and possession. You will learn to ask “Where is…?”, respond with places, use the possessive contractions do/da (“of the”), and practice exchanges with vai/vou. The nasal vowel ã (as in amanhã, Sandra, dançar) receives special attention.

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The Nasal Vowel ã

The nasal vowel heard in amanhã, Sandra, banda, and dançar is the same sound throughout, even though it is sometimes written with n and sometimes with m. There is no actual n or m consonant — only a nasalized vowel.

Portuguese	English
amanhã	tomorrow
Sandra	(name)
banda	band
dançar	to dance
samba	samba
quando	when

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Do / Da — Showing Possession

Portuguese expresses possession with de (“of”) combined with the definite article. Do (de + o) is used before masculine nouns/names; da (de + a) before feminine nouns/names.

Portuguese	English
do Marcos	of Marcos / Marcos’s
da Yara	of Yara / Yara’s
a filha do Marcos	Marcos’s daughter
o filho da Yara	Yara’s son
a filha da Maria	Maria’s daughter
o filho do Santos	Santos’s son

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Conversational Exchange 1

Portuguese	English
O senhor conhece essa moça?	Do you know that girl?
Conheço, sim. É a filha da Ângela.	Yes, I do. It’s Ângela’s daughter.

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Conversational Exchange 2

Portuguese	English
Quem é esse rapaz?	Who is that young man?
É o filho da Maria.	It’s Maria’s son.

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Conversational Exchange 3

Portuguese	English
O senhor conhece a filha do Paulo?	Do you know Paulo’s daughter?
Conheço, sim. Chama-se Sandra.	Sure. Her name is Sandra.

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Onde? / Onde está? — Where? / Where is?

The question word onde means “where.” Its first syllable has the same nasal vowel as bom. Many Brazilian speakers pronounce the d in onde like the j of “jeep.”

Portuguese	English
onde	where
Onde está?	Where is?
Onde está o Paulo?	Where is Paulo?
Onde está a Sandra?	Where is Sandra?

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Responses to Onde?: em and na

The preposition em means “in” and is used before proper place names. The contraction na (em + a) and no (em + o) are used before nouns with definite articles.

Portuguese	English
em casa	at home
em Nova Iorque	in New York
em Brasília	in Brasília
em Lisboa	in Lisbon
na festa	at the party
na escola	at school
aqui	here
está aqui	is here

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Conversational Exchange 4

Portuguese	English
Onde está a Maria?	Where’s Maria?
Está em casa.	She’s at home.

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Conversational Exchange 5

Portuguese	English
Onde está a Ângela?	Where’s Ângela?
Está na escola.	She’s at school.

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Conversational Exchange 6

Portuguese	English
Onde está a Sandra?	Where’s Sandra?
Está na festa.	She’s at the party.

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Conversational Exchange 7

Portuguese	English
Onde está o professor?	Where’s the teacher?
Está em Washington.	He’s in Washington.

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Conversational Exchange 8

Portuguese	English
Onde está o Luís?	Where is Luís?
Está em Nova Iorque.	He’s in New York.

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Exchanges with vai / vou

The question word onde combines with vai to ask “Where are you going?” The English preposition “to” often translates as a in Portuguese. Before feminine nouns with the article a, a grave accent is used: à (a + a).

Portuguese	English
Onde o senhor vai?	Where are you going?
Vou a Nova Iorque.	I’m going to New York.
Vou a Lisboa.	I’m going to Lisbon.
Vou a Brasília.	I’m going to Brasília.
Vou à festa.	I’m going to the party.

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Conversational Exchange 9

Portuguese	English
Onde o senhor vai?	Where are you going?
Vou à festa.	I’m going to the party.

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Conversational Exchange 10

Portuguese	English
Onde o Luís vai?	Where is Luís going?
Vai a Nova Iorque.	He’s going to New York.

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Conversational Exchange 11

Portuguese	English
A senhora vai a Denver?	Are you going to Denver?
Não, não vou.	No, I’m not.

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Conversational Exchange 12

Portuguese	English
O senhor vai à festa?	Are you going to the party?
Vou, sim.	Yes, I am.

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Key Vocabulary Summary

Portuguese	English
do (de + o)	of the (masculine)
da (de + a)	of the (feminine)
onde	where
Onde está?	Where is?
em	in
na (em + a)	in the / at the (feminine)
no (em + o)	in the / at the (masculine)
em casa	at home
na festa	at the party
na escola	at school
aqui	here
vai	goes; is going (he-form)
vou	go; am going (I-form)
a	to
à (a + a)	to the (feminine)
dançar	to dance