Grammar Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish

1 grammar

1.1 gender
1.2 use of definite article
1.3 possessives
1.4 pronouns

1.4.1 object pronouns
1.4.2 clitic personal pronouns
1.4.3 mesoclisis
1.4.4 combining pronouns in spanish
1.4.5 use of stressed pronouns inanimate subjects
1.4.6 second-person pronouns


1.5 verbs

1.5.1
1.5.2 reflexive verbs
1.5.3
1.5.4 auxiliary verb of perfect
1.5.5 imperfect subjunctive versus pluperfect indicative
1.5.6 present perfect
1.5.7 personal infinitive
1.5.8 future subjunctive
1.5.9 irregular verbs


1.6 prepositions

1.6.1 contractions
1.6.2 personal
1.6.3 ir versus ir para
1.6.4 hacia , para
1.6.5 going future
1.6.6 other differences in preposition usage

grammar

broadly speaking, grammars of portuguese , spanish share many common features. nevertheless, differences between them can present hurdles people acquainted 1 , learning other.

gender

spanish has 3 forms singular definite article, el, masculine, la, feminine, , lo, neuter. last used adjectives form abstract nouns employed in generic sense, , intensify meaning of adjectives. in portuguese, there o, masculine, , a, feminine. literary spanish has 3 corresponding third person pronouns, él , ella , , ello (referring broad concept, not named object), while portuguese has ele, masculine, , ela, feminine. spanish neuters lo , ello have no plural forms.

some words masculine in spanish, feminine in portuguese, or vice versa. common example nouns ended in -aje in spanish, masculine, , portuguese cognates ending in -agem, feminine. example, spanish el viaje journey (masculine, french le voyage , italian il viaggio) corresponds portuguese feminine viagem. similarly, el puente bridge , el dolor pain , or el árbol tree masculine nouns in modern spanish, whereas ponte, dor, , árvore feminine in portuguese. on other hand, spanish feminine la leche milk corresponds portuguese o leite (masculine, french le lait, italian il latte). likewise, nariz nose feminine in spanish , masculine in portuguese.

some spanish words can both masculine , feminine, different meanings. both meanings exist in portuguese, 1 , same gender, can t differentiated unless further information provided. instance, word orden order can mean both harmonious arrangement , directive , counterparts in english , portuguese. spanish word masculine when used first meaning, , feminine second:

me sorprendió el orden. ( surprised order [i.e., how orderly was]. )
me sorprendió la orden. ( surprised order [i.e., directive given]. )

in portuguese, equivalent word ordem feminine:

surpreendeu-me ordem. ( surprised order. )

without additional context, impossible tell meaning intended in portuguese , english (though other words substituted; in english, 1 use orderliness in first case above rather order, would, itself, suggest second case).

use of definite article

in many varieties of portuguese, personal names preceded definite article, trait found in catalan in dialects in spanish. in portuguese, relatively recent development, brazilian dialects have not adopted yet, notably in states of brazilian northeast. in dialects of portuguese regularly use definite articles before proper nouns, article may omitted formality, or show distance in literary narrative. compare, example, english mary left , spanish maría salió, , portuguese maria saiu. note, however, in many spanish dialects definite article used before personal names; thus, la maría salió commonly heard.

portuguese uses definite article before names of cities , countries except relatively new ones, such cingapura/singapura ( singapore ), , related portugal (or portugal has historical relationships with, though rough rule) , portuguese-speaking countries, e.g., holanda portugal; o méxico angola, suécia, moçambique. major exception country rule o brasil. in spanish, use of definite article optional countries: (la) china, (el) japón, (la) india, (la) argentina, (el) ecuador, (el) perú, (el) uruguay, (el) paraguay, (el) brasil, (los) estados unidos, etc. same true 2 continents: (la) antártida , (el) África; archipelagos , islands: (las) filipinas, (las) canarias, (las) azores, provinces, regions or territories: (el) tíbet, (la) toscana, (el) piamonte, (el) lacio , cities: (el) cairo, (la) valeta. spanish uses definite article geographical names when appear adjective or modifying phrase, in following examples: la españa medieval medieval spain , el puerto rico prehispánico pre-hispanic puerto rico , el portugal de salazar portugal during salazar s dictatorship , etc.

santiago es la capital de chile. (spanish)
santiago é capital chile. (portuguese)
santiago capital of chile.


Él es de costa rica, que está en américa central. (spanish)
ele é da costa rica, que fica na américa central. (portuguese)
costa rica, in central america.


tengo un boleto para (los) estados unidos de américa. (spanish)
tenho um bilhete para os estados unidos da américa. (portuguese)
have ticket united states of america.


nueva delhi no es la ciudad más poblada de (la) india. (spanish)
nova déli não é cidade mais populosa da Índia. (portuguese)
new delhi not populous city in india.


la europa medieval pertenecía monarcas absolutos. (spanish)
a europa medieval pertencia monarcas absolutos. (portuguese)
medieval europe belonged absolute monarchs.

portuguese omits definite article in stating time of day unless para used.

son las nueve y cuarto, son nueve y quince or son nueve quince. (spanish)
são (as) nove (horas) e quinze (minutos). (portuguese) (parenthesical parts omitted)
s 9 fifteen. or: s quarter past/after nine.

in addition, in dialects of portuguese definite article used before possessive adjectives (as used in italian), not possible in spanish. instance, sentence brother este es mi hermano in spanish, may este é o meu irmão in portuguese. nevertheless, in many brazilian dialects (mostly in northeast) , in casual brazilian portuguese article not used in sentences such as: este é meu irmão (although reappears in sentences such o meu irmão está lá ).

possessives

in portuguese, possessive adjectives have same form possessive pronouns, , agree gender of possessed item. in spanish, same true of nuestro/nuestra ( our ) , vuestro/vuestra ( [plural]), other possessives, pronoun has longer form agrees gender of possessed item, while adjective has shorter form not change gender. possessive adjectives preceded definite article in continental portuguese, less in brazilian portuguese, , never in spanish. possessive pronouns preceded definite article in dialects of both languages. see examples in table below.

pronouns
object pronouns

in portuguese, third-person clitic pronouns have special variants used after types of verb endings, not happen in spanish. default object pronouns o/a/os/as change lo/la/los/las when follow verb ends in ⟨r⟩, ⟨s⟩ or ⟨z⟩, , no/na/nos/nas when follow verb ends in nasal sound.

in brazilian portuguese, these forms uncommon, since pronoun precedes verb (i.e., você o mantenha in above example), , third-person subject pronouns used informally object pronouns (mantenha ele), has been proved present in language since galician-portuguese times. however, has been considered ungrammatical begin sentence object pronoun, above examples are, on rare occasion, used in brazil well.

clitic personal pronouns

european portuguese differs brazilian portuguese regard placement of clitic personal pronouns, , spanish in turn different both of them.

in spanish, clitic pronouns come before verb, except imperative, infinitive, , gerund. in verbal periphrases, precede auxiliary verb.
in spoken brazilian portuguese, clitic pronouns come before main verb. in verbal periphrases, come between auxiliary verb , main verb. occurs imperative, infinitive, gerund, , past participle.
in european portuguese, clitic pronouns may come before or after verb, depending on type of clause. in verbal periphrases, may precede or follow auxiliary verb, or follow main verb (when in infinitive or gerund).


mesoclisis

in portuguese, verbs in future indicative or conditional tense may split morphemes, , clitic pronoun can inserted between them, feature known mesoclisis. occurred in old spanish, no comparable phenomenon takes place in modern spanish:

lo traerá. (spanish)
trá-lo-á. (european portuguese , formal written brazilian portuguese)
he/she bring it.

however, these tenses replaced others in spoken language. future indicative replaced present indicative; conditional replaced imperfect indicative. in colloquial language, portuguese state trá-lo-á vai trazê-lo ( going bring ) or irá trazê-lo ( bring ). in brazilian portuguese, vai trazer ele vernacular use.

combining pronouns in spanish

the spanish construction, se lo dio, means either [he/she] gave [him/her] or [he/she] gave himself/herself . expected pattern former *le lo dio, such construction not exist. unique spanish.

latin: dedit illī illud → dedit illī illum (early vulgar latin) → dit illi illu (late vulgar latin)
spanish: dio (i)lli (el)lo → dio ge lo → diógelo (arch.) → dióselo → se lo dio
portuguese: deu (i)lli (l)o → deu lhe (l)o → deu-lho

thus, modern spanish makes no distinction between reflexive pronoun se , dative personal pronoun se. note did not happen in old spanish: diógelo, gave him , dióselo, gave himself . medieval g sound (similar of french) replaced s in 14th-15th centuries (cf. spanish coger, catch , cosecha, harvest , port. colher , colheita, both lat. colligere).

use of stressed pronouns inanimate subjects

in spanish, stressed pronouns never used inanimate subjects (i.e., things, opposed people or animals), not clarity or disambiguation purposes. portuguese knows no such restriction, stressed pronouns referring inanimate subjects can either used or dropped:

¿dónde están las llaves? están en la mesa. (spanish – pronoun dropped)
onde estão chaves? (elas) estão na mesa. (portuguese – pronoun optional)
keys? on table. (english – pronoun not required)

second-person pronouns

the use of second-person pronouns differs dramatically between spanish , portuguese, , more between european , brazilian portuguese. spanish tú , usted correspond etymologically portuguese tu , você, portuguese has gained third, more formal form o(s) senhor(es), a(s) senhora(s), demoting você equalizing rather respectful register. old familiar forms have been largely lost in portuguese-speaking world, portuguese equalizing forms você or vocês have displaced tu large extent , vós entirely; , tu still used, second-person verb forms historically corresponded replaced same (third-person) forms used você .

in plural, portuguese familiar vós archaic everywhere (as old english second singular thou ), , both subject pronoun , corresponding second-person plural verb forms limited bible, traditional prayers, , spoken varieties of regions of rural portugal; normally, familiar (and equalizing) form vocês, although in portugal second person plural forms retained both object , possessive pronouns (e.g., vocês e vossa família). in case of peninsular spanish, tú, usted, vosotros, , ustedes have more or less kept original functions; if anything, tú displacing usted out of common use , usted coming used formal situations (like o senhor in portuguese). latin american spanish more complicated: vosotros has fallen out of use in favor of ustedes, regions of spanish america use vos singular informal pronoun, displacing tú out of original role greater or lesser extent (see voseo).

spoken brazilian portuguese has dramatically simplified pronoun system, você(s) tending displace other forms. although few parts of brazil still use tu , corresponding second-person singular verb forms, areas either use tu third-person verb forms or (increasingly) drop tu entirely in favor of você. has in turn caused original third-person possessive seu, sua shift second-person use, alongside appearance of new third-person possessive dele, dela (plural deles, delas, ) follows noun (thus paraphrases such o carro dele car , o carro dela car ). formal o senhor increasingly restricted highly formal situations, such of storekeeper addressing customer, or child or teenager addressing adult stranger.

more conservative in regard fluminense dialect of brazilian portuguese (spoken in rio de janeiro, espírito santo , in zona da mata of state of minas gerais) – carioca sociolect. dialect preserves intimate or familiar tu, standard equalizing form você, , respectful or formal o senhor/a senhora, related possessives, such extent speakers use these forms, according context. nevertheless, minority of educated speakers correctly conjugates of tu pronouns formally; otherwise, conjugated você.

standard portuguese usage has vocês , os senhores/as senhoras plurals of você , o senhor/a senhora, vernacular has produced new forms second-person familiar plural function, such gente (compare gente possible colloquial variation of nós, / , should conjugated—but commonly not—as third-person singular), pessoas, pessoal, [meu] povo, cês (eye dialect vocês in colloquial pronunciation), , galera (the latter associated youth slang).

it said gaúcho, nordestino , amazofonia dialects, sociolects elsewhere, such in , around city of santos, have preserved tu; unlike in fluminense, use of você limited, , entirely absent among speakers, , tu takes place. in these areas, verb tu conjugated in third-person form (as você) – except among educated speakers in urban centers such porto alegre and, especially, belém. see brazilian portuguese.

verbs

spanish , portuguese have 2 main copulas, ser , estar. part, use of these verbs same in both languages, there few cases differs. main difference between spanish , portuguese in interpretation of concept of state versus essence , in generalizations 1 way or made in constructions. instance,

está prohibido fumar. (spanish) [estar]
É proibido fumar. (portuguese) [ser]
smoking forbidden.


la silla está hecha de madera. (spanish) [estar]
a cadeira é feita de madeira. (portuguese) [ser]
chair made of wood.


sólo uno es correcto. (spanish) [ser]
só um está correto. (portuguese) [estar]
1 correct.

also, use of ser regarding permanent location more accepted in portuguese. conversely, estar permanent in spanish regarding location, while in portuguese, implies being temporary or within immediate vicinity (same house, building, etc.)

nuestra oficina queda (or está) muy lejos. (spanish) [quedar/estar]
o nosso escritório é (or fica) muito longe. (portuguese) [ser/ficar]
our office far away.


¿dónde está (or queda) el aeropuerto? (spanish) [estar/quedar]
onde fica (or é) o aeroporto? (portuguese) [ficar/ser]
airport?

because airport not anywhere nearby, ficar used in portuguese (most common), though ser can used.

secondary copulas quedar(se) in spanish , ficar in portuguese. each can mean stay or remain.

me quedé dentro de la casa todo el día. (spanish)
fiquei dentro de casa todo o dia. (portuguese)
stayed inside house day.

the spanish sentence using reflexive form of verb (quedarse) implies staying inside house voluntary, while portuguese , english quite ambiguous on matter without additional context. (see next section.)

both spanish quedar(se) , portuguese ficar can mean become :

mi abuela se está quedando sorda. (spanish)
a minha avó está ficando surda. (brazilian portuguese , dialects of european portuguese)
a minha avó está ficar surda. (european portuguese)
grandmother becoming deaf.

reflexive verbs

reflexive verbs more frequent in spanish in portuguese, actions relating parts of body:

guillermo se quebró la pierna jugando la pelota. (spanish)
o guilherme quebrou perna jogando bola. (brazilian portuguese)
o guilherme partiu perna jogar à bola. (european portuguese)
william broke leg playing football.

the portuguese , spanish verbs expressing liking similar in form (gostar , gustar respectively) different in arrangement of arguments. arguments in linguistics expressions enable verb complete meaning. expressions of liking typically require 2 arguments: (1) person likes (sometimes called experiencer ), , (2) person likes (sometimes called theme ). portuguese , spanish (as english) assign different grammatical cases these arguments, shown in following table:

the portuguese sentence can translated literally [i] [take satisfaction] [from] [the music] , while spanish corresponds [to me] [(it) pleasing] [the music].

it possible in spanish express as: (yo) gusto de la música , although use has become antiquated.

auxiliary verb of perfect

in spanish, compound perfect constructed auxiliary verb haber (< latin habēre). although portuguese used use cognate verb (haver) in way, more common form these tenses ter ( have ) (< latin tenēre). haver more used in brazilian portuguese, while ter used auxiliary other iberian languages; more pervasive in portuguese. note portuguese verb tables contain ter regard perfect.

yo ya había comido cuando mi madre volvió. (spanish) [imperfect form of haber]
eu já comera quando minha mãe voltou. (portuguese) [pluperfect inherited latin]
eu já tinha comido quando minha mãe voltou. (portuguese) [imperfect form of ter]
eu já havia comido quando minha mãe voltou. (portuguese) [imperfect form of haver]
had eaten when mother returned.

imperfect subjunctive versus pluperfect indicative

a class of false friends between 2 languages composed of verb forms endings containing -ra-, such cantara, cantaras, cantáramos, , on. spanish has 2 forms imperfect subjunctive, 1 endings in -se- , endings in -ra- (e.g., cantase/cantara sing ), interchangeable. in portuguese, cantasse has value; cantara employed pluperfect indicative, i.e., equivalent spanish había cantado ( had sung ). although there strong tendency use verb phrase instead in spoken language, in spanish , english (tinha cantado), simple tense still frequent in literature.

present perfect

in european spanish, in english, present perfect used talk action initiated , completed in past, still considered relevant or influential in present moment. in portuguese , latin american spanish, same meaning conveyed simple preterite, in examples below:

no, gracias. ya cenado. (spanish, spain) [present perfect]
no, gracias. ya cené. (spanish, latin america) [preterite]
não, obrigado. já jantei. (portuguese) [preterite]
no, thank you. have dined. [present perfect]


he ido españa dos veces. (spanish, spain) [present perfect]
fui españa dos veces. (spanish, latin america) [preterite]
fui espanha duas vezes. (portuguese) [preterite]
have been spain twice. [present perfect]


¿ha oído usted las últimas noticias, señor? (spanish, spain) [present perfect]
¿oyó usted las últimas noticias, señor? (spanish, latin america) [preterite]
o senhor ouviu últimas notícias? (portuguese) [preterite]
have heard latest news, sir? [present perfect]

portuguese uses present perfect (pretérito perfeito composto) speaking of event began in past, repeated regularly present, , keep happening in future. see contrast spanish in following example:

he pensado en pedirle matrimonio. (spanish) [present perfect]
have thought of asking her/him [indirect object] marry me [the thought has occurred me @ least once]. [present perfect]
tenho pensado em pedi-la em casamento. (portuguese) [present perfect]
have been thinking of asking [direct object] marry me. [present perfect continuous]

as example suggests, portuguese present perfect closer in meaning english present perfect continuous. see spanish verbs: contrasting preterite , perfect.

personal infinitive

portuguese, uniquely among major romance languages, has acquired personal infinitive , can used alternative subordinate clause finite verb in subjunctive.

a recepcionista pediu para esperarmos. (portuguese) [personal infinitive]
a recepcionista pediu que esperássemos. (portuguese) [imperfect subjunctive]
la recepcionista nos pidió que esperáramos/esperásemos. (spanish) [imperfect subjunctive]
receptionist asked wait. (literal personal infinitive translation)
receptionist asked wait. (literal portuguese imperfect subjunctive translation)

the portuguese perfect form of personal infinitive corresponds 1 of several possible spanish finite verbs.

alguém nos acusou de termos roubado uma caneta. (portuguese)
alguien nos acusó de haber robado un bolígrafo. (spanish)
accused of having stolen pen.

on occasions, personal infinitive can hardly replaced finite clause , corresponds different structure in spanish (and english):

o hábito de fumares à janela é desagradável. (portuguese, using personal infinitive. literally, habit of [you] smoking @ window unpleasant. )
(o) teu hábito de fumar à janela é desagradável. (portuguese, using impersonal infinitive. literally, (the) habit of smoking @ window unpleasant. )
tu hábito de fumar junto una ventana es desagradable. (spanish: habit of smoking close window unpleasant. )

the personal infinitive not used in counterfactual situations, these require either future subjunctive or imperfect subjunctive. if were/had been rich... se fôssemos ricos..., not *se sermos ricos... also, conjugated same future subjunctive (see next section), provided latter not irregular (ser, estar, ter, etc.) personal infinitive never irregular, though circumflex accent may dropped in writing on expanded forms (such pôr).

in first , third person singular, personal infinitive appears no different unconjugated infinitive.

É bom eu/ele esperar um bocadinho. (portuguese)
i/he wait(s) bit.

the above rules apply whenever subjects of 2 clauses same, independent of each other.

para chegarmos cedo, temos/teremos que nos apressar. (portuguese) [personal infinitive]
para que lleguemos temprano, necesitamos apresurarnos. (spanish) [present subjunctive]
arrive early, need hurry.


para chegarmos cedo, tínhamos/teríamos que nos apressar. (portuguese) [personal infinitive]
para que llegáramos/llegásemos temprano, necesitaríamos apresurarnos. (spanish) [imperfect subjunctive]
arrive early, need hurry.

as shown, personal infinitive can used @ times replace both impersonal infinitive , subjunctive. spanish has no such alternative.

future subjunctive

the future subjunctive, virtually obsolete in spanish, continues in use in both written , spoken portuguese. used in subordinate clauses referring hypothetical future event or state – either adverbial clauses (usually introduced se if or quando when ) or adjective clauses modify nouns referring hypothetical future entity. spanish, in analogous if-clauses, uses present indicative, , in cuando- , adjective clauses uses present subjunctive.

se eu eleito presidente, mudarei lei. (portuguese)
si yo soy elegido presidente, cambiaré la ley. (spanish)
if elected president, change law.


quando fores mais velho, compreenderás. (portuguese)
cuando seas mayor, comprenderás. (spanish)
when older, ll understand.


dar-se-á/se dará o prêmio à primeira pessoa que disser resposta correta. (portuguese)
se dará el premio la primera persona que diga la respuesta correcta. (spanish)
prize given first person says right answer.

irregular verbs

a number of irregular verbs in portuguese change main vowel indicate differences between first , third person singular: fiz did vs fez did , pude vs pôde , fui vs foi , tive had vs teve had , etc. these vowel differences stem vowel raising (metaphony) triggered historically final -ī of first-person singular in latin. spanish maintains such difference in fui vs fue . in other cases, 1 of 2 vowels has been regularized throughout conjugation , new third-person ending -o adopted: hice did vs hizo did , pude vs pudo , etc.

contrarily, spanish maintains many more irregular forms in future , conditional: saldré leave , pondré put , vendré come , diré , etc. portuguese has three: farei , direi , trarei carry .

portuguese drops -e in irregular third-person singular present indicative forms after ⟨z⟩ , ⟨r⟩, according phonological rules: faz , diz says , quer wants , etc. spanish has restored -e analogy other verbs: hace , dice says , quiere wants , etc. (the same type of analogy accounts fiz vs hice did in past tense. in nouns such paz peace , luz light , amor love , etc. -e dropped in both languages , never restored).

prepositions
contractions

in spanish prepositions ( ) , de ( of, ) form contractions following masculine singular definite article (el ): + el > al, , de + el > del. kind of contraction more extensive in portuguese, involving prepositions ( ), de ( of, ), em ( in ), , por ( ) articles , demonstratives regardless of number or gender. 4 of these prepositions join definite article, shown in following table:

these portuguese contractions include potential false friends reader of spanish, such no (port. in , sp. no, not ) , dos (port. of , sp. 2 ).

in european portuguese, pronounced [ɐ], while à pronounced [a]. both [a] in of brazil, although in accents such carioca , florianopolitano there may distinction.

additionally, prepositions de , em combine demonstrative adjectives , pronouns shown below:

the neuter demonstrative pronouns (isto isso, aquilo ) likewise combine de , em – thus, disto, nisto, etc. , preposition combines distal demonstratives (those begin a-) form àquele, àquilo, etc.

the portuguese contractions mentioned far obligatory. contractions can optionally formed em , de indefinite article (um, uma, uns, umas), resulting in num, numa, dum, duma, etc. , third person pronouns (ele, ela, eles, elas), resulting in nele, nela, dele, dela, etc. other optional contractions include de aqui > daqui ( here ).

the spanish con ( , com in portuguese) combines prepositional pronouns mí, ti, , sí form conmigo, contigo, consigo ( me , , him-/herself ). in portuguese process not applies pronouns mim, ti, , si (giving comigo, contigo, , consigo), extended nós and, in varieties use it, vós, producing connosco (conosco in brazilian portuguese) , convosco.

personal

spanish employs preposition, so-called personal , before direct object of transitive verb (except tener) when denotes specific person(s), or domestic pet; veo juan see john ; hemos invitado los estudiantes ve invited students. in portuguese, personal virtually non-existent, except before deus god : louvar deus praise god , amar deus love god .

ir versus ir para

quite common in both languages prepositions (which translates ) , para (which translates ). however, european portuguese , spanish distinguish between going somewhere short while versus longer stay, if intended destination, in latter case using para instead of a. while there no specified duration of stay before european portuguese speaker must switch prepositions, implies 1 return sooner, rather later, relative context. distinction not made in english , brazilian portuguese. in spanish distinction not made if duration given in context (maybe implicitly), , in case preferred.

fui al mercado cerca de mi casa. (spanish)
fui ao mercado perto de/da minha casa./fui para o mercado perto de/da minha casa. (european , brazilian portuguese)
went market near house. [temporary displacement]


el presidente anterior fue exiliado portugal. (spanish)
o presidente anterior foi exilado para portugal. (european , brazilian portuguese)
former president exiled portugal. [permanent, or more lasting displacement]

note, though, in first example, para used in portuguese if in contrast brief period of time.

não fico muito tempo, só um minuto. tenho que/de ir para o mercado. (portuguese)
can t stay long, minute. have go market. [pending task or appointment]

in informal, non-standard brazilian portuguese, em (in original form or combined given article in contraction, yielding no, na, numa, etc.), replaces preposition standard portuguese.

vou na padaria. (non-standard brazilian portuguese)
vou à padaria. (standard portuguese)
m going bakery.


fui numa festa ontem. (non-standard brazilian portuguese)
fui uma festa ontem. (standard portuguese)
went party yesterday.

such construction not used in spanish or in european portuguese.

in portuguese preposition até can used when duration of stay expected short or when there specific reason going somewhere. in spanish hasta has same meaning , function.

vou até praia.
voy hasta la playa.
m going beach.

hacia , para

spanish has 2 prepositions of direction: para ( , including headed [a destination] ) , hacia ( toward [not implying arrival] ). of them, para exists in portuguese, covering both meanings.

este regalo es para ti. (spanish)
este presente é para ti. (portuguese)
gift you.


aquel/ese avión va hacia brasilia. (spanish)
aquele avião voa para brasília. (portuguese)
airplane flying toward brasília.

colloquially, para reduced in both languages: pa in spanish, , pra (sometimes written p ra , form may used in literature) or pa (only in slang in portugal , rio de janeiro, , not permitted in writing) in portuguese. portuguese pra, in turn, may join definite article: pra + o > pro (bp) or prò (ep), pra + > pra (bp) or prà (ep), etc. in reference slang option pa, these become: pa + o > pò, pa + > pà, etc.

going future

both languages have construction similar english going-to future. spanish includes preposition between conjugated form of ir go , infinitive: vamos cantar re going sing or let s sing (present tense of ir + + infinitive). usually, in portuguese, there no preposition between helping verb , main verb: vamos cantar (present tense of ir + infinitive). applies when verb in other tenses:

ayer yo iba leer el libro, pero no tuve la oportunidad. (spanish)
ontem eu ia ler o livro, mas não tive oportunidade. (portuguese)
yesterday going read book, never had chance.

other differences in preposition usage

while rule same prepositions used in same contexts in both languages, there many exceptions.

nuestros gastos de energía. (spanish)
(os) nossos gastos com/de energia. (portuguese)
our energy expenses.


voy votar por juan. (spanish)
vou votar em/no joão. (portuguese)
i m going vote john.




^ conjugação verbo estar . conjuga-me. retrieved 9 november 2012. 
^ http://buscon.rae.es/dpdi/srvltconsulta?lema=pronombres%20personales%20tónicos
^ verbix -- conjugate portuguese verbs . 
^ butt & benjamin 2011:282
^ see list @ wikipedia in portuguese: list of contracted prepositions
^ ackerlind & jones-kellog (2011:90n1)
^ jacques de bruyne, comprehensive spanish grammar (oxford: blackwell, 1995), §752.
^ aurélio defines words pra¹ syncopated form of para, , pra² , pro contraction of pra¹ plus article.