de
/d͡ʒi/
The English word 'of' is translated into Portuguese as de.
The preposition de is used to express possession or to indicate belonging. It is the most common way to translate 'of' in Portuguese.
Meaning: possessive genitive: belonging to (prep)
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Portugal, both the preposition de and its contracted forms do and da are used commonly to express possession.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Portuguese, de often contracts with articles. When used with the definite articles 'o' and 'a', it forms do (masculine singular), da (feminine singular), dos (masculine plural) or das (feminine plural) to mean 'of the'. Additionally, in many dialects, de contracts with the indefinite articles 'um' or 'uma' to form dum (masculine singular) or duma (feminine singular) to mean 'of a'.
How do you pronounce it?
/dʒi/
Did you know?
- While de means 'of', it is used in the phrase de nada to say 'you are welcome', literally meaning 'of nothing'.
- In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, the preposition de is frequently dropped or shortened to a barely audible sound in fast conversation.
- The Portuguese de is a direct cognate of the French de and the Spanish de, all descending from the Latin dē.
Examples in context
- Que será de mim?What will become of me?This sentence shows how de is used in an idiomatic expression regarding one's fate.Tatoeba #1639223 by alexmarcelo, translation #1638593 by Spamster
- O que será dele?What's to become of him?This sentence uses a contracted form of 'de' to indicate possession by a third party.Tatoeba #5173343 by alexmarcelo, translation #10248492 by sundown
- Sou um de vocês.I'm one of you.This sentence demonstrates the use of de to indicate belonging to a group.Tatoeba #6780844 by Ricardo14, translation #3728978 by CM
- Um livro de históriaA book of history
- A comida de PortugalThe food of Portugal
- Uma garrafa de vinhoA bottle of wine
- O apartamento do CarlosCarlos' apartment / The apartment of Carlos
- A casa da MariaMaria's house / The house of Maria
- A casa do PedroPedro's house / The house of Pedro
- O carro da MariaMaria's car / The car of Maria
- O livro do Paulo / A caneta da MariaPaulo's book / Maria's pen
- A mãe deleHis mother
- O carro delaHer car
- 12168 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Camila and Lucas are looking for a lost bag.
- CamilaEsta é a bolsa de Lucas?Is this Lucas's bag?
- LucasNão, a cor da bolsa é azul.No, the color of the bag is blue.
- CamilaA minha bolsa é de couro preto.My bag is made of black leather.
- LucasAcho que a bolsa de Camila está ali.I think Camila's bag is over there.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “of” translations and entries de, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
