Verbos e as suas preposições — gostar de, precisar de, pensar em, sonhar com…
Many high-frequency Portuguese verbs REQUIRE a specific preposition before their object, and the choice rarely matches English. The four most important prepositions for verb regimes are de, em, com, and a. DE-verbs: gostar de (to like), precisar de (to need), depender de (to depend on), lembrar-se de (to remember), esquecer-se de (to forget), gozar de (to enjoy), rir-se de (to laugh at), queixar-se de (to complain about), desistir de (to give up on), aproveitar-se de (to take advantage of). EM-verbs: pensar em (to think about), acreditar em (to believe in), confiar em (to trust in), insistir em (to insist on), participar em (to take part in), tocar em (to touch). COM-verbs: sonhar com (to dream of/about), preocupar-se com (to worry about), importar-se com (to mind / care about), casar com (to marry), lidar com (to deal with), contar com (to count on). A-verbs: dar a (to give to), assistir a (to attend), obedecer a (to obey), responder a (to answer to), chegar a (to arrive at). KEY INSIGHT: falar takes THREE different prepositions with three different meanings — falar com (talk WITH someone), falar de (talk ABOUT, briefly mention), falar sobre (talk ABOUT, more formally / at length). GOSTAR ALWAYS takes de: Gosto de música (NOT gosto música). PRECISAR in formal/literary writing can be precisar + infinitive without de, but with nouns, de is required: preciso de tempo. Memorize each verb WITH its preposition as a unit — like an English phrasal verb.
DE-verbs — the largest family
Gostar de = to like (literally 'to take pleasure FROM'). Gosto de chocolate = I like chocolate. With infinitives: Gosto de ler = I like to read. With clauses: Gosto de que me digas a verdade = I like (it) that you tell me the truth (subj.). Precisar de = to need. Preciso de ajuda = I need help. Preciso de descansar = I need to rest (formal: preciso descansar is also acceptable). Depender de = to depend on. Depende de ti = it depends on you. Lembrar-se de = to remember (REFLEXIVE form, very common). Lembras-te de mim? = do you remember me? Compare non-reflexive lembrar (algo a alguém) = to remind someone of something: Lembrei-lhe a hora = I reminded him of the time. Esquecer-se de = to forget. Esqueci-me de comprar pão = I forgot to buy bread. (Non-reflexive esquecer also possible: Esqueci o livro = I left the book behind.) Rir-se de = to laugh at. Não te rias dele = don't laugh at him. Queixar-se de = to complain about. Queixou-se da comida = he complained about the food. Desistir de = to give up (on). Desisti de ir = I gave up on going. Falar de = to mention briefly: Falámos de ti = we mentioned you. Note: many of these involve REFLEXIVE pronouns; the preposition follows the reflexive verb.
EM-verbs — thinking and believing
Pensar em = to think about / of (someone or something occupying your mind). Penso em ti todos os dias = I think of you every day. CRUCIAL CONTRAST: pensar de would be wrong; pensar sobre = to think about (reflect on, more formal): Tenho de pensar sobre o assunto = I need to think about the matter. Pensar que = to think that (opinion): Penso que sim = I think so. Acreditar em = to believe in. Acredito em ti = I believe in you. Não acredito em fantasmas = I don't believe in ghosts. Confiar em = to trust in. Confio em ti = I trust you. Insistir em = to insist on. Insistiu em pagar = he insisted on paying. Participar em = to take part in. Participo no projeto (em + o = no) = I take part in the project. Tocar em = to touch (physically). Não toques nisso! = don't touch that! Compare tocar (instrumento) without preposition: toco piano = I play piano. Acertar em = to hit / get right: acertei na resposta = I got the answer right. Reparar em = to notice. Reparaste no carro novo? = did you notice the new car? Acabar em = to end in: acabou em desastre = it ended in disaster.
COM-verbs — accompaniment, conflict, and relation
Sonhar com = to dream of/about. Sonhei contigo = I dreamt of you (com + ti → contigo). Sonha com viajar = he dreams of traveling. (Note: sonhar em + infinitive is also heard, especially BR-influenced.) Preocupar-se com = to worry about. Não te preocupes com isso = don't worry about that. Importar-se com = to mind / care about. Importas-te de fechar a porta? = would you mind closing the door? (Note: importar-se DE + infinitive in polite requests; com with nouns: importo-me com a tua opinião = I care about your opinion.) Casar com = to marry. Vai casar com a Joana = he's going to marry Joana. (Reflexive casar-se com also exists.) Lidar com = to deal with. Sei lidar com pressão = I can deal with pressure. Contar com = to count on. Conto contigo = I'm counting on you. Falar com = to speak with someone. Falei com o teu pai = I spoke with your father. Encontrar-se com = to meet (with). Vou encontrar-me com ela = I'm going to meet her. Brincar com = to play with / joke with. Não brinques com isso = don't joke about that. Implicar com = to pick on / hassle. Não implicas comigo = stop picking on me.
A-verbs and the assistir trap
Dar a = to give to (with indirect object). Dei o livro à Maria = I gave the book to Maria. (Often replaced by clitic lhe.) Assistir a = to attend / watch (an event). Assisti ao concerto (a + o = ao) = I attended the concert. Assisti ao filme = I watched the film. THIS IS A FAMOUS TRAP: in BR speech, assistir is often used WITHOUT a for 'watch TV / a film': assisti o filme. EP keeps the a strictly: assisti ao filme. Obedecer a = to obey. Obedece aos pais = obey your parents. Responder a = to answer / reply to. Respondi à pergunta = I answered the question. Chegar a = to arrive at. Cheguei a Lisboa = I arrived in Lisbon. (Vs. chegar de = to arrive from.) Aspirar a = to aspire to (formal). Renunciar a = to renounce. Pertencer a = to belong to. Pertence à minha mãe = it belongs to my mother. Acostumar-se a / Habituar-se a = to get used to. Habituei-me a viver sozinho = I got used to living alone. Dedicar-se a = to devote oneself to. Recorrer a = to resort to. CRITICAL CONTRACTIONS: a + o → ao, a + a → à, a + os → aos, a + as → às — these are mandatory in writing and pronounced as merged units.
The falar trio — com, de, sobre
Three meanings, three prepositions, all common. FALAR COM (alguém) = to speak WITH someone. The interlocutor is the object. Falei com o médico = I spoke with the doctor. Quero falar contigo = I want to talk with you. FALAR DE (algo / alguém) = to mention / talk about (briefly, possibly gossipy). Falámos de ti = we talked about you (in passing). Não fales mal dela = don't speak ill of her. FALAR SOBRE (algo) = to talk about (more substantive, formal, lecture-like). A conferência fala sobre o ambiente = the talk is about the environment. Vamos falar sobre o teu futuro = we're going to talk about your future (serious topic). The boundary between de and sobre is fuzzy and overlapping; de is briefer, sobre is weightier. EP allows both with most topics. RELATED: discutir typically without preposition (discutir um problema) but with people: discutir com alguém = to argue with. Conversar com = to chat with. Comentar (algo) = to comment on (no preposition usually). Referir-se a = to refer to.
Pitfalls and EP/BR notes
Pitfall 1: dropping the preposition by anglicism. Gosto chocolate (wrong) — must be gosto de chocolate. Preciso ajuda (wrong) — preciso de ajuda. Always pair gostar + de, precisar + de. Pitfall 2: assistir without a in EP. EP requires assisti AO filme; BR drops the a. Pitfall 3: pensar em vs pensar de. Use em for 'have on your mind'; sobre for 'reflect on'. Penso de ti is wrong; penso em ti. Pitfall 4: forgetting the contractions. a + o = ao, a + a = à — write them as one. Pitfall 5: confusing lembrar-se de (remember) with lembrar (a alguém) (remind). Lembrei-me da reunião = I remembered the meeting. Lembrei-lhe a reunião = I reminded him of the meeting. Pitfall 6: importar-se de (mind doing — request) vs importar-se com (care about). Importas-te de abrir a janela? = would you mind opening the window? Importo-me com isso = I care about that. Pitfall 7: casar com (NOT casar a in EP). Casei com a Ana. Pitfall 8: rare verbs that take NO preposition — procurar (algo) = to look for (no por or a), pedir (algo a alguém) = to ask for; esperar (alguém) = to wait for. English 'for' here translates to nothing.
