Em, No, and Na in Portuguese: Place Prepositions Explained
Use em for “in” or “at,” and contract it with an article to form no, na, nos, or nas when the place phrase calls for one.
Real Life Portuguese · 6 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
Em often means “in” or “at” when you describe a location: em casa (at home), em São Paulo (in São Paulo), or em uma loja (in a shop). Whether an article appears depends on the place name and expression, so learn common location phrases as complete chunks.
Learn em before contracting it
When em comes before the definite article, the words contract: em + o = no and em + a = na. Before plural articles, em + os becomes nos and em + as becomes nas. These contractions are standard, not optional shortcuts.
Moro em São Paulo.
I live in São Paulo.
O celular está no carro.
The phone is in the car.
A chave está na bolsa.
The key is in the bag.
Match no, na, nos, or nas to the noun
Use no with a masculine singular noun that takes o, and na with a feminine singular noun that takes a. Use nos and nas with the matching plural forms. The noun and its article determine the contraction; the English word “in” does not.
Learn the article when you learn a new place noun: o mercado, a estação, os restaurantes, as lojas. That gives you the information you need to choose the contraction and helps the rest of the sentence agree naturally.
Ele trabalha no mercado.
He works at the market.
A gente se encontra na estação.
We’ll meet at the station.
Temos aula nos sábados?
Do we have class on Saturdays?
As crianças estão nas salas.
The children are in the rooms.
Notice that familiar place expressions have their own patterns
Many cities are used without a definite article, as in em São Paulo or em Brasília. Some place names commonly appear with an article, such as no Rio de Janeiro. Learn the local expression rather than deciding solely from whether the place is a city, state, or country.
Other prepositions also contract with articles: de + o = do, de + a = da, and a + a can become à. Keep these patterns distinct. They use the same articles but express different relationships from em.
Ela mora no Rio de Janeiro.
She lives in Rio de Janeiro.
Nós estudamos em Brasília.
We study in Brasília.
O ônibus vai à praia.
The bus goes to the beach.
Put it into practice
Write five locations with an article and preposition, then check whether the location is learned with em, no, or na. For the related contraction, read the Real Life Portuguese guide to de/da/do; practice location questions through the I Speak Portuguese travel guides.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “Do we have class on Saturdays”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
Keep practicing with the Real Life Portuguese app
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