Prepositions of Movement in European Portuguese (A0 Beginner Guide)

If you’ve ever said vou em Lisboa or estou a casa, you’re not alone.
Prepositions of movement are one of the first confusing areas in European Portuguese.

In this beginner-friendly guide, you’ll learn how to express movement clearly using simple structures like ir a, ir para, and more.

This post brings together all A0 lessons on this topic in one place so that you can follow a clear, step-by-step path.

---

What are prepositions of movement?

Prepositions of movement help you answer questions like:

• Where are you going?
• How are you getting there?
• What direction are you moving in?

The key thing to understand from the beginning is this:

👉 Movement is different from location

• Estou em Lisboa → I am in Lisbon (location)
• Vou a Lisboa → I go to Lisbon (movement)

That small change makes a big difference.

---

The 3 Most Important Ideas (Start Here)

Before going into the lessons, focus on these core patterns:

1. A → movement to a specific place

• Vou a Lisboa
• Vou ao supermercado

2. Para → movement with intention/destination

• Vou para Lisboa
• Vou para casa

3. Em → location (NOT movement)

• Estou em casa
• Estou em Faro

4. De → point of origin

• Venho de Faro
• Saio de Tavira
• Sou de Lisboa

At A0 level, don’t overthink it, just start noticing the patterns.

---

Step-by-Step Lessons (A0 Beginner Path)

These lessons are taken from the full beginner course, but you can follow them as a standalone mini-series here.

(If you’d like to start from the very beginning, you can follow the free course here: Start Speaking Portuguese Today)

---

Portuguese Grammar | The Portuguese Learning Hub