Pra vs para: Brazilian Portuguese contractions explained
Pra and para mean the same thing. Para is the careful written form, and pra is what Brazilians actually say. If you only learned the full forms, fast speech can sound like a different language. These are the shortened forms you hear every day.
| Spoken | Full form | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| pra | para | for, to | Vou pra casa. (I am going home.) |
| pro | para o | for the, to the | Isso é pro João. (This is for João.) |
| procê | para você | for you | Fiz procê. (I made it for you.) |
| tá | está | is, are | Tá bom. (It is fine.) |
| tô | estou | I am | Tô chegando. (I am arriving.) |
| tava | estava | was | Tava difícil. (It was hard.) |
| tamo | estamos | we are | Tamo junto. (We are together.) |
| tendi | entendi | I understood | Tendi tudo. (I got it all.) |
| né | não é | right? isn’t it? | Bonito, né? (Nice, right?) |
Should I write them?
In formal writing, use the full forms. In messages, subtitles and casual speech, the short forms are normal. For listening, the point is simply to recognise them.
How to train your ear
Reading the list helps a little. Hearing the words inside real sentences helps much more. tendi plays short clips of real Brazilian speech, you type what you hear, and when you write para where the speaker said pra, it tells you they are the same word.
Try today's Brazilian Portuguese clips