pelas

Pelas is a Portuguese contraction formed from the preposition por and the feminine plural definite article as. It is used before feminine plural nouns to indicate movement through, across, or by means of, and can also convey the sense of “through the agency of” in a figurative sense.

Usage and examples

Pelas ruas and similar phrases show how pelas marks movement through a space: “Caminharam pelas ruas do centro” (They walked through the streets of the downtown area). It can also express through or via media or networks: “as informações circularam pelas redes” or “pelas redes sociais” (the information circulated through the networks / via social networks). The sense of por can extend to means or motivation in some contexts, but in practice pelas most commonly appears with feminine plural nouns.

Relation to other contractions

Pelas is part of a system of prepositional contractions in Portuguese. The masculine and/or different numbers are expressed with other forms: pelo (por + o), pela (por + a), pelos (por + os), and pelas (por + as). Correct usage depends on the gender and number of the following noun.

Language and usage notes

Pelas is standard in both European and Brazilian Portuguese. It does not function as an independent word outside this contraction; its meaning is derived from por plus the feminine plural article. In translation, pelas often corresponds to “through the” or “via the” in English, depending on context.

See also

Portuguese language; prepositional contractions; por (preposition).