Why do Brazilians have so many different words for "OF"?

[KostasKouvalis]

I always thought that in Portuguese, "DO" meant of.

But I see one city called Rio DE Janeiro
A state called Rio Grande DO Sul
A mountain called Pico DA Tijuca
A waterfall called Cascada DAS Andorinhas
A valley called Valle DOS Vinhedos

Can someone explain to me, why they have so many different words for "OF"?
Does this exist in Portuguese Portuguese too, or only in Brazilian Portuguese?

Updates

+1 y

@Desconhecida
@menina

Updates

+1 y

There was another one that said "Museu DA Grotta DO Maquiné"

Two different versions of "OF" in one name. Someone needs to explain this language to me.

[zeitgeist057]

ok I'm not Brazilian, and only speak a little, but "DAS" and "DOS" are plural, so same as Spanish (and also English) if. you have a cat (um gato) it's different than if you have some cats (algunos gatos). But also if it is of the cat (de gato) it's going to be different if it's of the catS. (though I don't know the proper grammar, maybe dos gatos?)

My other helpful input is there is probably a difference between masculine and feminine which is another aspect of Spanish and Portuguese that seems to be hard for English speakers to grasp. the cat is a male noun, "gato" inherently, but a female cat is denoted by the "a" at the end "gata"

I may not be 100% correct on all the usages, but I think that explains what you are seeing in these combinations. It's singular or plural, and male or female. That's 4 different combinations, and also you could have a singular male noun mixed with plural female nouns. Like "Temple of the Man of the Waterfalls".

[Desconhecida]

Yes, you are smart! Wow! (Portuguese ≠ Spanish)

[zeitgeist057]

@Desconhecida Thank you. And yes, I speak more Spanish than Portuguese, and I know they are two different languages, but since they are both secondary to me, I can get confused which foreign word I learned corresponds to which language, especially when they have so many similarities. Not my intention to offend, and I love Brazilians and Brazilian Portuguese <3

Examples:
English words - forever, never, white, cat, nap
Portugeuse equivalents - sempre, nunca, branco, gato, sesta
Spanish equivalents - siempre, nunca, blanco, gato, siesta

[Desconhecida]

Nap in Brazilian Portuguese is "soneca" 😆

[zeitgeist057]

@Desconhecida I used google translate to check, since I wasn't sure if I was confusing it with sestafeira. They translated nap as "sesta", which "o cochilo" and "a soneca" as secondary and tertiary options, respectively.

Are you from Brazil or Portugal (or is there a difference in this word, I know not all words are different, but many)?

[zeitgeist057]

*with

[Dudeist]

DE is equivalent to the preposition OF.

DO is the contraction of DE (preposition) and O (masculine singular definite article) equivalent to THE.

DOS is the contraction of DE (preposition) and OS (masculine definite article plural) equivalent to THE.

DA is the contraction of DE (preposition) and A (feminine singular definite article) equivalent to THE.

DAS is the contraction of DE (preposition) and AS (feminine definite article plural) equivalent to THE.

Your examples could be written as follows:

Rio de Janeiro;
Rio Grande de o Sul;
Pico de a Tijuca;
Cascata de as Andorinhas;
Valle De os Vinhedos.

But the norm dictates that the contractions are compulsory, that is, one should write DO, DOS, DA and DAS instead of DE O, DE OS, DE A and DE AS, respectively.

[KostasKouvalis]

Okay. Obrigado

[menina]

I know I'm 8 days late but I just wanted to say that @zeitgeist057 and @Desconhecida did great job.
This is something I never thought about but if you're learning the language it makes sense that you're questioning these language "features".
And yes this also exists in European Portuguese and it has the same meaning that it has in Brazilian Portuguese. Plus, you can see "DO", "DOS", "DA" and "DAS" in people's names.
If you have any other questions about the Portuguese language feel free to ask me. :)

[Desconhecida]

DM me and I can try to explain 🙂

[KostasKouvalis]

I can't. You only allow private messages from followings

[Desconhecida]

Now you can text me

[Anonymous]

They are poor. And it's easy money