Entrar Em in Portuguese: Enter a Place, Start a State or Make Contact

Physical entry and a new situation use the same verb

Caldas Aulete’s entrar entry records physical entry, beginning an activity and passing into a state or situation. The reference was checked on October 21, 2026.

• Ela entrou na sala. — “She went into the room.”
• O projeto entrou em uma nova fase. — “The project entered a new phase.”
• A equipe entrou em reunião. — “The team went into a meeting.”

A sala is a physical place. Uma nova fase is a stage in a process. A meeting is an activity that begins. In the first example, na combines em and a. In the second, em uma may also appear as numa. Do not treat every contraction with entrar as a different meaning: identify the noun and the situation first.

Entrar em contato starts communication

• Vou entrar em contato com a escola. — “I’m going to get in touch with the school.”
• Você pode entrar em contato por e-mail. — “You can get in touch by email.”
• Já entrei em contato, mas ainda não recebi resposta. — “I already got in touch, but I haven’t received a reply yet.”

Com identifies the person or organization contacted; por can identify the communication channel. The last sentence separates making contact from receiving an answer. It does not confirm that the request was accepted or solved.

For an ongoing relationship after the first conversation, compare manter contato. Entrar em contato focuses on initiating contact in the relevant situation; manter contato concerns continuing it.

Original dialogue: contact does not mean confirmation

B reports the completed action without claiming a completed arrangement. In a real exchange, name the date or appointment if there is more than one. These are original teaching lines, not a report about a school’s current response time.

Some useful expressions take de rather than em

• Vou entrar de férias na segunda. — “I’m going to start my vacation on Monday.”
• Os funcionários entraram em greve. — “The employees went on strike.”
• A empresa entrou em funcionamento. — “The company began operating.”

Learn entrar de férias as a whole expression. Do not replace de with em simply because another phrase uses entrar em. The vacation example describes a change into time off, not someone walking into a destination called férias. For a physical destination, name the actual place separately.

The strike and company examples are fictional language models, not news or statements about available services. Their shared structure describes the beginning of a situation. Ask whether a situation is still in effect if that matters for your plans; a past beginning alone does not establish the current state.

Practice: what is being entered?

1. Translate entrei na sala.
2. Does entrei em contato prove the other person replied?
3. Complete Vou entrar ___ férias.
4. Say the project entered a new stage.
5. Ask whether a proposed time has actually been confirmed.

Continue with real conversation practice

For longer listening about daily habits, use the episode guide about handling everyday problems. These dialogues and exercises are original written practice. Choose one pattern, change a detail and use it to describe your own experience.

Continue with Real Life Portuguese for native Brazilian audio and everyday expressions. Choose a short exchange available in the app. Listen for the speaker’s intention, then use a pattern from this activity to prepare a reply that fits your own situation. Bruno Lopes is a co-founder of the app.