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debaixo/abaixo/em baixo/para baixo

@Pros, sorry for only replying now.

I'll try to explain the difference, but it won't be easy, I think.

I'll also give examples of the words in use, maybe that's the best way to show the differences.

"para baixo" is used with movement, i.e., with verbs such as ir, vir:

• Começou a chover, vamos para baixo do toldo do café (para não nos molharmos).

"debaixo" - always related to something, "debaixo de".

• Eu tive sorte porque quando começou a chover já estava debaixo do toldo.

"abaixo" / "em baixo" - you can use both in some situations, but they're not 100% interchangeable.

Imagine you have a backache and someone is giving you a massage to relieve your pain. At a certain point, you say:

• A dor é mais abaixo OR - A dor é mais em baixo.

Now imagine a big house with two floors. You're on the ground floor. Someone is looking for you and they call your name. You may reply:

• Estou aqui em baixo! BUT NOT: - Estou aqui abaixo.

You may tell the person to join you:

• Anda cá abaixo. OR Anda cá para baixo (because of the movement involved)

BUT NOT: - Anda cá em baixo.

This is all I can explain - I hope it helps at least a little.

Thank you, I'll be trying to process it.

I didn't exactly understand the first example: Começou a chover, vamos para baixo do toldo do café

Is it: It started to rain, let's go under(?) the awning of the café If it´s "under", can I use "debaixo de" here: "vamos debaixo do toldo"?

Could you also check the existing cards with "baixo" and add alternatives if neccessary (current alternatives in brackets):

abaixo (para baixo) - down http://www.memrise.com/item/258022/abaixo-down/

em baixo (lá em baixo, no andar de baixo) - downstairs http://www.memrise.com/item/258026/em-baixo-downstairs/ http://www.memrise.com/item/273983/em-baixo-downstairs-2/

para baixo - downwards http://www.memrise.com/item/258027/para-baixo-downwards/ http://www.memrise.com/item/273984/para-baixo-downwards-2/ I've also asked to add "abaixo" to alternatives in both because of the first card, but now I'm not sure

debaixo - underneath http://www.memrise.com/item/273989/debaixo-underneath/

debaixo de - under http://www.memrise.com/item/764359/debaixo-de-under/

First let me thank you for teaching me a new English word: I had no idea "toldo" was "awning"! :-)

It started to rain, let's go under(?) the awning of the café. CORRECT If it´s "under", can I use "debaixo de" here: "vamos debaixo do toldo"? No.*

But rethinking about this, the most accurate sentence would be:

Começou a chover, vamos para debaixo do toldo do café. "vamos para" + "debaixo de".

I'm sorry for not being clear on this. Still, the sentence as I wrote it yesterday would work perfectly in the given situation, I believe I would say it like that and no-one (native speakers) would even notice.

• "debaixo de" is a static expression, doesn't go well with movement. (Re read the second example I wrote yesterday.)

I will check the links.

Don't thank me, thank google translate. I haven't met this word before either :)

Check if I understood them right:

Let's go down to the basement. Vamos para baixo, na cave.

Look there, below that window. Olha lá, abaixo da aquela janela.

He's living below, on the second floor. Ele está a morar abaixo, no segundo andar.

The pen is under the bed. A caneta está debaixo da cama.

Where is he? He's already down in the lobby. Onde ele está? Ele já está em baixo, no vestíbulo.

1 - Let's go down to the basement. Vamos para baixo, na cave. NO. Could be: Vamos lá para baixo, para a cave.

2 - Look there, below that window. Olha lá, abaixo da aquela janela. No. Could be: Olha ali, por baixo (another one!) daquela janela.

3 - He's living below, on the second floor. Ele está a morar abaixo, no segundo andar. No. Could be: Ele mora/está a morar por baixo, no segundo andar. or Ele mora lá em baixo, no segundo andar.

4 - The pen is under the bed. A caneta está debaixo da cama. CORRECT

5 - Where is he? He's already down in the lobby. Onde ele está? Ele já está em baixo, no vestíbulo. Almost. Could be: Onde é que ele está? Ele já está lá em baixo, na entrada (more common than "vestíbulo").

After reading all this, you'll probably ask me "Why do you need "lá" in sentences 1, 3b and 5?" The truth is I don't know why, I just know that that's how we say them. Sorry!

Oh my. I've got it all wrong. Ok, I guess eventually I'll learn how to use them properly.

I've noticed you are now a curator in EP. I don't mean to be rude, but why?

For some time I've been asking to change some words in different courses in "discussions" for those words. Mainly it's the articles. Some have definite articles, some have indefinite articles, some have none - so I asked to add the missing ones to alternatives, so that I wouldn't get wrong answers.

Usually (well, always) it's always Ben who answers with "Added, thanks", so I thought maybe I should save the trouble for both of us becoming a curator and doing it myself.

I intend to change (mostly add to alternatives) only things I'm already familiar with. For those that I'm nor sure about, I leave a question in "discussions" (though nobody ever answers - you seem to be the only portuguese-speaking person here).

Oh, I get it.

About the discussions, when you leave a question, either in a forum or in a word, could you also leave the link to it in my garden wall? That way I would be notified and could address the issue sooner than later (i.e. without having to accidentally bump into the question). Well, not really when you post in the Portuguese forum (because I come here on a regular basis), but when you ask something in the discussion space of a given word.

Ok, I will do that. If I'll find the way to find all those questions I've already left, I'll post them to you too, thanks.