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Personal Pronouns
There are five categories of personal pronouns in Portuguese: subject, reflexive, prepositional, direct and indirect object pronouns.
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Subject PronounsProbably, the subject pronouns are the most frequently used. These pronouns can be used as subject or subject predicative.
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Portuguese
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English
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Singular
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Plural
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Singular
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Plural
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First person
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eu
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nós= a gente
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I
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we
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Second person
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você = tu
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vocês
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you
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you
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Third person
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Masculine
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ele
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eles
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he/it
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they -all males or males and females
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Feminine
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ela
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elas
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she/it
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They -all females
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Remark:
- Brazilians don't have a corresponding of the English word it. Because "things" are identifying like masculine or feminine in Portuguese, Brazilians refer to the thing or things as ele/ela/eles/elas when the thing isn't named.
- Você and tu (you) have the same connotation in Brazil, but você is more often used than tu throughout Brazil. Use você because it is simpler. Tu establishes a new verb form. Você is informal and it is extensively used in almost any situation
- If you're talking to a person who's a lot older than you (particularly the elderly) or to an important person, including parents, instead of using você, use o senhor (the gentleman) or a senhora (the lady) to demonstrate respect.
- A gente (we) is an informal form and it is generally used in the spoken language instead of nós (we).
- In Portuguese there is also the female plural structure of elas (they), which is used only to substitute feminine nouns (women/animal/things).
Here are some Examples using subject pronouns:
- Eu falo espanhol. (I speak Spanish.)
- Você escreve. (You write.)
- Você fuma? (Do you smoke?)
- O senhor mora aqui? (Do you live here? (mark of respect))
- A senhora é brasileira? (Are you Brazilian? — to an older woman)
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Reflexive PronounsReflexive pronouns are the ones that are used with reflexive verbs; these verbs are reflexive when the action refers back to the subject of the sentence. The reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object both refer to the same individual, and in English are generally words that end in ‘self’ or ‘selves’.
The reflexive verb in Portuguese, for the commencement appears strange and different, because it is not always reflexive in English.
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Portuguese
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English
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| me |
myself |
| se |
yourself/himself/herself/itself |
| nos |
ourselves/each other |
| se |
yourselves/themselves/each other |
Example:
- Eu não me lembro. (I (myself) do not remember.)
- A gente se conheceu no Espanha. (We met each other in Spain.)
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Prepositional PronounsPrepositional pronouns are pronouns used in combination with prepositions. Occasionally prepositional pronouns are reductions of the pronoun and preposition.
For example, ‘with us’ would be translated literally as ‘com nós’, but it is frequently contracted into a single word: ‘connosco’ (which is spelt with a single ‘n’ by Brazilians). In the same way, ‘from him’, which would be ‘de ele’ can be contracted to ‘dele’. These contractions are optional, and some are used more usually than others.
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Prepositional Pronouns
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Contraction of Preposition “with” and Prepositional pronouns
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Portuguese
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English
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Portuguese
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English
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| mim |
me |
comigo |
with me |
| si/ti |
you (Singular) |
contigo/consigo |
with you (Singular) |
| o senhor |
you |
com o senhor |
with you |
| a senhora |
you |
com a senhora |
with you |
| ele |
him |
consigo |
with him |
| ela |
her |
consigo |
with her |
| nós |
us |
connosco |
with us |
| vocês |
you(Plural) |
convosco |
with you (Plural) |
| eles |
them |
consigo |
with them |
| elas |
them |
consigo |
with them |
Remark: Prepositional pronouns (si/consigo) are usually used only in the written form. The prepositional pronouns ‘Contigo’ is informal and ‘consigo’ is formal.
Example:
- Você se lembra de nós? (Do you remember us?)
- Eu visita para você mais tarde. (I will visit you later.)
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Direct Object PronounsA direct object pronoun is generally used to substitute a direct object in a sentence in order to evade repetition. A direct object generally is a noun (person or thing).
In Brazil, the position of direct object pronoun before the verb is common. It is recommendable put the direct object pronoun before the verb. This evades learning any complicated rules.
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Portuguese
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English
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| me |
me |
| o, a, lo, la = te |
you (singular) |
| o, lo |
him/it |
| a, la |
her/it |
| nos = a gente |
us |
| os, as, los, las |
you (Plural) |
| os, los |
them |
| as, las |
them |
Remark:
- The object pronouns “lo”, “los”, “la” and “las” are used after the infinitive form.
- ‘Te’ is used colloquially. ‘O’ and ‘a’ are used formally, for male and female objects correspondingly. ‘lo’ and ‘la’ are also used formally, but only if the object is positioned immediately after the infinitive form of a verb.
- There are two more direct object pronouns “no(s)” and “na(s)”, but they are less used.
- Although the direct object pronoun te (you) refers to the subject pronoun “tu” (you), it is extensively used when referring to the subject pronoun você (you) instead of the direct object pronoun o/a (you). Its use is easier and satisfactory in the informal form.
Example:
- Eu não te/o conheço. (I don't know you.)
- Prazer em conhecê-lo. (It is a pleasure to meet you.)
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Indirect Object PronounsAn indirect object pronoun is generally used to substitute an indirect object in a clause in order to circumvent repetition. An indirect object can be a noun (person).
In Brazil, the position of indirect object pronoun before the verb is common. It is recommendable put the indirect object pronoun before the verb. This permit evades learning any complicated rules.
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Portuguese
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English
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| me = para mim |
me - to/for me |
| lhe = te = para você = para ti |
you - to/for you (Singular) |
| lhe = para o senhor |
you - to/for you |
| lhe = para a senhora |
you - to/for you |
| lhe = para ele |
him - to/for him |
| lhe = para ela |
her - to/for her |
| nos = para nós |
us - to/for us |
| lhes = para vocês |
you - to/for you (Plural) |
| lhes = para eles |
them - to/for you |
| lhes = para elas |
them - to/for you |
Remark: Although the indirect object pronoun te (you) refers to the subject pronoun tu (you), it is extensively used when referring to the subject pronoun você (you) instead of the indirect object pronoun lhe (you). Its use is easier and satisfactory in the informal form.
Example:
- Ele me dá (he gives to me)
- Você pode fazer um favor para ele? (Can you do a favor for him?)
- Ele lhe/te deu o presente? (Did he give you the gift?)
- Ele deu o recado para você? (Did he give the message to you?)
- Vocês lhe falam (You speak to him/her)
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