Portuguese pronouns
Encyclopedia
The Portuguese personal pronouns and possessives display a higher degree of inflection
than other parts of speech. Personal pronouns have distinct forms according to whether they stand for a subject (nominative
), a direct object (accusative
), an indirect object (dative
), or a reflexive
object. Several pronouns further have special forms used after prepositions.
The possessive pronoun
s are the same as the possessive adjective
s, but each is inflected to express the grammatical person
of the possessor and the grammatical gender
of the possessed.
Pronoun use displays considerable variation with register
and dialect
, with particularly pronounced differences between the most colloquial varieties of European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese
.
(object of a preposition).
1 direct object (masculine and feminine)
2 indirect object
3 reflexive
or reciprocal
). In very broad terms, tu, você (both meaning singular "you") and vocês (plural "you") are used in informal situations, while in formal contexts o senhor
, a senhora, os senhores and as senhoras (masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural "you", respectively) are preferred. However, there is considerable regional variation in the use of these terms, and more specific forms of address are sometimes employed.
Generally speaking, tu is the familiar form of address used with family, friends, and minors. Você indicates distance without deference, and tends to be used between people who are, roughly, social equals. O senhor / a senhora (literally "sir"/"madam") are the most ceremonious forms of address. English speakers may find the latter construction akin to the parliamentary convention of referring to fellow legislators in the third person (as "my colleague", "the gentleman", "the member", etc.), although the level of formality conveyed by o senhor is not as great. In fact, variants of o senhor and a senhora with more nuanced meanings such as o professor ("professor"), o colega ("colleague") and o pai ("father") are also employed as personal pronouns. In the plural, there are two main levels of politeness, the informal vocês or vós and the formal os senhores / as senhoras.
This threefold scheme is, however, complicated by regional and social variation. For example, in many communities of Brazilian Portuguese speakers, the traditional tu/você distinction has been lost, and the previously formal você tends to replace the familiar tu in most cases (the distinction remains, however, in most parts of the country). On the other hand, in Portugal
it's common to use a person's own name as a pronoun more or less equivalent to você, e.g., o José, o sr. Silva, which is rare in Brazil
(though it's found in parts of the Northeast region, for example).
When addressing older people or hierarchical superiors, modern BP speakers often replace 'você'/tu and 'vocês' by the expressions O(s) senhor(es) and A(s) senhora(s), which also require third-person verb forms and third-person reflexive/possessive pronouns (or the expressions "de vocês" "do senhor" etc...by the possessive). 'O(s) senhor(es)' and 'A(s) senhora(s)' are also used in formal contexts in modern EP, in addition to a large number of similar pronominalized nouns that vary according to the person who is being addressed, e.g. a menina , o pai, a mãe, o engenheiro, o doutor, etc.
Historically, você derives from vossa mercê ("your mercy" or "your grace") via the intermediate forms vossemecê and vosmecê
, it is not considered incorrect, unless it is accompanied by verbs conjugated in the first person plural, as in "*A gente moramos na cidade", instead of the normative
"A gente mora na cidade" "We live in the city".
There is a tendency in usage for the pronouns nós and a gente to be differentiated according to "clusivity
". When including the addressee, nós is preferred (nós = you and I). Meanwhile a gente more often denotes only a third person with the first person (a gente = he/she/they and I, but not you). This is not a grammatical rule, but is just the most common usage.
For this reason, many falsely associate the pronoun with solemnity or formality, ignoring that vós is used for plural in the same context as tu is used for singular.
Instead, the word vocês is used, or equivalent forms of address which take verbs and possessives of the 3rd. person plural. See the "Forms of address" section, above, and also the notes on colloquial usage, at the bottom of the page.
s, which must come next to a verb, and are pronounced together with it as a unit. They may appear before the verb (proclisis, lhe dizer), after the verb, linked to it with a hyphen (enclisis, dizer-lhe), or, more rarely, within the verb, between its stem
and its desinence (mesoclisis, dir-lhe-ei).
Enclisis and mesoclisis may require some euphonic
adjustments in the verb ending and/or in the pronoun, e.g. cantar + o = cantá-lo "to sing it". The direct and indirect object pronouns can be contracted, as in dar + lhe + os = dar-lhos "to give them to him"; cf. Spanish dar + le + los = dárselos.
When a verb conjugated in the 1st. person plural, ending in -s, is followed by the enclitic pronoun nos, the s is dropped. Examples: "Vamo-nos [vamos + nos] embora amanhã" (We are leaving tomorrow), "Respeitemo-nos [respeitemos + nos] mutuamente" (Let us respect each other).
, and an l is added to the beginning of the pronoun. If the pronoun is enclitic and the verb ends with a nasal diphthong (spelled -ão, -am, -em, -ém, -êm, -õe, or -õem), an n is added to the beginning of the pronoun. The same happens after other clitic pronouns, and after the adverbial particle eis.
The third person forms o, a, os, and as may present the variants lo, la, los, las, no, na, nos, and nas:
Notice how lhes + o is contracted into lho, not *lhe-lo or *lhos. This occurs because lhe used to be employed indistinctly for the singular and the plural and, while the agglutinated form suffered no alteration, lhe evolved into lhes for the plural number.
While used in European Portuguese, these forms are not currently used in Brazilian Portuguese (although they can be found in Brazilian literary texts up through the early 20th century).
object pronouns used with nonprepositional verbs, or as indirect objects. These can appear before the verb as separate words, as in ela me ama ("she loves me"), or appended to the verb after the tense/person inflection, as in ele amou-a ("he loved her") or ele deu-lhe o livro ("he gave her/him the book"). Note that Portuguese spelling rules (like those of French) require a hyphen between the verb and the clitic pronoun.
In West Iberian-Romance
, the position of clitic
object pronouns with respect to the verbs which govern them was flexible, but all Romance languages have since adopted a more strict syntax
. The usual pattern is for clitics to precede the verb, or, in compound tenses, the auxiliary verb; e.g. Sp. Yo te amo, Fr. Je t'aime "I love you"; Sp. Tú me habías dicho, Fr. Tu m'avais dit "You had told me" (proclisis). The opposite order occurs only with a few tenses, such as the imperative: Sp. Dime, Fr. Dis-moi "Tell me" (enclisis). Spoken Brazilian Portuguese
has taken more or less the same route, except that clitics usually appear between the auxiliary verb and the main verb in compound tenses, and proclisis is even more generalized: Eu te amo "I love you", but Me diz "Tell me", and Você tinha me dito "You had told me".
In European Portuguese, by contrast, enclisis is the default position for clitic pronouns in simple affirmative clauses: Eu amo-te "I love you", Diz-me "Tell me". In compound tenses, the clitic normally follows the auxiliary verb, Você tinha-me dito "You had told me" (like in Brazilian Portuguese, but conventionally spelled with a hyphen), though other positions are sometimes possible: Você vai dizer-me "You are going to tell me" (Spanish allows this syntax as well, for example "Tú vas a decirme"), Você não me vai dizer "You are not going to tell me" (like in Spanish). Still, in formal Portuguese the clitic pronouns always follows the verb in the infinitive. The Brazilian proclisis is usually correct in European Portuguese (often found in ancient literature), though nowadays uncommon and emphatic. Only sentences that begin with a clitic pronoun, such as Te amo or Me diz, are considered unacceptable in European Portuguese.
With verbs in the future indicative tense or the conditional tense, enclitic pronouns are not placed after the verb, but rather incorporated into it: eu canto-te uma balada "I sing you a ballad" becomes eu cantar-te-ei uma balada in the future, and eu cantar-te-ia uma balada in the conditional (mesoclisis).
This is because these verb forms were originally compounds: cantarei = cantar + hei, cantarás = cantar + hás. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, where proclisis is nearly universal, mesoclisis never occurs. Although the mesoclisis is often cited as a distinctive feature of Portuguese, it is becoming rare in spoken European Portuguese, since there is a growing tendency to replace the future indicative and the conditional with other tenses.
Although enclisis (or mesoclisis) is the default position for clitic pronouns in European Portuguese, proclisis is mandatory in subordinate clauses, except non-finite clause
s (in which case both proclisis and enclisis are usually valid). Since proclisis is the normal position for clitic pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese
, this marking does not exist in it.
The form connosco is used in European Portuguese, while conosco is used in Brazilian Portuguese.
These contractions are derived from the Latin practice of tacking the preposition cum "with" to the end of the ablative form of personal pronouns, as in mecum or tecum. In Vulgar Latin
, enclitic cum (later shifted to -go) became fossilized and was reanalysed as part of the pronoun itself. Then, a second cum began to be used before those words, and finally cum mecum, cum tecum, etc. contracted, producing comigo, contigo, and so on.
In the third person, the reflexive pronoun has a form of its own, se - or si / sigo if preceded by a preposition. Examples:
The reflexive pronoun forms, when used in the plural (me and te are therefore excluded), may indicate reciprocity. In those cases, they do not have reflexive character - for instance, "as pessoas cumprimentaram-se" does not mean that each person complimented himself, rather they complimented each other. In some situations, this may create ambiguity; therefore, if one means "they love each other", one might want to say "eles amam-se mutuamente" or "eles amam-se um ao outro" (although "eles amam-se" will probably be interpreted this way anyhow); if one means "each one of them loves himself", one should say "eles amam-se a si mesmos" ou "eles amam-se a si próprios".
Sometimes, especially in the spoken Portuguese, ele mesmo, ela mesma, com ele mesmo, com eles mesmos, etc. may be used instead of si and consigo. Example: "Eles têm de ter confiança neles (em+eles) mesmos" or "Eles têm de ter confiança em si (mesmos)".
and number
of the possessed object or being.
The possessive pronoun
s are identical to possessive adjective
s, except that they must be preceded by the definite article
(o meu, a minha, os meus, as minhas, etc.) For the possessive adjectives, the article is optional, and its use varies with dialect and degree of formality.
This does not apply to reflexive pronouns. Sentences such as *Há quem deteste a rotina dele ("There are some who hate their own routine") are not used in place of Há quem deteste a sua rotina.
Examples:
Thus, in modern colloquial European Portuguese, the classical paradigm above is modified to (differences emphasized):
'Se', 'si, and 'consigo' are used in standard written BP exclusively as reflexive pronouns, e.g. Os manifestantes trouxeram consigo paus e pedras para se defenderem da violência policial ("Protesters brought (wood) sticks and stones with them to protect themselves against police brutality") , or Os políticos discutiam entre si o que fazer diante da decisão do Supremo Tribunal ("Politicians discussed among themselves what to do in face of the Supreme Court decision"). In colloquial language, those reflexive forms may be replaced however by subject pronouns (e.g. Discutam entre vocês em que data preferem fazer o exame vs standard Discutam entre si em que data preferem fazer o exame, Eng. "Discuss among yourselves when you prefer to take the exam"). Note also that in both standard and colloquial BP, it is considered wrong to use 'se', 'si', 'consigo' in non-reflexive contexts. Therefore, unlike in modern colloquial EP, 'para si' for example cannot ordinarily replace 'para você', nor can consigo ordinarily replace com você.
Most of the dialects that retain tu also use accordingly te (accusative pronoun), ti (dative postprepositional pronoun), contigo, and the possessive teu. The use of "tu" is dominant in the South (Rio Grande do Sul
, Santa Catarina
and parts of Paraná
) and Northeast (with the exception of most of Bahia
and some other areas, mostly in the coast), and it is also very frequent in the Northern region and Rio de Janeiro
.
However, even in some of the regions where "você" is the prevailing pronoun, the object pronoun te and ti and the possessive pronoun teu/tua are quite common, although not in most of São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state. In fact, in the city of São Paulo the pronoun tu is almost nonexistent.
In EP, "tu" is considered a pronoun to be used in informal or familiar situations, while "você" is a semi-formal and formal pronoun. That distinction, object and possessive pronouns pattern likewise, is still maintained in the South and in the area around the city of Santos (in State of São Paulo
) and in the Northeast. In Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, for instance, você is rarely used in spoken language—in most occasions, o senhor/a senhora is employed whenever tu may sound too informal.
In most of the Northeast, você is frequently used only in semi-formal and formal conversations, mostly with people whom one does not know well or when a more polite or serious style is required. As for Rio de Janeiro
and the North of Brazil, both tu and você (and associated object and possessive pronouns) are used with no clear distinction in their use.
However, when one talks to older people or people of higher status (a boss, for example), most Brazilians prefer to use o senhor and a senhora (literally "the gentleman" and "the lady").
In standard Portuguese (both in Brazil and in Portugal), você and vocês are always accompanied by 3rd-person verb forms (e.g. você é, vocês são), whereas tu requires 2nd-person verb forms (e.g. tu és). However, in tuteante BP dialects like gaúcho
, tu is almost always accompanied by 3rd-person verb forms, e.g. tu é, tu bebeu vs. standard tu és, tu bebeste. That particular usage is considered substandard (ungrammatical) by most Brazilian speakers whose dialects do not include tu (e.g. paulistanos).
The 'você' (subj.)/'te' (obj.) combination, e.g. Você sabe que eu te amo, is a well-known peculiarity of modern General Brazilian Portuguese and is similar in nature to the 'vocês (subj.)/'vos' (obj.)/ 'vosso' (poss.) combination found in modern colloquial European Portuguese
. Both combinations would be condemned, though, by prescriptive school grammars based on the classical language.
When Brazilians use tu, it is mostly accompanied by the 3rd-person verb conjugation: Tu vai ao banco? — "Will you go to the bank". ("Tu vai" is wrong according to the standard grammar, but it is used by millions of Brazilians anyway). The pronoun tu accompanied by the second-person verb can still be found in [Maranhão], [Piauí], [Pernambuco] (mostly in more formal speech) and Santa Catarina
, for instance, and in a few cities in Rio Grande do Sul
near the border with Uruguay
, with a slightly different pronunciation in some conjugations (tu vieste — "you came" — is pronounced as if it were tu viesse), which also is present in Santa Catarina and Pernambuco (especially in Recife
, where it is by far the predominant way to pronounce the past tense particle -ste).
.
In standard written BP, it is common to use 'lhe(s)' as indirect object forms of 'ele(s)/ela(s)' ("[to] him / her / it / them"), e.g. O presidente pediu que lhe dessem notícias da crise na Bolívia. In the colloquial language, 'lhe' in that context is frequently replaced by 'para ele', etc., although educated speakers might use 'lhe' in speech as well.
, object pronouns may be avoided altogether, even in the first person. For example: Ele levou nós no baile (standard BP Ele nos levou ao baile) or Ela viu eu na escola (standard BP Ela me viu na escola). These examples, although common in rural areas and in working-class speech, would sound ungrammatical to most urban middle-class BP speakers.
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
than other parts of speech. Personal pronouns have distinct forms according to whether they stand for a subject (nominative
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
), a direct object (accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
), an indirect object (dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
), or a reflexive
Reflexive pronoun
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun, adjective, adverb or pronoun to which it refers within the same clause. In generative grammar, a reflexive pronoun is an anaphor that must be bound by its antecedent...
object. Several pronouns further have special forms used after prepositions.
The possessive pronoun
Possessive pronoun
A possessive pronoun is a part of speech that substitutes for a noun phrase that begins with a possessive determiner . For example, in the sentence These glasses are mine, not yours, the words mine and yours are possessive pronouns and stand for my glasses and your glasses, respectively...
s are the same as the possessive adjective
Possessive adjective
Possessive adjectives, also known as possessive determiners, are a part of speech that modifies a noun by attributing possession to someone or something...
s, but each is inflected to express the grammatical person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
of the possessor and the grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
of the possessed.
Pronoun use displays considerable variation with register
Register (linguistics)
In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, when speaking in a formal setting an English speaker may be more likely to adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal...
and dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
, with particularly pronounced differences between the most colloquial varieties of European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
.
Basic forms
The personal pronouns of Portuguese have three basic forms, subjective, objective (object of a verb), and prepositionalPrepositional pronoun
A prepositional pronoun is a special form of a personal pronoun that is used as the object of a preposition.English does not have distinct prepositional forms of pronouns. The same set of objective pronouns are used after verbs and prepositions...
(object of a preposition).
| number | person | subject | object of verb | object of preposition |
| singular | 1st. | eu | me | mim |
| 2nd. | tu | te | ti | |
| 3rd. | ele, ela | o, a1; lhe2; se3 | ele, ela; si3 | |
| plural | 1st. | nós | nos | nós |
| 2nd. | vós | vos | vós | |
| 3rd. | eles, elas | os, as1; lhes2; se3 | eles, elas; si3 |
1 direct object (masculine and feminine)
2 indirect object
3 reflexive
Reflexive pronoun
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun, adjective, adverb or pronoun to which it refers within the same clause. In generative grammar, a reflexive pronoun is an anaphor that must be bound by its antecedent...
or reciprocal
Reciprocal pronoun
The reciprocal pronouns in English are one another and each other. Together with the reflexive pronouns — myself, yourself, ourselves, yourselves, and others — they are classified as anaphors....
Forms of address
Like most European languages, Portuguese has different words for "you", according to the degree of formality that the speaker wishes to show towards the addressee (T-V distinctionT-V distinction
In sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction is a contrast, within one language, between second-person pronouns that are specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, or insult toward the addressee....
). In very broad terms, tu, você (both meaning singular "you") and vocês (plural "you") are used in informal situations, while in formal contexts o senhor
Senhor
Senhor , from the Latin Senior , is the Portuguese word for Lord, Sir or Mister. Its feminine form is Senhora...
, a senhora, os senhores and as senhoras (masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural "you", respectively) are preferred. However, there is considerable regional variation in the use of these terms, and more specific forms of address are sometimes employed.
Generally speaking, tu is the familiar form of address used with family, friends, and minors. Você indicates distance without deference, and tends to be used between people who are, roughly, social equals. O senhor / a senhora (literally "sir"/"madam") are the most ceremonious forms of address. English speakers may find the latter construction akin to the parliamentary convention of referring to fellow legislators in the third person (as "my colleague", "the gentleman", "the member", etc.), although the level of formality conveyed by o senhor is not as great. In fact, variants of o senhor and a senhora with more nuanced meanings such as o professor ("professor"), o colega ("colleague") and o pai ("father") are also employed as personal pronouns. In the plural, there are two main levels of politeness, the informal vocês or vós and the formal os senhores / as senhoras.
This threefold scheme is, however, complicated by regional and social variation. For example, in many communities of Brazilian Portuguese speakers, the traditional tu/você distinction has been lost, and the previously formal você tends to replace the familiar tu in most cases (the distinction remains, however, in most parts of the country). On the other hand, in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
it's common to use a person's own name as a pronoun more or less equivalent to você, e.g., o José, o sr. Silva, which is rare in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
(though it's found in parts of the Northeast region, for example).
When addressing older people or hierarchical superiors, modern BP speakers often replace 'você'/tu and 'vocês' by the expressions O(s) senhor(es) and A(s) senhora(s), which also require third-person verb forms and third-person reflexive/possessive pronouns (or the expressions "de vocês" "do senhor" etc...by the possessive). 'O(s) senhor(es)' and 'A(s) senhora(s)' are also used in formal contexts in modern EP, in addition to a large number of similar pronominalized nouns that vary according to the person who is being addressed, e.g. a menina , o pai, a mãe, o engenheiro, o doutor, etc.
Historically, você derives from vossa mercê ("your mercy" or "your grace") via the intermediate forms vossemecê and vosmecê
Nós vs. a gente
A common colloquial alternative to the first-person-plural pronoun nós "we" is the noun phrase a gente, which formally takes verbs and possessives of the third person singular (or the expression "da gente"). Although avoided in the most formal registersRegister (linguistics)
In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, when speaking in a formal setting an English speaker may be more likely to adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal...
, it is not considered incorrect, unless it is accompanied by verbs conjugated in the first person plural, as in "*A gente moramos na cidade", instead of the normative
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
"A gente mora na cidade" "We live in the city".
There is a tendency in usage for the pronouns nós and a gente to be differentiated according to "clusivity
Clusivity
In linguistics, clusivity is a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person pronouns and verbal morphology, also called inclusive "we" and exclusive "we"...
". When including the addressee, nós is preferred (nós = you and I). Meanwhile a gente more often denotes only a third person with the first person (a gente = he/she/they and I, but not you). This is not a grammatical rule, but is just the most common usage.
Vós
In nearly all Portuguese dialects and registers, the 2nd. person plural subject pronoun vós is usually substituted by vocês and in many cases it is no longer in use, as is the case with its corresponding verb forms. Currently, vós (and its verb forms) is only frequently employed:- In some dialects of northern Portugal (i.e., in the colloquial spoken language).
- In some speeches of northeastern Brazil
- In some forms of address (e.g. Vossa Senhoria, Vossa Santidade...)
- In religious texts and services.
- In old texts.
- In formal registers being used as a singular second person pronoun, for archaismArchaismIn language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
. - In historical fictionHistorical fictionHistorical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
.
For this reason, many falsely associate the pronoun with solemnity or formality, ignoring that vós is used for plural in the same context as tu is used for singular.
Instead, the word vocês is used, or equivalent forms of address which take verbs and possessives of the 3rd. person plural. See the "Forms of address" section, above, and also the notes on colloquial usage, at the bottom of the page.
Proclisis, enclisis, and mesoclisis
As in other Romance languages, objective pronouns are cliticClitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
s, which must come next to a verb, and are pronounced together with it as a unit. They may appear before the verb (proclisis, lhe dizer), after the verb, linked to it with a hyphen (enclisis, dizer-lhe), or, more rarely, within the verb, between its stem
Word stem
In linguistics, a stem is a part of a word. The term is used with slightly different meanings.In one usage, a stem is a form to which affixes can be attached. Thus, in this usage, the English word friendships contains the stem friend, to which the derivational suffix -ship is attached to form a new...
and its desinence (mesoclisis, dir-lhe-ei).
Enclisis and mesoclisis may require some euphonic
Euphony
Phonaesthetics is the claim or study of inherent pleasantness or beauty or unpleasantness of the sound of certain words and sentences. Poetry is considered euphonic, as is well-crafted literary prose...
adjustments in the verb ending and/or in the pronoun, e.g. cantar + o = cantá-lo "to sing it". The direct and indirect object pronouns can be contracted, as in dar + lhe + os = dar-lhos "to give them to him"; cf. Spanish dar + le + los = dárselos.
- comprá-lo-ei = comprarei + o "I will buy it".
- dar-to-ia = daria + o + te "I would give it to you".
- dar-lho-ia = daria + o + lhe "I would give it to him".
When a verb conjugated in the 1st. person plural, ending in -s, is followed by the enclitic pronoun nos, the s is dropped. Examples: "Vamo-nos [vamos + nos] embora amanhã" (We are leaving tomorrow), "Respeitemo-nos [respeitemos + nos] mutuamente" (Let us respect each other).
Allomorphs
Third person direct object clitic pronouns have several forms, depending on their position with relation to the verb and on the verb's ending. If the pronoun is enclitic and the verb ends with a consonant, or if the pronoun is mesoclitic and the root of the verb ends with a consonant, then that consonant is elidedElision
Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce...
, and an l is added to the beginning of the pronoun. If the pronoun is enclitic and the verb ends with a nasal diphthong (spelled -ão, -am, -em, -ém, -êm, -õe, or -õem), an n is added to the beginning of the pronoun. The same happens after other clitic pronouns, and after the adverbial particle eis.
| default | after a consonant | after a nasal diphthong |
| o | lo | no |
| a | la | na |
| os | los | nos |
| as | las | nas |
The third person forms o, a, os, and as may present the variants lo, la, los, las, no, na, nos, and nas:
- Lo, la, los, and las are used after verbal forms ending with a consonant, which is elided. Examples: seduz + a = sedu-la, faz + o = fá-lo, diz + o = di-lo, destróis + os = destrói-los (different from destrói-os, in which the verb is conjugated in the imperative mood), comes + a = come-la (different from come-a), apanha-las (apanhas + as), amá-lo (amar +o), fazê-lo (fazer + o), partire-lo (partires +o), tem-la (tens + a, notice how the n changes into an m). Note the exception quere-o (quer + o) instead of qué-lo (qué-lo is still permitted, but uncommon).
- This also occurs when the pronoun is in mesoclitic position: matá-lo-ás (matarás + o), fá-lo-ias (farias + o), feri-lo-ias (feririas + o), comê-lo-ias (comerias + o).
- The variants no, na, nos and nas are used after a verbal form ending with a nasal diphthong. Examples: põe-no (põe + o), tem-na (tem + a), comeram-nos (ambiguous, can mean comeram + os "they ate them", or comeram + nos "they ate us").
- The pronouns o, etc. present the same forms as above when they follow other clitic pronouns, such as nos and vos, or the adverbial particle eis. Examples: comeram-no-lo (comeram + nos + o), "Não vo-lo [vos + o] quero dar a entender."
Contractions between clitic pronouns
| indirect object | direct object | |||
| o | a | os | as | |
| me | mo | ma | mos | mas |
| te | to | ta | tos | tas |
| lhe | lho | lha | lhos | lhas |
| nos | no-lo | no-la | no-los | no-las |
| vos | vo-lo | vo-la | vo-los | vo-las |
| lhes | lho | lha | lhos | lhas |
Notice how lhes + o is contracted into lho, not *lhe-lo or *lhos. This occurs because lhe used to be employed indistinctly for the singular and the plural and, while the agglutinated form suffered no alteration, lhe evolved into lhes for the plural number.
While used in European Portuguese, these forms are not currently used in Brazilian Portuguese (although they can be found in Brazilian literary texts up through the early 20th century).
Syntax
Apart from the pronouns that act as subjects of a sentence, and from the stressed object pronouns which are employed after prepositions, Portuguese has several cliticClitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
object pronouns used with nonprepositional verbs, or as indirect objects. These can appear before the verb as separate words, as in ela me ama ("she loves me"), or appended to the verb after the tense/person inflection, as in ele amou-a ("he loved her") or ele deu-lhe o livro ("he gave her/him the book"). Note that Portuguese spelling rules (like those of French) require a hyphen between the verb and the clitic pronoun.
In West Iberian-Romance
West Iberian languages
West Iberian is a branch of the Romance languages which includes Castilian, Ladino, the Astur-Leonese group , and the modern descendants of Galician-Portuguese...
, the position of clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
object pronouns with respect to the verbs which govern them was flexible, but all Romance languages have since adopted a more strict syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
. The usual pattern is for clitics to precede the verb, or, in compound tenses, the auxiliary verb; e.g. Sp. Yo te amo, Fr. Je t'aime "I love you"; Sp. Tú me habías dicho, Fr. Tu m'avais dit "You had told me" (proclisis). The opposite order occurs only with a few tenses, such as the imperative: Sp. Dime, Fr. Dis-moi "Tell me" (enclisis). Spoken Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
has taken more or less the same route, except that clitics usually appear between the auxiliary verb and the main verb in compound tenses, and proclisis is even more generalized: Eu te amo "I love you", but Me diz "Tell me", and Você tinha me dito "You had told me".
In European Portuguese, by contrast, enclisis is the default position for clitic pronouns in simple affirmative clauses: Eu amo-te "I love you", Diz-me "Tell me". In compound tenses, the clitic normally follows the auxiliary verb, Você tinha-me dito "You had told me" (like in Brazilian Portuguese, but conventionally spelled with a hyphen), though other positions are sometimes possible: Você vai dizer-me "You are going to tell me" (Spanish allows this syntax as well, for example "Tú vas a decirme"), Você não me vai dizer "You are not going to tell me" (like in Spanish). Still, in formal Portuguese the clitic pronouns always follows the verb in the infinitive. The Brazilian proclisis is usually correct in European Portuguese (often found in ancient literature), though nowadays uncommon and emphatic. Only sentences that begin with a clitic pronoun, such as Te amo or Me diz, are considered unacceptable in European Portuguese.
With verbs in the future indicative tense or the conditional tense, enclitic pronouns are not placed after the verb, but rather incorporated into it: eu canto-te uma balada "I sing you a ballad" becomes eu cantar-te-ei uma balada in the future, and eu cantar-te-ia uma balada in the conditional (mesoclisis).
This is because these verb forms were originally compounds: cantarei = cantar + hei, cantarás = cantar + hás. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, where proclisis is nearly universal, mesoclisis never occurs. Although the mesoclisis is often cited as a distinctive feature of Portuguese, it is becoming rare in spoken European Portuguese, since there is a growing tendency to replace the future indicative and the conditional with other tenses.
Although enclisis (or mesoclisis) is the default position for clitic pronouns in European Portuguese, proclisis is mandatory in subordinate clauses, except non-finite clause
Non-finite clause
In linguistics, a non-finite clause is a dependent clause whose verb is non-finite; for example, many languages can form non-finite clauses from infinitives...
s (in which case both proclisis and enclisis are usually valid). Since proclisis is the normal position for clitic pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
, this marking does not exist in it.
Governance
The personal pronouns labelled "object of preposition" above are always employed after a preposition, and most prepositions govern those pronouns, but a few of them require subjective pronouns. For example, prepositions denoting exception, such as afora, fora, excepto, menos, salvo, and tirante. In those cases, the subject pronouns eu, tu, ele, ela, eles and elas are used. Examples: "Todos foram ao cinema excepto eu/tu", "Ele referiu toda a gente excepto ele mesmo." (not "Ele referiu toda a gente excepto si"), but "Ele referiu-se a toda a gente excepto a si", "Falaste a todos menos a mim", "Falaste com todos menos comigo" (not "com eu").Contractions with the prepositions de and em
The following 3rd. person pronouns contract with the prepositions de "of/from" and em "in/on/at".| pronoun | contracted with de | contracted with em |
| ele | dele | nele |
| ela | dela | nela |
| eles | deles | neles |
| elas | delas | nelas |
Contractions with the preposition com
The following prepositional pronouns contract with the preposition com "with" (circumstantial complement).| pronoun | contracted form |
| mim | comigo |
| ti | contigo |
| si | consigo |
| nós | co(n)nosco |
| vós | convosco |
| si | consigo |
The form connosco is used in European Portuguese, while conosco is used in Brazilian Portuguese.
These contractions are derived from the Latin practice of tacking the preposition cum "with" to the end of the ablative form of personal pronouns, as in mecum or tecum. In Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
, enclitic cum (later shifted to -go) became fossilized and was reanalysed as part of the pronoun itself. Then, a second cum began to be used before those words, and finally cum mecum, cum tecum, etc. contracted, producing comigo, contigo, and so on.
Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used when one wants to express the action is exercised upon the same person that exercises it or refers to such person. Examples:- EP: "Eu vi-me ao espelho." BP: "Eu me vi no espelho."
- "Não te levas muito a sério."
- EP: "De repente, vimo-nos perdidos na floresta." BP: "De repente, nos vimos perdidos na floresta."
In the third person, the reflexive pronoun has a form of its own, se - or si / sigo if preceded by a preposition. Examples:
- EP: "Hoje ele levantou-se cedo." BP: "Hoje ele se levantou cedo."
- EP: "Eles lavam-se sempre muito bem." BP: "Eles se lavam sempre muito bem."
- "O gato sabe cuidar bem de si."
- "Os ladrões levaram consigo tudo o que puderam."
The reflexive pronoun forms, when used in the plural (me and te are therefore excluded), may indicate reciprocity. In those cases, they do not have reflexive character - for instance, "as pessoas cumprimentaram-se" does not mean that each person complimented himself, rather they complimented each other. In some situations, this may create ambiguity; therefore, if one means "they love each other", one might want to say "eles amam-se mutuamente" or "eles amam-se um ao outro" (although "eles amam-se" will probably be interpreted this way anyhow); if one means "each one of them loves himself", one should say "eles amam-se a si mesmos" ou "eles amam-se a si próprios".
Sometimes, especially in the spoken Portuguese, ele mesmo, ela mesma, com ele mesmo, com eles mesmos, etc. may be used instead of si and consigo. Example: "Eles têm de ter confiança neles (em+eles) mesmos" or "Eles têm de ter confiança em si (mesmos)".
Possessive pronouns and adjectives
The forms of the possessives depends on the genderGrammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
and number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
of the possessed object or being.
| possessor | possessum | |||
| masc. sing. | fem. sing. | masc. plur. | fem. plur. | |
| eu | meu | minha | meus | minhas |
| tu | teu | tua | teus | tuas |
| ele, ela, você | seu | sua | seus | suas |
| nós | nosso | nossa | nossos | nossas |
| vós | vosso | vossa | vossos | vossas |
| eles, elas, vocês | seu | sua | seus | suas |
The possessive pronoun
Possessive pronoun
A possessive pronoun is a part of speech that substitutes for a noun phrase that begins with a possessive determiner . For example, in the sentence These glasses are mine, not yours, the words mine and yours are possessive pronouns and stand for my glasses and your glasses, respectively...
s are identical to possessive adjective
Possessive adjective
Possessive adjectives, also known as possessive determiners, are a part of speech that modifies a noun by attributing possession to someone or something...
s, except that they must be preceded by the definite article
Definite Article
Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on VHS. It was recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre...
(o meu, a minha, os meus, as minhas, etc.) For the possessive adjectives, the article is optional, and its use varies with dialect and degree of formality.
Clearing ambiguity in the 3rd. person
Due to the use of 'seu(s)', 'sua(s)' as 2nd-person possessive pronouns, 'dele(s)' and 'dela(s)' are normally used as 3rd-person possessive markers in lieu of 'seu(s)'/'sua(s)' to eliminate ambiguity, e.g. Onde está o seu carro ("Where is your car?") vs. Onde está o carro dele? ("Where is his car?") 'Seu'/'Sua' as 3rd-person possessive pronouns are still frequent though, especially when referring to the subject of the clause or the gender is unknown and ambiguity can be solved from the context, e.g. O candidato Geraldo Alckmin apresentou ontem a sua proposta para aumentar a geração de empregos no Brasil ("Candidate Geraldo Alckmin presented yesterday his proposal to increase job creation in Brazil").This does not apply to reflexive pronouns. Sentences such as *Há quem deteste a rotina dele ("There are some who hate their own routine") are not used in place of Há quem deteste a sua rotina.
In European Portuguese
In European Portuguese, si and consigo can also be used to refer to the person to whom the message is directed in the formal treatment by "o senhor", etc. or in the treatment by você. They are employed in the same circumstances ti and tigo would be used in the treatment by tu. Actually, in those circumstances você and com você is uncommonly used and considered incorrect.Examples:
- "Se você não se importar, eu vou consigo" (I'll go with you, if you don't mind). ("Se você não se importar, eu vou com você" would sound strange in some regions and is generally considered a wrong construction.)
- "Quando estava a passar pela Praça do Chile, lembrei-me de si".
Thus, in modern colloquial European Portuguese, the classical paradigm above is modified to (differences emphasized):
| Subject | Register | Object of verb | Object of preposition | Reflexive | Possessive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| você "you", sing. |
classical | o, a; lhe, você | você, com você |
se, si, consigo |
seu, sua, seus, suas; de você |
| colloquial | si, consigo |
||||
| vocês "you", plur. |
classical | os, as; lhes; vocês | vocês, com vocês |
se, si, consigo |
seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocês |
| colloquial | vos (grammatically "wrong", because it implies "vós", not "vocês") | vocês convosco (grammatically "wrong", because it implies "vós", not "vocês") |
vosso, vossa, vossos, vossas (grammatically "wrong", because it implies "vós", not "vocês") |
'Se', 'si, and 'consigo' are used in standard written BP exclusively as reflexive pronouns, e.g. Os manifestantes trouxeram consigo paus e pedras para se defenderem da violência policial ("Protesters brought (wood) sticks and stones with them to protect themselves against police brutality") , or Os políticos discutiam entre si o que fazer diante da decisão do Supremo Tribunal ("Politicians discussed among themselves what to do in face of the Supreme Court decision"). In colloquial language, those reflexive forms may be replaced however by subject pronouns (e.g. Discutam entre vocês em que data preferem fazer o exame vs standard Discutam entre si em que data preferem fazer o exame, Eng. "Discuss among yourselves when you prefer to take the exam"). Note also that in both standard and colloquial BP, it is considered wrong to use 'se', 'si', 'consigo' in non-reflexive contexts. Therefore, unlike in modern colloquial EP, 'para si' for example cannot ordinarily replace 'para você', nor can consigo ordinarily replace com você.
In Brazilian Portuguese
For modern Brazilian Portuguese, one could propose the following chart (departures from the norm are in italics):| Subject | Register | Object | Possessive | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tu "you", sing. fam. |
classical | te, ti, contigo | teu, tua, teus, tuas | és (2nd. pers. sing.) |
| colloquial | é (3rd. pers. sing.) | |||
| você "you", sing. |
classical | o, a; lhe; você, com você; si, consigo |
seu, sua, seus, suas; de você |
é (3rd. pers. sing.) |
| colloquial | você (after a verb); você, com você; si, consigo; te, ti, contigo |
seu, sua, seus, suas; de você; teu, tua, teus, tuas |
||
| ele, ela "he", "she" |
classical | o, a; lhe | seu, sua, seus, suas; dele, dela |
|
| colloquial | ele, ela (after a verb) | |||
| vocês "you", plur. |
classical | os, as; lhes ,vocês | seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocês |
são (3rd. pers. plur.) |
| colloquial | vocês (after a verb) | |||
| eles, elas "they", masc. and fem. |
classical | os, as; lhes | seu, sua, seus, suas; deles, delas |
|
| colloquial | eles, elas (after a verb) |
Tu vs. você
Although the 3rd person pronoun você tended to replace the classical 2nd-person pronoun "tu" in several Brazilian dialects and, especially, in the media communication, the use of tu is still frequent in several BP dialects.Most of the dialects that retain tu also use accordingly te (accusative pronoun), ti (dative postprepositional pronoun), contigo, and the possessive teu. The use of "tu" is dominant in the South (Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
, Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina (state)
Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...
and parts of Paraná
Paraná (state)
Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...
) and Northeast (with the exception of most of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
and some other areas, mostly in the coast), and it is also very frequent in the Northern region and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
.
However, even in some of the regions where "você" is the prevailing pronoun, the object pronoun te and ti and the possessive pronoun teu/tua are quite common, although not in most of São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state. In fact, in the city of São Paulo the pronoun tu is almost nonexistent.
In EP, "tu" is considered a pronoun to be used in informal or familiar situations, while "você" is a semi-formal and formal pronoun. That distinction, object and possessive pronouns pattern likewise, is still maintained in the South and in the area around the city of Santos (in State of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
) and in the Northeast. In Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, for instance, você is rarely used in spoken language—in most occasions, o senhor/a senhora is employed whenever tu may sound too informal.
In most of the Northeast, você is frequently used only in semi-formal and formal conversations, mostly with people whom one does not know well or when a more polite or serious style is required. As for Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and the North of Brazil, both tu and você (and associated object and possessive pronouns) are used with no clear distinction in their use.
However, when one talks to older people or people of higher status (a boss, for example), most Brazilians prefer to use o senhor and a senhora (literally "the gentleman" and "the lady").
In standard Portuguese (both in Brazil and in Portugal), você and vocês are always accompanied by 3rd-person verb forms (e.g. você é, vocês são), whereas tu requires 2nd-person verb forms (e.g. tu és). However, in tuteante BP dialects like gaúcho
Gaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
, tu is almost always accompanied by 3rd-person verb forms, e.g. tu é, tu bebeu vs. standard tu és, tu bebeste. That particular usage is considered substandard (ungrammatical) by most Brazilian speakers whose dialects do not include tu (e.g. paulistanos).
The 'você' (subj.)/'te' (obj.) combination, e.g. Você sabe que eu te amo, is a well-known peculiarity of modern General Brazilian Portuguese and is similar in nature to the 'vocês (subj.)/'vos' (obj.)/ 'vosso' (poss.) combination found in modern colloquial European Portuguese
European Portuguese
European Portuguese refers to the variety of Portuguese spoken in continental Portugal, as well as the Azores and Madeira islands...
. Both combinations would be condemned, though, by prescriptive school grammars based on the classical language.
When Brazilians use tu, it is mostly accompanied by the 3rd-person verb conjugation: Tu vai ao banco? — "Will you go to the bank". ("Tu vai" is wrong according to the standard grammar, but it is used by millions of Brazilians anyway). The pronoun tu accompanied by the second-person verb can still be found in [Maranhão], [Piauí], [Pernambuco] (mostly in more formal speech) and Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina (state)
Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...
, for instance, and in a few cities in Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
near the border with Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, with a slightly different pronunciation in some conjugations (tu vieste — "you came" — is pronounced as if it were tu viesse), which also is present in Santa Catarina and Pernambuco (especially in Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, where it is by far the predominant way to pronounce the past tense particle -ste).
O(s) and a(s)
In Brazil, the weak clitic pronouns "-o(s)" and "-a(s)" are used almost exclusively in writing or in formal speech (e.g. TV newscasts). In colloquial speech, "ele(s)" and "ela(s)" replace the clitics as direct objects (e.g. "Vi eles na praia ontem" versus "Vi-os na praia ontem"; in English, "I saw them on the beach yesterday"). The standard written variants "-lo(s)" and "-la(s)" (used after an infinitive ending in "r") are more frequent though in the speech of polite speakers, but seem to be losing ground as well. Note, however, that "ele(s)" or "ela(s)" are never used as direct objects in formal writing, such as newspaper articles, academic papers, or legal documents. The use of "-lo", "-la", etc. replacing "você" as direct object is restricted mostly to the written language (in particular, movie subtitles) although it occurs frequently in a few fixed expressions like "Prazer em conhecê-lo" ("Pleased to meet you") or "Posso ajudá-lo?" ("May I help you?).Lhe(s)
The use of 'lhe' and 'lhes' as indirect object forms of 'você' and 'vocês' ("[to] you", plural and singular) is currently rare in General BP, where 'lhe' is often replaced as noted above by 'te' or, alternatively, by 'para você'. On the other hand, "lheísmo", i.e. the use of 'lhe' not only as an indirect object (e.g. Eu lhe dou meu endereço, "I will give you my address"), but also as a direct object (e.g. Eu lhe vi na praia ontem, Eng. "I saw you at the beach yesterday") is frequent though in Northeastern Brazilian dialects, especially in BahiaBahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
.
In standard written BP, it is common to use 'lhe(s)' as indirect object forms of 'ele(s)/ela(s)' ("[to] him / her / it / them"), e.g. O presidente pediu que lhe dessem notícias da crise na Bolívia. In the colloquial language, 'lhe' in that context is frequently replaced by 'para ele', etc., although educated speakers might use 'lhe' in speech as well.
Replacement of objective pronouns with subjective pronouns
In substandard BP, especially in regional dialects like caipiraCaipira
Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states—it refers to the people of lesser schooling. It can be considered pejorative when used to describe others, but it can also be used as a self-identifier without negative connotations...
, object pronouns may be avoided altogether, even in the first person. For example: Ele levou nós no baile (standard BP Ele nos levou ao baile) or Ela viu eu na escola (standard BP Ela me viu na escola). These examples, although common in rural areas and in working-class speech, would sound ungrammatical to most urban middle-class BP speakers.
See also
- Portuguese verb conjugationPortuguese verb conjugationPortuguese verbs display a high degree of inflection. A typical regular verb has over fifty different forms, expressing up to six different grammatical tenses and three moods...
- Portuguese languagePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
- Portuguese grammarPortuguese grammarPortuguese grammar, the morphology and syntax of the Portuguese language, is similar to the grammar of most other Romance languages—especially that of Spanish, and even more so to that of Galician...
- Brazilian PortugueseBrazilian PortugueseBrazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....