Portuguese pronouns

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There are four main types of Portuguese pronouns: personal, possessive, indefinite, relative, and interrogative. This article concerns the first two classes. The others are discussed at Portuguese grammar.

Although Portuguese has no cases, a trace of the Latin declensions can still be found in its personal pronouns, which have different forms according to their grammatical function. Pronoun use displays considerable dialectal variation, with particularly marked differences between the most colloquial varieties of European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.

Contents

[edit] Subject, object, and complement

[edit] Basic forms

The personal pronouns of Portuguese have three basic forms, subjective, objective (object of a verb), and prepositional (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, você o, a1; lhe2; se3 ele, ela, você; si3
plural 1st. nós nos nós
2nd. vós vos vós
3rd. eles, elas, vocês os, as1; lhes2; se3 eles, elas, vocês; si3

1 direct object (masculine and feminine) 2 indirect object 3 reflexive or reciprocal

[edit] Subjective pronouns

[edit] Nós vs. a gente

A very common coloquial alternative to the 1st. person plural pronoun nós "we" is the noun phrase a gente, which formally takes verbs and possessives of the 3rd. person singular. Although avoided in the most formal registers, it is not considered incorrect, unless it is accompanied by verbs conjugated in the 1st. person plural, as in "*A gente moramos na cidade", instead of the normative "A gente mora na cidade" "We live in the city".

[edit] Vós

The 2nd. person plural subjective pronoun vós has fallen into disuse in Portuguese. Currently, it is only employed:

  • In religious texts and services.
  • In very formal registers, for archaism.
  • In a few dialects of northern Portugal.
  • In historical fiction.

Instead of it, the word vocês is used, or equivalent forms of address which take verbs and possessives of the 3rd. person plural. See "Forms of address", below, but see also the notes on coloquial usage, at the bottom of the page.

[edit] 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 distinction). 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 and the formal os senhores / as senhoras.

This threefold scheme is, however, complicated by regional and social variation. For example, in most 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. 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 unheard of in Brazil.

When addressing older people or hierachical superiors, modern BP speakers often replace 'você' and 'vocês' by the expressions O(s) senhor(es) and A(s) senhora(s), which also require third-person verb forms and third-person object/reflexive/possessive pronouns. '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; compare with the derivation of Spanish usted from vuestra merced.

[edit] Objective pronouns

[edit] Proclisis, enclisis, and mesoclisis

In Portuguese, as in other Romance languages, objective pronouns are clitics, which must come next to a verb, and are pronounced together with it as a unit. They may appear before the verb (proclisis, não lhe digo), after the verb, linked to it with a hyphen (enclisis, digo-lhe), or (more rarely) inside the verb, between its root and its ending (mesoclisis, dir-lhe-ei).

Enclisis and mesoclisis may require some 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 + te + o "I would give it to you".
dar-lho-ia = daria + lhe + o "I would give it to him".

When a verb conjugated in the 1st. person plural, ending in -s, is followed by one of the enclitic pronouns nos and vos, 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), "Convidamo-vos [convidamos + vos] para jantar" (We invite you for dinner).

[edit] Variants of the 3rd. person clitic pronouns

Third person direct object clitic pronouns have several forms (allomorphs), 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 elided, 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).
  • 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 third person forms o, a, os, and as (and variants) are not normally used in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese; instead, they are omitted, or the subject pronouns are used after the verb.
  • 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."

[edit] 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.

These forms are never used in Brazil.

[edit] 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 clitic 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), 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 clauses (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.

[edit] Prepositional pronouns

[edit] Governance of prepositions

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")).

[edit] 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

[edit] 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, 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.

[edit] 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 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)".

[edit] Possessive pronouns and adjectives

The forms of the possessives depends on the gender and number of the possessed object or being.

possessor possessed
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 pronouns are identical to possessive adjectives, 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.

[edit] Clearing ambiguity in the 3rd. person

Due to the use of 'seu(s)', 'sua(s)' as the preferred 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 in narrative language, when ambiguity can be generally 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").

[edit] Coloquial usage

[edit] In European Portuguese

In European Portuguese, si and sigo 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.

Examples:

  • "Se você não se importar, eu vou consigo" (I'll go with you, if you don't mind).
  • "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, com você se, si, consigo seu, sua, seus, suas; de você
coloquial si, consigo
vocês ("you", plur.) classical os, as; lhes vocês, com vocês se, si, consigo seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocês
coloquial os, as; lhes; vos vosso, vossa, vossos, vossas

'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.

[edit] In Brazilian Portuguese

See also: 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.) classical te, ti, contigo teu, tua, teus, tuas és (2nd. pers. sing.)
coloquial 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.)
coloquial 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
coloquial ele, ela (after a verb)
vocês ("you", plur.) classical os, as; lhes seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocês são (3rd. pers. plur.)
coloquial vocês (after a verb)
eles, elas ("they", masc. and fem.) classical os, as; lhes seu, sua, seus, suas; deles, delas
coloquial eles, elas (after a verb)

[edit] Tu vs. você

The classical Portuguese 2nd-person pronoun 'tu' is retained only in certain regional BP dialects, most notably gaúcho. Dialects that retain 'tu' also use accordingly 'te', 'ti', 'contigo', and the possessive 'teu'. In General Brazilian Portuguese (as heard for example on national TV), 'te' is still frequently used both as a direct object (alternating with 'você') and as an indirect object (alternating with 'para você'). 'Tu', 'contigo' and 'teu' are however relatively rare in General Brazilian, although they occur occasionally in the speech of Rio de Janeiro and, much less frequently, in São Paulo.

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 presciptive school grammars based on the classical language.

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 second-person verb forms (e.g. tu és). However, in "tuteante" BP dialects like gaúcho, tu may be accompanied by third-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").

[edit] 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, Eng. "I saw them on the beach yesterday"). The standard written variants -lo(s) and -las (used after an infinitive ending in 'r') are more frequent though in the colloquial speech of educated Brazilians, 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 -(l)o, -(l)a, etc. replacing 'você' as direct objects 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?)

[edit] 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 Bahia.

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.

[edit] Replacement of objective pronouns with subjective pronouns

In substandard BP, especially in regional dialects like caipira, 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.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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