Portuguese personal pronouns
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 pronouns are the same as the possessive adjectives, 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.
Subject, object, and complement
Basic forms
The personal pronouns of Portuguese have three basic forms: subject, object (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 | o, a1; lhe2; se3 | ele, ela; si3 | |
plural | 1st. | nĂłs | nos | nĂłs |
2nd. | vĂłs | vos | vĂłs | |
3rd. | eles, elas | os, as1; lhes2; se3 | eles, elas; si3 |
1 direct object (masculine and feminine) 2 indirect object 3 reflexive or reciprocal, direct or indirect object
Subject pronouns
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, vocĂȘ (both meaning singular "you") and vocĂȘs (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. VocĂȘ 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 vocĂȘs or vĂłs 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/vocĂȘ distinction has been lost, and the previously formal vocĂȘ 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 is common to use a person's own name as a pronoun more or less equivalent to vocĂȘ, e.g., o JosĂ©, o sr. Silva, which is rare in Brazil (though it is found in parts of the Northeast region, for example).
When addressing older people or hierarchical superiors, modern BP speakers often replace 'vocĂȘ'/tu and 'vocĂȘs' 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 vocĂȘs" "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 mĂŁe, o engenheiro, o doutor, etc.
Historically, vocĂȘ derives from vossa mercĂȘ ("your mercy" or "your grace") via the intermediate forms vossemecĂȘ and vosmecĂȘ
NĂłs vs. a gente
A common colloquial alternative to the first-person-plural pronoun nĂłs "we" is the noun phrase a gente (literally meaning "the people"), which formally takes verbs and possessives of the third person singular (or the expression "da gente"). Although avoided in the most formal registers, 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 nĂłs and a gente to be differentiated according to "clusivity". When including the addressee, nĂłs is preferred (nĂłs = 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.[1]
VĂłs
In nearly all Portuguese dialects and registers, the second-person plural subject pronoun vĂłs is usually replaced by vocĂȘs and in many cases it is no longer in use, as is the case with its corresponding verb forms. Currently, vĂłs (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 archaism.
- In historical fiction.
For this reason, many associate the pronoun with solemnity or formality, ignoring that vĂłs is used for plural in the same context as tu is used for singular.
Instead, the word vocĂȘs is used, or equivalent forms of address which take verbs and possessives of the third-person plural. See the "Forms of address" section, above, and also the notes on colloquial usage, at the bottom of the page.
Object pronouns
Proclisis, enclisis, and mesoclisis
As in other Romance languages, object 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, 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 entail some historically motivated changes of verb endings and/or pronouns, e.g. cantar + o (originally *lo, from Latin illum) = cantĂĄ-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 = dĂĄrselos.
- comprĂĄ-lo-ei = comprarei (Late Latin comparÄre habeĆ, two words) + o "I will buy it".
- dar-to-ia = daria (dare habÄbam) + 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 the enclitic pronoun nos, the s is dropped. Examples: "Vamo-nos [vamos + nos] embora amanhĂŁ" (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 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 -ĂŁo, -am, -em, -Ă©m, -ĂȘm, -Ă”e, or -Ă”em), 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 = fĂĄ-lo, diz + o = di-lo, destrĂłis + os = destrĂłi-los (different from destrĂłi-os, in which the verb is conjugated in the imperative mood), comes + a = come-la (different from come-a), apanhĂĄ-las (apanhas + as), amĂĄ-lo (amar +o), fazĂȘ-lo (fazer + o), partire-lo (partires +o), tem-la (tens + aâthe n changes to m). Exceptionally, quer + o gives quere-o, rather than *quĂ©-lo (quĂ©-lo is still permitted, but uncommon).
- This also occurs when the pronoun is in mesoclitic position: matĂĄ-lo-ĂĄs (matarĂĄs + o), fĂĄ-lo-ias (farias + o), feri-lo-ias (feririas + o), comĂȘ-lo-ias (comerias + o).
- The variants no, na, nos and nas are used after a verbal form ending with a nasal diphthong. Examples: pÔe-no (pÔe + 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: ei-lo aqui (eis + o), deram-no-lo (deram + nos + o), "NĂŁo 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 |
The contraction for lhes + o is 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 contracted forms are rarely encountered in modern Brazilian usage.
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 enclitic 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; e.g. Sp. Yo te amo, Fr. Je t'aime "I love you"; Fr. Tu m'avais dit "You had told me" (proclisis). The opposite order occurs only with 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 VocĂȘ 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, VocĂȘ tinha-me dito "You had told me" (like in Brazilian Portuguese, but conventionally spelled with a hyphen), though other positions are sometimes possible: VocĂȘ vai dizer-me "You are going to tell me" (Spanish allows this syntax as well, for example "Vas a decirme"), VocĂȘ nĂŁo me vai dizer "You are not going to tell me". Still, in formal Portuguese the clitic pronouns always follow the verb in the infinitive. The Brazilian proclisis is usually correct in European Portuguese (often found in medieval 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, cantarĂĄs = cantar + hĂĄs. 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, there are several instances in which proclisis will be used due to certain elements or words that "attract" the pronoun to appear before, rather than after, the verb. For example, a simple affirmative sentence or command will be enclitic (mesoclitic in the future or conditional). However, the following elements attract the pronoun and cause proclisis even in European Portuguese: (1) negative words, (2) interrogative words, (3) conjunctions/dependent clauses, (4) certain common adverbs such as ainda, jĂĄ, sempre, etc., and (5) indefinite pronouns such as todos. Since proclisis is already the normal default position for clitic pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese, this marking between enclisis and proclisis does not exist.
European Portuguese | Brazilian Portuguese | English | |
---|---|---|---|
Simple affirmative sentence | Ele viu-nos hoje. | Ele nos viu hoje. | He saw us today. |
Affirmative future tense | Ele aprendĂȘ-lo-ĂĄ na escola. | Ele o aprenderĂĄ na escola. | He will learn it in school. |
Affirmative conditional tense | Ele dar-me-ia o livro. | Ele me daria o livro. | He would give me the book. |
Affirmative imperative | Diga-me o que aconteceu. | Me diga o que aconteceu. | Tell me what happened. |
(1) Negative sentences | NĂŁo a vi hoje. | I did not see her today. | |
(2) Interrogative sentences | Onde Ă© que ele os comprou? (ex. os sapatos) | Where did he buy them (ex. those shoes)? | |
(3) Conjunctions/dependent clauses | Quero que me digas a verdade. | I want you to tell me the truth. | |
(4) Adverbs | Ele sempre nos vĂȘ na igreja. | He always sees us at church. | |
(5) Indefinite pronouns | Todos me dizem a verdade. | Everyone tells me the truth. |
Prepositional pronouns
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 subject 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 |
nĂłs | co(n)nosco |
vĂłs | 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 suffixing 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.
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 ladrÔes 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 prĂłprios". 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 tĂȘm de ter confiança neles (em+eles) mesmos" or "Eles tĂȘm de ter confiança em si (mesmos)".
Possessive pronouns and adjectives
The forms of the possessives depends on the gender and number 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, vocĂȘ | seu | sua | seus | suas |
nĂłs | nosso | nossa | nossos | nossas |
vĂłs | vosso | vossa | vossos | vossas |
eles, elas, vocĂȘs | 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.
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 estå o seu carro ("Where is your car?") vs. Onde estå o carro dele? ("Where is his car?") 'Seu'/'Sua' used as 3rd-person possessive pronouns are still frequent, especially when referring to the subject of the clause or when the gender is unknown and ambiguity can be solved in context, e.g. O Candidato Geraldo Alckmin apresentou ontem a sua proposta para aumentar a geração de empregos no Brasil ("The candidate Geraldo Alckmin presented yesterday his proposal to increase job creation in Brazil").
This does not apply to reflexive pronouns. Sentences such as *HĂĄ quem deteste a rotina dele ("There are some who hate their own routine") are not used in place of HĂĄ quem deteste a sua rotina(There are some that hate their routines.)
Colloquial usage
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 vocĂȘ. They are employed in the same circumstances ti and contigo would be used in the treatment by tu. Actually, in those circumstances vocĂȘ and com vocĂȘ is uncommonly used and considered incorrect.
Examples:
- "Se vocĂȘ nĂŁo se importar, eu vou consigo" (I'll go with you, if you don't mind). ("Se vocĂȘ nĂŁo se importar, eu vou com vocĂȘ" 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". - (When I was going through the Praça do Chile (the Chile park), it reminded me of you)
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
vocĂȘ "you", sing. | classical | o, a; lhe, vocĂȘ | vocĂȘ, com vocĂȘ | se, si, consigo | seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocĂȘ |
colloquial | si, consigo | ||||
vocĂȘs "you", plur. | classical | os, as; lhes; vocĂȘs | vocĂȘs, com vocĂȘs | seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocĂȘs | |
colloquial | vos | vocĂȘs convosco | 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 violĂȘncia policial ("Protesters brought (wood) sticks and stones with them to protect themselves against police brutality"), or Os polĂticos discutiam entre si o que fazer diante da decisĂŁo 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 vocĂȘs 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 vocĂȘ', nor can consigo ordinarily replace com vocĂȘ.
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 | Ă©s (2nd. pers. sing.) |
colloquial | Ă© (3rd. pers. sing.) | |||
vocĂȘ "you", sing. | classical | o, a; lhe; vocĂȘ, com vocĂȘ; si, consigo | seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocĂȘ | |
colloquial | vocĂȘ (after a verb); vocĂȘ, com vocĂȘ; si, consigo; te, ti, contigo | seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocĂȘ; teu, tua, teus, tuas | ||
ele, ela "he", "she" | classical | o, a; lhe | seu, sua, seus, suas; dele, dela | |
colloquial | ele, ela (after a verb) | |||
vocĂȘs "you", plur. | classical | os, as; lhes, vocĂȘs | seu, sua, seus, suas; de vocĂȘs | sĂŁo (3rd. pers. plur.) |
colloquial | vocĂȘs (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. vocĂȘ
Although the 3rd person pronoun vocĂȘ 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, Santa Catarina and parts of ParanĂĄ) 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 "vocĂȘ" is the prevailing pronoun, the object pronoun te and ti and the possessive pronoun teu/tua are quite common, although not in most of SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil's most populous state. In fact, in the city of SĂŁo Paulo the pronoun tu is almost nonexistent.
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 SĂŁo Paulo) and in the Northeast. In Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, for instance, vocĂȘ is rarely used in spoken languageâin most occasions, o senhor/a senhora is employed whenever tu may sound too informal.
In most of the Northeast, vocĂȘ 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 vocĂȘ (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), vocĂȘ and vocĂȘs are always accompanied by 3rd-person verb forms (e.g. vocĂȘ Ă©, vocĂȘs sĂŁo), whereas tu requires 2nd-person verb forms (e.g. tu Ă©s). However, in tuteante BP dialects like gaĂșcho, tu is almost always accompanied by 3rd-person verb forms, e.g. tu Ă©, tu bebeu vs. standard tu Ă©s, tu bebeste. That particular usage is considered substandard (ungrammatical) by most Brazilian speakers whose dialects do not include tu (e.g. paulistanos).
The 'vocĂȘ' (subj.)/'te' (obj.) combination, e.g. VocĂȘ sabe que eu te amo, is a well-known peculiarity of modern General Brazilian Portuguese and is similar in nature to the 'vocĂȘs (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? â "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 MaranhĂŁo, PiauĂ, 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 â "you came" â 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).
vocĂȘ (standard) |
vocĂȘ (colloquial) |
tu (standard) |
tu (colloquial) |
tu (colloquial Sulista) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative present |
fala | falas | fala | ||
Simple past |
falou | falaste | falou | falasse | |
Imperfect subjunctive |
falasse | falasses | falasse | ||
Positive imperative |
fale | fala | |||
Negative imperative |
nĂŁo fale | nĂŁo fala | nĂŁo fales | nĂŁo fale, nĂŁo fala |
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 "vocĂȘ" 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 conhecĂȘ-lo" ("Pleased to meet you") or "Posso ajudĂĄ-lo?" ("May I help you?).
Lhe(s)
The use of 'lhe' and 'lhes' as indirect object forms of 'vocĂȘ' and 'vocĂȘs' ("[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 vocĂȘ'. On the other hand, "lheĂsmo", 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 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 notĂcias da crise na BolĂvia. 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 object pronouns with subject 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 nĂłs 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 in formal situations.
See also
References
- â Lopes, CĂ©lia Regina dos Santos (1998), "NĂłs e a gente no portuguĂȘs falado culto do Brasil", D.E.L.T.A. (Documentação de Estudos em LingĂŒĂstica TeĂłrica e Aplicada), 14 (2): 405â422
- Portuguese pronouns at Orbis Latinus
- Portuguese adjectives at Orbis Latinus
- "What is the word for 'you' in Portuguese?", by Danilo Nogueira