MDONCH808
Portuguese Grammar > Pronouns > Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns of Portuguese have five basic forms: subject, reflexive, accusative, dative, and prepositional.

Subject Personal Pronouns

These pronouns act as the subject of the sentence and dictate the conjugation of verbs.

Singular Plural
eu I nós we
tu you (familiar) vós you all (familiar)
você you (polite) vocês you all (polite)
ele he, it (m.) eles they (m.)
ela she, it (f.) elas they (f.)
o senhor you (m. formal) os senhores you all (m. formal)
a senhora you (f. formal) as senhoras you all (f. formal)

Notes:

It is common to hear a gente (the people) being used as "we" when referring to the speaker and his/her group.
a gente fala português - we speak Portuguese

There are many forms of the pronoun "you" in Portuguese. The use of each varies by region, but in general:

  • Tu is used mainly in Portugal as an informal mode of address when talking to family or relatives. It uses the 2nd person verb forms.
  • Vós is archaic and usually replaced by vocês. It is common in poetry or religious text and can be translated as "ye".
  • Você is used very often between friends and coworkers and is informal; used often in Brazil in place of "tu". It takes the 3rd person verb forms.
  • O senhor and A senhora are formal modes of address and also take the 3rd person verb form.

Reflexive Pronouns

These pronouns are used with reflexive verbs and refer back to the subject.

Subject Reflexive Pronoun Translation
eu me myself
tu te yourself
ele
ela
o senhor
a senhora
você
se itself, himself, herself, yourself
nós nos ourselves
vós vos yourselves
eles
elas
os senhores
as senhoras
vocês
se themselves, yourselves

Notes:

These pronouns can be placed before the verb, or attached to the end of the verb using a hyphen,.
A gente se conheceu ontem - we met each other yesterday
Sinto-me bem - I feel well

Object pronouns

In Portuguese there are direct object pronouns (accusative case) and indirect object pronouns (dative case).

In standard Portuguese object pronouns can be attached to the end of verbs with a hyphen.
mostre-me - show me
ensino-lhe - I teach him

They must be placed in front of the verb in negative clauses, in most questions, and in some dependent clauses.
não o tenho - I don't have it
Que me explica ele? - What does he explain to me?

In Brazil, They are almost always in front of the verb.
Eu te amo - I love you;

Accusative (Direct Object) Pronouns

Pronouns in the accusative case are usually used to replace a direct object noun in a sentence.

Singular Plural
me me nos us
te you vos you
o him; it, you (m.) os them, you (m.)
a her; it, you (f.) as them, you (f.)
se himself, herself (reflexive) se themselves (reflexive)

Notes:

Você can be used as its own direct object pronoun. Otherwise, it uses o or a. Colloquially, it often uses te.
Eu te amo / Eu amo você - I love you

Likewise, Vocês uses os or as, and can use vos as its direct object pronoun.
Ele vos viu / Ele viu vocês - He saw you

Direct object pronouns o, a, os, as make changes when they are added to the end of verbs:

  • If the verb ends with -r, -s, -z → drop those letters change the pronouns to -lo, -la, -los, -las
    estudá-lo - to study it
    estudamo-la - we study it
  • If the verb ends in a nasal sound (-am, -em, -ão etc.) → change the pronouns to -no, -na, -nos, -nas
    sabem-no - they know it
    estudam-na - they study it

Dative (Indirect Object) Pronouns

These pronouns are used to indicate the noun receiving the action of the verb.

Singular Plural
me to me nos to us
te to you vos to you
lhe to him, her, it, you lhes to them, you all
se to himself, herself (reflexive) se to themselves (reflexive)

Notes:

Você(s) can use the pronouns lhe(s), te (vos), or para você(s).
Ele deu o livro para você? - Did he give the book to you?

Indirect object pronouns always precede direct object pronouns. When used together in the same sentence they are contracted like so:

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

Prepositional Pronouns

These pronouns are used with prepositions such as para, a, and de.

Singular Plural
mim me nós us
ti you vós you
ele him, it, you eles them, you all (m.)
ela her, it, you elas them, you all (f.)
si to himself, herself (reflexive) si to themselves (reflexive)

Notes:

Você(s), o senhor, a senhora, a gente and other pronouns do not have a special form when used with prepositions.
Eu logo para você amanhã - I'll call you tomorrow

Some pronouns contract with the preposition com (with):

Pronoun Contraction Translation
mim comigo with me
ti contigo with you
nós connosco with us
vós convosco with you
si consigo reflexive

Ele(s) and Ela(s) contract with the prepositions em (in / on), and de (of / from):

em de
ele(s) nele(s) dele(s)
ela(s) nela(s) dela(s)
top
Portuguese Grammar > Pronouns > Possessive Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are the same as possessive adjectives but they use the definite articles. They agree in number and gender of the thing possessed.

Masculine Feminine Translation
o meu
os meus
a minha
as minhas
mine
o teu
os teus
a tua
as tuas
yours
o nosso
os nossos
a nossa
as nossas
ours
o vosso
os vossos
a vossa
as vossas
yours
o seu
os seus
a sua
as suas
his, hers, its, yours, theirs, one’s

Notes:

To avoid the ambiguity of o(s) seu(s) and a(s) sua(s), you can use the prepositional pronouns dele(s) and dela(s).

top
Portuguese Grammar > Pronouns > Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstratives are words that point to a noun and specify a distance between the speaker and something.

Pronoun Translation Location
este this (m.) Near the speaker - "here"
Aqui
esta this (f.)
estes these (m.)
estas these (f.)
isto this (neuter)
esse that (m.) Near the person addressed - "there"
essa that (f.)
esses those (m.)
essas those (f.)
isso that (neuter)
aquele that (m.) Far away from speaker and listener - "over there"
Ali / Lá
aquela that (f.)
aqueles those (m.)
aquelas those (f.)
aquilo that (neuter)

Notes:

These pronouns contract with the prepositions de, em, and a. See the Prepositions chapter for full detail.

Isto, isso, and aquilo, do not refer to nouns, but to ideas or something unspecific.
isto é verdade - this is true

top
Portuguese Grammar > Pronouns > Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite Pronouns

These are words that refer to an identifiable but unspecified noun, expressing the idea of all, none, any, some, another, other, etc. Here are a few of the most common:

Pronoun Translation
algum
alguma
alguns
algumas
some, any, few
alguém someone, anybody
algo something
nenhum
nenhuma
nenhuns
nenhumas
no, none, not any
nada nothing
ninguém no one, nobody
todo
toda
todos
todas
every, all, whole, entire
tudo everything
outro
outra
outros
outras
another, other
outrem other people
ambos
ambas
both
cada um
cada uma
each, every
certo
certa
certo
certas
a certain, certain
tanto
tanta
tantos
tantas
so much, so many
tal
tais
such a, such
muito
muita
muitos
muitas
much, many
pouco
pouca
poucos
poucas
little, few
qualquer
quaisquer
whatever, whichever, any one, either one
o mesma
a mesma
os mesmos
as mesmas
himself, herself, itself, themselves, the same thing
vários
várias
several
top
Portuguese Grammar > Pronouns > Relative Pronouns

Relative Pronouns

These are used to refer to another noun or pronoun, meaning that, which, or who(m). Relative pronouns are never omitted in Portuguese.
Os professores que falam ... - The proffesors who speak ...
A lição que estudo... - The lesson that I study ...

Pronoun Translation Notes
que that, which, who, whom the most common relative pronoun in speech
quem that, which, who, whom invariable; a quem when the object of a verb
o qual
a qual
os quai
as quais
who, whom, which, that used to avoid ambiguity since it indicates gender and number
cujo
cuja
cujos
cujas
whose agree in number and gender with the thing possessed
o que
a que
os que
as que
aquilo que
he/she who, that which also used to avoid ambiguity
quanto
quanta
quantos
quantas
all that, all who, all those who/which, as much used when dealing with quantities of nouns
top