Portuguese Object Pronouns

27 de October de 2017
Pronombres oblicuos en portuguΓ©s. Pronombres personales: Eu, vocΓͺ, ele, ela, nΓ³s vocΓͺs, eles, elas. Pronombres objeto directo: Me, o, a, lo, la, no, na, nos, os, as, los, las, nos, las. Pronombres objeto indirecto: Me, lhe, nos, lhes.

What’s up, galera! How are you? Let’s study one more Dica of Portuguese for foreigners. We are going to learn about the Portuguese object pronouns. This includes the direct object pronouns in Portuguese and the indirect too!

Portuguese object pronouns are those used to substitute a personal pronoun or a noun. They can be direct objects or indirect objects.

Direct object pronouns in Portuguese

Direct object pronouns are used to substitute a personal pronoun or a noun that doesn’t depend on a preposition. Let’s take a look:

Object pronouns Me and Nos

Example with Portuguese Object Pronouns: Ele me chamou para dançar.

TheΒ pronouns me and nosΒ replace the pronouns eu and nΓ³s (I and We). They usually come before the main verb in oral speech. And if you’re using two verbs in the sentence, they’ll come in the middle of them. Let’s see some examples!

Meu filho nΓ£o me obedece.
My son doesn’t obey me.

VocΓͺ precisa me respeitar.
You need to respect me.

MΓ‘rcia vai nos encontrar amanhΓ£ Γ  tarde.
MΓ‘rcia will meet us tomorrow afternoon.

Eles estΓ£o nos esperando no metrΓ΄.
They are waiting for us at the metro.

VocΓͺ pode me ajudar?
Can you help me?

Obs. Brazilians tend to say ‘a gente’ (us/we) instead of ‘nΓ³s’. In this case, ‘a gente’ comes after the main verb.

MΓ‘rcia vai encontrar a gente amanhΓ£ Γ  tarde.
MΓ‘rcia will meet us tomorrow afternoon.

Eles estΓ£o esperando a gente no metrΓ΄.
They are waiting for us at the metro.

To understand this better, take a look at the vΓ­deo below. Don’t forget to activate the subtitles!

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Object pronouns o, a, os, as

Example with Portuguese Object Pronouns: Ele digita o texto. Ele o digita.

The pronouns o, a, os, as will replace the pronounsΒ Β vocΓͺ(s), ele(s), ela(s) used in the previous sentence. These direct object pronouns in Portuguese are also seen before a verb. Let’s learn how we form them!

Personal Pronouns O and A. VocΓͺ, Ele, Ela, VocΓͺs, Eles, Elas.

Now, let’s see some examples.

VocΓͺ viu o JoΓ£o? Eu nΓ£o o vejo desde ontem.
Have you seen JoΓ£o? I haven’t seen him since yesterday.

Eu busquei a Maria em casa. Eu a busquei em casa.
I picked Maria up at home. I picked her up at home.

Mauro e Pedro, eu encontro vocΓͺs apΓ³s a aula. Eu os encontro apΓ³s a aula.
Mauro and Pedro, Iβ€˜ll meet you after the class.

Ontem eu vi a CΓ­ntia e a ClΓ‘udia no centro. Eu as vi rapidamente.
Yesterday I sawΒ CΓ­ntia and ClΓ‘udiaΒ downtown. I saw themΒ just quickly.

VocΓͺ fez aulas de PortuguΓͺs online? Sim, eu as fiz durante o mΓͺs passado.
Did you take Portuguese classes online? Yes, I took them over the past month.

Check out this vΓ­deo about these Portuguese direct object Pronouns:

Object pronouns -lo, la, -los, -las

Example with Portuguese Object Pronouns: Este Γ© o certificado da Rio & Learn. Venha recebΓͺ-lo!

These object pronouns are usually used after a verb in the infinitive. We take the letter R and add the pronouns lo, la, los, las. The verbs ending in -ar and -er, usually have an accent mark added on the final vowel; in same cases, verbs ending in -ir too.

Example of Portuguese Object Pronouns: VocΓͺ, ele/ela -> -lo,-la. VocΓͺs,eles/elas -> -los/-las.

Quero comprar esses livros. Quero comprΓ‘-los.
I want to buy these books. I want to buy them.

NΓ£o gosto mais dessa casa, por isso quero vendΓͺ-la.
I don’t like this house, that’s why I want to sell it.

AlguΓ©m estΓ‘ batendo Γ  porta. Vou abri-la.
Someone is knocking at the door. I’ll open it.

Esta canetas nΓ£o funcionam bem. Vamos substituΓ­-las.
TheseΒ pensΒ don’t work well. Let’s change them.

Take a look at MoisΓ©s’ explanation to understand it better:

Object Pronouns -no, -na, -nos, -nas

Example of direct object pronouns in Portuguese: Visitaram o bairro da Urca. Visitaram-no

TheΒ pronounsΒ no, na, nos, nas, are usually seen after a verb that ends with the letterΒ -m, which has beenΒ conjugated. And they do the same thing as all the others above: replace the noun that youβ€˜ve already mentioned – to avoid repeating yourself.

Example of direct object pronouns in Portuguese: Personal pronouns No and Na. VocΓͺ, Ele, Ela, No, Na. VocΓͺs, Eles, Elas, Nos, Nas.

Queria comprar o livro.
Compraram-no ontem. Sinto muito!
I wanted to buy the book.
Someone bought it yesterday. I’m sorry!

Fizeram as tarefas?
Fizeram-nas.
Did they do the tasks?
They did them.

– Eles viram as crianΓ§as na rua?
– Sim, eles viram-nas.
– Did they see the children on the street?
– Yes, they saw them.

Viram-nas, is at the third person ofΒ the plural on the past tense of the verb verΒ (To see),Β and -nas is inΒ reference of the children.Β This M and this N, are usedΒ because of a sound agreementΒ matter,Β sinceΒ it is a nasalΒ sound: M and N. Otherwise it would be viram-as, andΒ it wouldn’t sound very good. So, viram-nas.

– As crianΓ§as comeram a comida?
– Sim, comeram-na.
– Did the children eat the food?
– Yes, they ate it.Β 

Portuguese object pronouns: indirect object

The pronounsΒ me (for me), lhe (for you, him, her), nos (for us), lhes (for them/you or speaking plural), are indirect object pronouns. Remember that the preposition para has a twin that can replace it: a. These pronouns replace personal pronouns or names that depend of a preposition.

Pronouns me e nos

A Dica do Dia. Ela me mostra os legumes.

Me and Nos can also be indirect object pronouns. They replace the pronouns ‘eu’ and ‘nΓ³s’, and usually refer/indicate an indirect action, with verbs that have prepositions in their structure. These pronouns generally come before the main conjugated verb.

JoΓ£o ligou para mim ontem Γ  noite.
JoΓ£o me ligou ontem Γ  noite.
JoΓ£o called me yesterday.

Minha amiga deu um presente de aniversΓ‘rio para mim.
Minha amiga me deu um presente de aniversΓ‘rio.
My friend gave me a birthday gift.

VocΓͺ pode trazer um pouco de Γ‘gua para nΓ³s?
VocΓͺ pode nos trazer um pouco de Γ‘gua?
Can you bring us a glass of water?

Ela vai explicar o problema para nΓ³s.
Ela vai nos explicar o problema.
She will explain toΒ us the problem.

VocΓͺ tem algum problema? NΓ³s, da Rio & Learn, podemos ajudar a vocΓͺ.
VocΓͺ tem algum problema? NΓ³s, da Rio & Learn, podemos lhe ajudar.
Do you have any problems? We, from Rio & Learn, can help you.

O pronome lhe, lhes

Example with Portuguese Object Pronouns: Ela lhe dΓ‘ o livro.

The pronouns lhe e lhes are used to replace the pronouns vocΓͺ(s), ele(s) or ela(s) and they are also intended to promote an indirect action (with verbs that have prepositions in their structure). These pronouns generally come before the main conjugated verb.

JoΓ£o, vou trazer um copo de suco para vocΓͺ.
JoΓ£o, vou lhe trazer um copo de suco.
JoΓ£o, I will bring you a glass of juice.

VocΓͺ precisa explicar para elas o que estΓ‘ acontecendo
VocΓͺ precisa lhes explicar o que estΓ‘ acontecendo.
You need to explain toΒ them what is happening.

VocΓͺ jΓ‘ mostrou os novos produtos aos clientes?Β Sim. Eu jΓ‘ mostrei para eles.
VocΓͺ jΓ‘ mostrou os novos produtos aos clientes?Β Sim. Eu jΓ‘ lhes mostrei.
Did you show the new products to the clients? Yes, I showed them.

Mim in Portuguese

Mim is the object pronoun related to the personal pronoun Eu. We can only use Mim after the verb, and it comes directly after a preposition:

  • Para mim
  • Por mim
  • Em mim
  • De mim
  • Sem mim

Usually, when we use the pronoun mim in Portuguese, it comes at the end of the sentence, so you’ll see that we have a question mark or a period after it. Let’s take a look at some examples:

Examples

Por que estΓ£o todos olhando para mim?
Why is everybody looking at me?

VocΓͺ pode fazer isso por mim?
Can you do it for me?

Quando eu estava pintando a casa, caiu tinta em mim.
When I was painting the house, some paint fellΒ on me.

Ela nΓ£o gosta de mim, mas nΓ£o sei porquΓͺ.
She doesn’t like me, but I don’t know why.

VocΓͺs nΓ£o podem ir para a Lapa sem mim!
You can’t go to Lapa without me!

Comigo in Portuguese

When we use the preposition Com with the pronoun Eu, we must use the contracted form Comigo. The same happens to the pronouns TuΒ and NΓ³s. Take a look:

Com eu Comigo
Com tu Contigo
Com nΓ³s Conosco

 

Examples

VocΓͺ quer danΓ§ar comigo?
Would you like to dance with me?

Oi, Carlos! Preciso falar contigo.
Hi, Carlos! I need to talk to you.

Os alunos sempre vΓ£o as RioLIVE! conosco.
The students always go to RioLIVE! with us.

Gostaria de ir comigo ao cinema?
Would you like to go to the movies with me?

Muito bom estar contigo hoje.
Great being with you today.

Ele deve se encontrar conosco Γ s 9 da manhΓ£.
He should meet us at 9 a.m.

Instead of using Contigo, we can also use Com vocΓͺ, and it will give a more informal idea.Β 
How about we practice a little bit?

Now it’s your turn!

Complete the sentences with the correct object pronoun and tell us if they are direct or indirect objects.

  1. (vocΓͺ) JoΓ£o, eu nΓ£o _______ vi na escola ontem. (_________)
  2. (eu) Marina ______ convidou para sua festa. (_________)
  3. (ela) Magda, eu _______ vi na praia ontem Γ  tarde. (_________)
  4. (nΓ³s) Ele vai ________ trazer um copo de cafΓ©. (_________)
  5. (eles) AmanhΓ£, vamos ________ mostrar a cidade. (_________)
  6. (ele) A polícia _______ tirou todas as informaçáes. (_________)
  7. (eu) Ela ______ deu um livro novo. (_________)
  8. (elas) NΓ³s nΓ£o _______ encontramos na rua. (_________)
  9. (eu) JosΓ© ________ encontrou cedo para a reuniΓ£o. (_________)
  10. (elas) VocΓͺ viu as meninas. NΓ£o. Eu nΓ£o ________ vi. (_________)

One more exercise!

Complete the sentences correctly according to the pronoun and preposition in parentheses:

  1. Eles vΓ£o trabalhar (com) ______.(nΓ³s)
  2. Ele conversa muito (com) ______.(eu)
  3. Ele deu um livro (para) _______.(eu)
  4. Ele vive pensando (em) ____.(eu)
  5. Papai nos ama e faz tudo (por) _______.(nΓ³s)
  6. JoΓ£o tem uma notΓ­cia (para) _______.(nΓ³s)
  7. Minha mãe vai almoçar (com) _________.(nós)
  8. Meu filho precisa (de) ______ para tudo. (eu)
  9. Ela nΓ£o posso sair Γ  noite (sem) ______.(eu)
  10. Eles gostam demais (de) _______.(nΓ³s).
  11. Venha (com) ________ (nΓ³s). Vai ser legal!
  12. Ela nΓ£o fala (com) _______ (eu). NΓ£o sei por quΓͺ.
  13. Ela vai sair (com) ________ (nΓ³s) amanhΓ£ Γ  noite.

That’s it,Β galera!
Now we know a little bit more about object pronouns in Portuguese!

We’ll see each other in the nextΒ Dica.
Hugs!

Ler esta Dica em PortuguΓͺsΒ  Β  Β Leer esta Dica en EspaΓ±ol
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
How to use Lhe in Portuguese
Possessive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns
Indefinite Pronouns

Answers

  1. o – objeto direto
  2. me – objeto direto
  3. a – objeto direto
  4. nos – objeto indireto
  5. lhes – objeto indireto
  6. lhe – objeto indireto
  7. me – objeto indireto
  8. as – objeto direto
  9. me – objeto direto
  10. as – objeto direto

One more exercise: Answers

  1. conosco
  2. comigo
  3. para mim
  4. em mim
  5. por nΓ³s
  6. para nΓ³s
  7. conosco
  8. de mim
  9. sem mim
  10. de nΓ³s
  11. conosco
  12. comigo
  13. conosco