Hello people! Today we are going to learn all about Portuguese pronouns.
These words are usually used to avoid repetition or to replace a noun. We have 6 types of pronouns in Portuguese:
- personal
- possessive
- demonstrative
- relative
- interrogative
- indefinite.
Therefore, let’s study them one by one.
Personal Portuguese Pronouns
In Portuguese, we have several types of personal pronouns. Seems a lot? Don’t worry, you’ll get it! The personal pronouns can be subject, reflexive, prepositional, direct or indirect object pronouns.
Subject Pronouns
| Eu | I |
| Você = tu | you |
| Ele/ela | he/she/it |
| Nós = a gente | we |
| Vocês | you |
| Eles | they |
When you are talking to someone and you want to show respect or be more formal (for example with an older person) you can use another personal pronoun: senhor (masculine form) and senhora (feminine form).
As you can see we have two pronouns for the same person: você and tu. To learn more about them, see our Dica about Tu and Você.
We also have two pronouns nós and a gente. Nós is formal and a gente is more informal. Important: When using nós the following verb must be in the plural and when using a gente the following verb must be in the singular form.
Examples with subject pronouns:
A gente quer aprender Português no Rio.
We want to learn Portuguese in Rio.
O senhor quer um copo de água?
Do you want a glass of water?
Reflexive Pronouns
In Portuguese we have reflexive verbs that are used with reflexive pronouns. A verb is reflexive when the action refers to the subject that does the action.
| Me | myself |
| Se (singular) | yourself/himself/herself |
| Nos | ourselves/each other |
| Se (plural) | yourselves/themselves/each other |
When using a reflexive pronoun, it’s better to put it before the verb. If you use the reflexive pronoun after the verb it is more formal.
Examples with reflexive pronouns:
Hoje eu me diverti muito na aula.
Today I had a lot of fun in the class.
Nós nos conhecemos no Rio.
We met each other in Rio.
Prepositional Pronouns
Prepositional pronouns are pronouns that are used with prepositions. Notice that si and consigo are more used in the written form, in other words, they are more formal.
| mim/comigo | me/with me |
| você/si/consigo = tu/ti/contigo | you/with you |
| com ele/ela | him/her |
| com nós/conosco | us/with us |
| com vocês | you |
| com eles/elas | them |
Examples with Prepositional Pronouns
Tudo bem contigo?
Everything is fine with you?
Você quer ir na festa comigo?
Do you want to go to the party with me?
Direct Object Pronouns
The direct object pronouns are usually used to avoid repetition or to replace the direct object of the sentence. In Brazilian Portuguese these pronouns are more used in the written form. They are direct objects because they don’t need a preposition. Important: los and las are used after infinitive form. Also, there are two more direct object pronouns no(s) and na(s), but are rarely used.
| me | me |
| o,a,lo,la = te | you |
| o,a,lo,la | him/her/it |
| nos = a gente | us |
| os,as,los,las | you |
| os,as,los,las | them |
Examples with Direct Object Pronouns
Eu o vi ontem na rua.
I saw him yesterday on the street.
Foi um prazer conhecê-lo.
It was a pleasure to meet you.
Indirect Object Pronouns
Just like the direct object pronouns, these pronouns are used to avoid repetition or to replace a indirect object. In this case, they are indirect because they need a preposition.
| me = para mim | me – to/for me |
| lhe = te = para você | you – to/for you |
| lhe = para ele/para ela | him – to/for him/her |
| nos = para nós | us – to/for us |
| lhes = para vocês | you – to/for you |
| lhes = para eles/para elas | them – to/for them |
Examples with Indirect Object Pronouns
Ele pode te fazer um favor?
Can he do you a favor?
Elas me deram o recado.
They gave me the message.
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns in Portuguese are used to show that someone owns something. They can be either feminine or masculine, singular or plural.
| meu(s)/minha(s) | mine |
| seu(s)/sua(s) = teu(s)/tua(s) | yours |
| dele = seu(s)/ dela = sua(s) | his/his/her/hers/its |
| da gente = nosso(s) | our/ours |
| seu(s) = de vocês | your/yours |
| dele(s) = seu(s) | their/theirs |
Examples with Possessive Pronouns
Qual é o seu nome?
What is your name?
Esta caneta é deles.
This pen is theirs.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns in Portuguese are used to point out/ show something or someone specifically. They can be feminine, masculine or neutral. Important: the neutral form can never be used in the plural. Another important thing to remember: they can be contracted with the prepositions em and de.
| este/s | esta/s | isto | this |
| esse/s | essa/s | isso | this |
| aquele/s | aquela/s | aquilo | that |
O que foi aquilo, Diogo?
What was that, Diogo?
Esta garrafa aqui é minha.
This bottle here is mine.
To learn more about it and all its forms and prepositions read our Dica about Demonstrative Pronouns.
Relative Pronouns
The relative pronouns in Portuguese are used to refer back to an earlier noun or pronoun. Now, pay attention: que (which) is the most used, quem (whom) needs a preposition and cujo/cuja is rarely used and is formal.
| que | o/a qual | os/as quais | which/that |
| onde | no/na qual | nos/nas quais | where |
| de quem | do/da qual | dos/das quais | of whom |
| cujo | cujo/s | cuja/s | whose |
Examples with Relative Pronouns
Onde está o celular dele?
Where is his phone?
Este é o livro que eu te falei.
This is the book that I told you about.
Interrogative Pronouns
Here’s a list of interrogative Portuguese Pronouns and some adverbs often used to make questions.
| como? | how, what |
| que?, o que? | what |
| de que?, em que?, para que? | what about, what about, what for |
| por que? | why |
| qual?, quais? | what/which |
| quem? | who/whom |
| com quem?, de quem?, em quem?, para quem? | with whom, about whom, in whom, to whom |
| onde?, de onde?, para onde? | where, from where, to where |
| quando? | when |
| quanto(s)?, quanta(s)? | how much, how many |
De onde você é?
Where are you from?
Quando ela vai chegar?
When will she arrive?
Indefinite Pronouns in Portuguese
Indefinite pronouns in Portuguese are words used to refer to people or things that aren’t specific. An important difference: there are nouns that are countable in English, but uncountable in Portuguese.
| alguém > ninguém | somebody > nobody |
| algum(ns) > nenhum | some/any > none (masculine form) |
| alguma(s) > nenhuma | some/any > none (feminine form) |
| alguma coisa/algo > nada | something/anything > nothing/anything |
| bastante | a lot |
| cada (um/uma) | every/each one |
| certo(s), certa(s) | certain |
| mais > menos | more > less |
| muito/muita > pouco/pouca | much > little |
| muitos/muitas > poucos/poucas | many > few |
| qualquer, qualquer um/a | any, any one/either one |
| tanto/tanta | so much |
| tantos/tantas | so many |
| tal/tais | such |
| todo/toda | whole/entire |
| todos/todas | every/all |
| tudo | everything |
| uns/umas | some/about |
| vários/várias | several |
Examples with Indefinite Portuguese Pronouns
Você conhece alguém que tenha feito o CELPE-Bras?
Do you know anyone who did the CELPE-Bras exam?
Eu sinto tanta saudade…
I miss you so much.
WOW!
We learned a lot today about Portuguese pronouns, right? Now you can improve your vocabulary with our Portuguese pronouns. So, come to our Facebook Page and comment in any picture something with the pronouns you have just learned.
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Indefinite Pronouns in Portuguese
Portuguese Object Pronouns
Relative Pronouns in Portuguese
Portuguese Personal Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns
