Appendix:Portuguese pronouns

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Personal pronouns

Portuguese personal pronouns (edit)
Number Person Nominative
(subject)
Accusative
(direct object)
Dative
(indirect object)
Prepositional Prepositional
with com
Non-declining
m f m f m and f m f m f m f
Singular First eu me mim comigo
Second tu te ti contigo você
o senhor a senhora
Third ele ela o
(lo, no)
a
(la, na)
lhe ele ela com ele com ela o mesmo a mesma
se si consigo
Plural First nós nos nós connosco (Portugal)
conosco (Brazil)
a gente
Second vós vos vós convosco, com vós vocês
os senhores as senhoras
Third eles elas os
(los, nos)
as
(las, nas)
lhes eles elas com eles com elas os mesmos as mesmas
se si consigo
Indefinite se si consigo

The Portuguese personal pronouns, show a higher degree of inflection compared to other parts of speech, being the only words that have distinct forms for subject (nominative case), direct object or indirect object, or object of a preposition.

Portuguese personal pronouns are categorized in three main groups: pronomes pessoais do caso reto “nominative case personal pronouns”, pronomes pessoais do caso oblíquo “accusative and dative case personal pronouns” and formas de tratamento “forms of address”.

Caso recto and Caso oblíquo

Most of these can be directly translated as the English words I, me, you, etc.

  • The subject is always before a verb. Due to the high number of verb conjugations, this pronoun can be omitted if superfluous:
    Eu comi arroz ontem.; Comi arroz ontem. — “I ate rice yesterday.”
  • Usually the direct object can be placed after or before a verb. If after, it is joined to the verb by a hyphen. However, there is a different rule when a verb is conjugated in the future indicative: the direct object can be placed before or inside this verb.
    Eu te fiz feliz.; Eu fiz-te feliz. — “I made you happy.”
    Nós te daremos um presente.; Nós dar-te-emos um presente. — “We will give you a gift.”
  • The indirect object is used after a preposition.
    Ela comprou comida para ti. — “She bought food for you.”
    Ele gosta de mim. — “He likes me.”

Formas de tratamento

Portuguese forms of address (edit)
Second-person Vossa Alteza, Vossa Eminência, Vossa Excelência,

Vossa Magnificência, Vossa Majestade, Vossa Mercê,
Vossa Onipotência, Vossa Reverendíssima, Vossa Senhoria

Third-person Sua Alteza, Sua Eminência, Sua Excelência,

Sua Magnificência, Sua Majestade, Sua Mercê,
Sua Onipotência, Sua Reverendíssima, Sua Senhoria

Others
Dom, você, o senhor, a gente

They are often translated as English Your Majesty, Your Highness, etc., with few exceptions.

In many dialects, você is a common variation or complete substitution of tu, te and ti. Verbs taking this as subject are conjugated in third-person singular.

Eu te amo.; Eu amo você. — “I love you.”

In many dialects, vocês is a complete substitution of vós and vos. Verbs taking this as subject are conjugated in third-person plural. Therefore, second-person plural conjugations are almost unknown by many native speakers.

Vocês são os meus melhores amigos. — “You are my best friends.”

In many dialects, a gente is a common colloquial variation of nós and nos. Verbs taking this as subject are conjugated in third-person singular.

Nós vamos para casa.; A gente vai para casa. — “We are going home.”

Personal pronouns and verb forms

Not all personal pronouns are used with verb forms that correspond in number and person. The following table lists which verb forms are used with which personal pronouns:

pronoun person and number
of the pronoun
person and number of
verb forms used with it
example with ser notes
eu first-person singular first-person singular eu sou
nós first-person plural first-person plural nós somos
third-person singular *nós é highly proscribed Brazilian usage
a gente first-person plural third-person singular a gente é
first-person plural *a gente somos highly proscribed Brazilian usage
tu second-person singular second-person singular tu és
third-person singular tu é regional Brazilian usage
você second-person singular third-person singular você é
o senhor, a senhora second-person singular third-person singular o senhor é
vós second-person plural second-person plural vós sois
vocês second-person plural third-person plural vocês são
os senhores, as senhoras second-person plural third-person plural os senhores são
ele, ela third-person singular third-person singular ele é
o mesmo, a mesma third-person singular third-person singular o mesmo é
eles, elas third-person plural third-person plural eles são
os mesmos, as mesmas third-person plural third-person plural os mesmos são

In addition, the second-person singular imperative is sometimes used with você in colloquial usage.

Possessive pronouns

Portuguese possessive pronouns (edit)
Possessor Possessum
Number Person Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
Singular First meu minha meus minhas
Second teu tua teus tuas
Third seu sua seus suas
Plural First nosso nossa nossos nossas
Second vosso vossa vossos vossas
Third seu sua seus suas
Possessive contractions
Possessor
Number Person Masculine (ele) Feminine (ela)
Singular Third dele dela
Plural deles delas

The Portuguese possessive pronouns are translated as the English words my, mine, your, etc.

Portuguese personal pronouns are inflected according to this information:

  • Grammatical number (singular or plural) and person (first, second or third) of the owner.
  • Grammatical number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine) of the thing owned.

Unlike English, there are no distinct words for attributive or other uses. For example, my and mine would be considered identical in Portuguese. However, there is a tendency for omitting articles in attributive context.

Examples:

Hoje é o meu dia de sorte. — “Today is my lucky day.”
A minha namorada é linda. — “My girlfriend is pretty.”
Eu não gosto dos teus filhos. — “I don't like your kids.”
Este cachorro é teu. — “This dog is yours.”

Contractions

The pronouns seu, sua, seus and suas have a high degree of ambiguity: there is no way to know whether they are singular or plural. Additionally, they can be used as second or third person, to agree with tu and você. Usually in dialectal or colloquial contexts, the contractions dele, dela, deles and delas are used in the third person instead.