Talk:Personal pronouns in Portuguese

English translations
Please provide appropriate translations for ALL the sample sentences. It's only proper.

Could be a part of another page
This could probly be a part of another page or something, is this really an encyclopedia article? Ultrarob 02:23, Jun 3, 2004 (UTC)
 * yes, the problem is that there is barely any information on portuguese grammar, this is a kind of an island. But I hope that, as more articles regarding portuguese grammar are added they can be organized in a structure similar to a grammar book. For instance, this article could be under Pronouns, which could be under Morphology. --Cataphract 20:43, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)


 * has everyone that s--Cataphract 02:59, 31 January 2007 (UTC)peaks Portuguese these "personal pronouns" are an hard task. thx Cataphract. -Pedro 16:47, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Reversed headings?
In tha "Table of Personal Pronouns" under "Indirect Complement", I think the "With" and "Without" are reversed. Any native speakers know? Nelson Ricardo 08:08, Aug 28, 2004 (UTC)
 * It is right now. José San Martin 00:08, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

Closed deletion listing
This article was listed for deletion on 10 April, 2005. The discussion was closed with the result of keep. This article will not be deleted. You can view the discussion, which is no longer live: Votes_for_deletion/Portuguese_verb_conjugation. --Tony Sidaway|Talk 15:06, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Brazilian usage
Perhaps we should expand/modify the Portuguese pronouns article to cover colloquial/regional use both in Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, and to highlight the differences between modern and classical Portuguese. For example, the pronoun chart in classical Portuguese was:

http://meuprimeiroemprego.net —Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.21.179.106 (talk) 20:45, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

In modern colloquial European Portuguese, the chart above is modified however to (differences emphasized):

Finally, for modern Brazilian Portuguese, one could propose the following chart (with important remarks below):

Important Remarks about Brazilian usage


 * 1) 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, Eng. "I saw them on the beach yesterday"). The standard written variants -lo(s) and -las (used after an infinitive ending in 'r') are  more frequent though in the colloquial speech of educated Brazilians, 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.
 * 2) The classical Portuguese 2nd-person pronoun 'tu' is retained only in certain regional BP dialects, most notably gaúcho. Dialects that retain 'tu' also use accordingly 'te', 'ti', 'contigo', and the possessive 'teu'. In General Brazilian Portuguese (as heard for example on national TV), 'te' is  still frequently used both as a direct object (alternating with 'você') and as an indirect object (alternating with 'para você'). 'Tu', 'contigo' and 'teu' are however relatively rare in General Brazilian, although they occur occasionally in the speech of Rio de Janeiro and, much less frequently, in São Paulo. The use of -(l)o, -(l)a, etc. replacing 'você' as direct objects is restricted mostly to the written language (in particular, movie subtitles) although it occurs frequently in a few fixed expressions like prazer em conhecê-lo ("pleased to meet you") or Posso ajudá-lo ? ("May I help you ?)
 * 3) The 'você' (subj.)/'te' (obj.) combination, e.g. Você sabe que eu te amo, is a well-known peculiarity of modern General Brazilian Portuguese and is similar in nature to the 'vocês (subj.)/'vos' (obj.)/ 'vosso' (poss.) combination found in modern colloquial European Portuguese. Both combinations would be condemned though by presciptive school grammars based on the classical language.
 * 4) In standard Portuguese (both in Brazil and in Portugal), 'você' and 'vocês' are always accompanied by third-person verb forms (e.g. você é, vocês são), whereas tu requires second-person verb forms (e.g. tu és). However, in "tuteante" BP dialects like gaúcho, tu may be accompanied by third-person verb forms, e.g. tu é, tu bebeu vs. standard tu és, tu bebeste. That particular usage is considered substandard (ungrammatical) by most Brazilian speakers whose dialects do not include tu (e.g. "paulistanos").
 * 5) When addressing older people or hierachical superiors, modern BP speakers often replace 'você' and 'vocês' by the expressions O(s) senhor(es) and A(s) senhora(s), which also require third-person verb forms and third-person object/reflexive/possessive pronouns. '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 mãe, o engenheiro, o doutor, etc.
 * 6) Due to the use of 'seu(s)', 'sua(s)' as the preferred 2nd-person possessive pronouns in most of Brazil, '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 está o seu carro ("Where is your car ?) vs. Onde está o carro dele ?  ("Where is his car ? "). 'Seu'/'Sua' as 3rd-person possessive pronouns are still frequent though, especially in narrative language, when ambiguity can be generally solved from the context, e.g. O candidato Geraldo Alckmin apresentou ontem a sua proposta para aumentar a geração de empregos no Brasil ("Candidate Geraldo Alckmin presented yesterday his proposal to increase job creation in Brazil").
 * 7) '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 violência policial ("Protesters brought (wood)sticks and stones with them to protect themselves against police brutality"), or  Os políticos discutiam entre si o que fazer diante da decisão 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 vocês 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 você', nor can consigo ordinarily replace com você.
 * 8) The use of 'lhe' as a 2nd-person indirect object is actually rare in General BP, where 'lhe' is often replaced  as  noted above by 'te' or, alternatively, para 'você'. "Lhe-ísmo", i.e. the use of 'lhe' not only as a common 2nd-person indirect object (e.g. eu lhe disse que [...], Eng. "I told you that [...]"), but also as a 2nd-person direct object (e.g. Eu lhe vi na praia ontem, Eng. "I saw you on the beach yesterday") is frequent though in Northeastern Brazilian dialects, especially in Bahia.
 * 9) In standard written BP, it is common to use 'lhe(s)' as a third-person indirect object, e.g. O presidente pediu que lhe dessem notícias da crise na Bolívia. In the colloquial language, 'lhe' in that context is frequently replaced by 'para ele', although educated speakers might use 'lhe' in speech as well.
 * 10) In substandard BP, especially in regional dialects like caipira, object pronouns may be avoided altogether, even in the first person. For example: Ele levou nó(i)s 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.200.177.24.117 00:23, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Hi. Some comments: FilipeS 16:32, 21 June 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) This could also be good material for the Brazilian Portuguese article.
 * 2) You forgot about o senhor/a senhora, etc. It and its variants are actually much more common (and more respectful) in European Portuguese than você.
 * 3) Connosco is spelled with double n in European Portuguese.
 * 4) Vos is not used universally as an object form of vocês in Portugal. You also hear os/as/lhes. Sometimes, the same person will use all four.


 * Thanks for reminding me of the spelling of "connosco". On the use of "o senhor" in EP, see note 5 above. On the "vos" point, I've been monitoring Portuguese TV lately (talk shows, soap operas, etc...) and "vos" seems to be consistently used as the object pronoun corresponding to "vocês". Are "os/as/lhes" used in formal address ? 200.177.16.42 01:42, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

PS: Just out of curiosity, does the 1990 Luso-Brazilian Ortographic Agreement include any proposal to unify the spelling of "connosco"/"conosco" ?


 * 1) Re O senhor: O.K., check.
 * 2) Re Vos: I won't deny that vos is the counterpart of vocês most commonly used for the object of a verb. Nevertheless, you also hear os/as/lhes, sometimes. Plus, according to traditional grammar, os/as/lhes are the preferred forms to use with vocês. By the way, the same kind of comment applies to você (o senhor, etc.) and si.
 * 3) Re Connosco: I don't remember. You can find the text of the agreement in here. FilipeS 21:30, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

P.S. See also Talk: Brazilian Portuguese. FilipeS 22:03, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Mesoclisis
Hi, just wondering how you're gonna say "He will buy it to us." with mesoclisis. Is "Ele comprar-no-lo-á." correct? Thanks. Qrfqr 23:10, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

"convidamo-vos"
I deleted the example "convidamos-vos" from the last paragraph of section "Proclisis, enclisis, and mesoclisis". See -Cataphract 03:07, 31 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Good catch. I didn't know that myself! FilipeS 11:34, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Article losing grammatical focus
I think this article is becoming cluttered with unimportant region by region details on the usage of the pronouns (read the "Tu vs. Você" section to know what I'm talking about). That should be moved elsewhere. --Cataphract 02:13, 23 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Regional differences between pronoun usage are a fact of life in Portuguese. If you don't know about them, you're not ready to go out into the real world and talk to the natives. I suppose the regional differences could be moved to other articles, such as Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, but then I fear that this article would keep being edited by well-intentioned folks trying to bring the moved regional info back. FilipeS 22:19, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Clarify "never used in Brazil"
The section "Contractions between clitic pronouns" says: "These forms are never used in Brazil."

It is not exactly clear what this sentence refers to - the whole table? Just the lho?

The sentence should clarify this and give an example of European and Brazilian usage.

Thanks in advance. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 21:47, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

A gente
The article says "a gente", as a first-person plural, tends to mean a 'we' that is exclusive (of the second person). Granted it's just a tendency, not a hard rule, but can this tendency be documented? I first heard it in the film Black Orpheus: Chico is alone with Serafina and asks her "O que a gente vai beber?" ('What are you and I going to drink?'). Kotabatubara (talk) 22:16, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Cancel: I found the answer to my own question. Kotabatubara (talk) 22:43, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Movie subtitles
"The use of "-lo", "-la", etc. replacing "você" 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 conhecê-lo" ("Pleased to meet you") or "Posso ajudá-lo?" ("May I help you?)."

Can someone clarify this "in particular, movie subtitles" part - Does this only mean when subtitles (of the Portuguese translation) are put over a non-Portuguese dialogue -lo/-la is used? Surely in films with Portuguese dialogue the subtitles only show written what the actors say, generally você? Wsm1 (talk) 11:53, 8 October 2012 (UTC)bil

---NB please don't anyone else ask for deletion of this page, it is SO useful to me! Wsm1 (talk) 11:55, 8 October 2012 (UTC)bil

Usage of "vós"
"For this reason, many falsely associate the pronoun with solemnity or formality, ignoring that vós is used for plural in the same context as tu is used for singular."

I find this claim out-of-place to say the least. What is "many falsely associate the pronoun with formality" supposed to mean? If native speakers associate a certain word with formality, then that word is formal. The fact that "vós" was originally the plural of "tu" is irrelevant. In modern BP, "vós" is **not** normally used in the same context as "tu" (as the list of examples before that paragraph indicate). Even in the areas where "tu" is used, the plural is still "vocês". Unless there's an explanation and citation for this, I'll erase it. Rcaetano (talk) 04:07, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Portuguese personal pronouns. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20061016063728/http://accurapid.com/journal/13port.htm to http://www.accurapid.com/Journal/13port.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20061219130416/http://www.sonia-portuguese.com/text/pronouns.htm to http://www.sonia-portuguese.com/text/pronouns.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 19:04, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Subject pronouns go with which verb conjugations
Maybe I'm missing it, but on neither this page nor the verb conjugation page does it state clearly which verb forms the subject pronouns você and vocês are used with. I see the sentence "When addressing older people or hierarchical superiors, modern BP speakers often replace você/tu and vocês with the expressions o(s) senhor(es) and a(s) senhora(s), which **also** require third-person verb forms," but the fact that você and vocês use the third-person forms is not stated as its own rule anywhere. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:9000:AC08:A600:594F:5882:E706:9A97 (talk) 21:35, 9 October 2021 (UTC)