This lesson provides an overview of Portuguese personal pronouns, as well as some notes on their usage. As in English, Portuguese pronouns replace nouns and thus help avoid repetition. Portuguese has six types of pronouns: personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, and indefinite. The personal pronouns themselves fall into five categories depending on their usage: subject, reflexive, prepositional, direct object, and indirect object.

 

Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns take the place of the subject of a sentence. They are among the most frequently used personal pronouns.

Subject Pronoun	English Equivalent
eu	I
você/tu	you
o senhor/a senhora	you (formal)
ele/ela	he/she/it
nós/a gente	we
vocês	(all of) you
eles/elas	they

Tu introduces a new verb form. While tu is common in Brazilian Portuguese, it is rarely used in most other regions/dialects. A senhor and a senhora are used formal situations and when addressing your elders or superiors. A gente is an colloquial pronoun used in informal speech. Despite meaning “we,” it takes a singular verb. Elas, the feminine plural of “they,” is used only to replace feminine plural nouns.

 

Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun follows a reflexive verb, that is to say a verb whose action refers back to the subject. A few things to keep in mind: First, a Portuguese reflexive verb may not translate to a reflexive verb in English. So there are situations in Portuguese where reflexive pronouns need to be included where they would not be in English. Second, a reciprocal action that refers to two or more people is equivalent to saying “each other” in English. Finally, it is common to place the reflexive pronoun before the verb in Brazilian Portuguese.

Reflexive Pronoun	English Equivalent
me	myself
se	yourself/himself/herself/itself
nos	ourselves/each other
se	yourselves/themselves/each other

Prepositional Pronouns

These are used in combination with prepositions. Some prepositional pronouns are contractions of a pronoun and a preposition (see below). Note that si and consigo are normally used in only written Portuguese.

Prepositional Pronoun	English Equivalent
mim	me
ti	you
você	you
o senhor/a senhora	you
ele/ela	him/her
si	him/he/it/you [general]
nós	us
vós	(all of) you
vocês	(all of) you
os senhores/as senhoras	(all of) you
eles, elas	them
si	them, (all of) you [general]

The preposition com (with) is combined with many of the prepositional pronouns to form a single word. You must use the contraction in these instances. For example, you cannot say con mi when meaning “with me.” You have to use comigo instead.

Prepositional Pronoun	English Equivalent
comigo	with me
contigo	with you
com você	with you
com o senhor/com a senhora	with you
com ele, com ela	with him/with her
consigo	with him/with her/with you [general]
connosco (Brazil = conosco)	with us
convosco*	with (all of) you
com vocês	with (all of) you
com os senhores/com as senhoras	with (all of) you
com eles/com elas	with them
consigo	with them/with (all of) you [general]

* archaic

 

Direct Object Pronouns

As in English, direct object pronouns replace the direct object of the sentence. They help to add variety to sentences and avoid repetition. Direct object pronouns are normally place before the verb in Brazilian Portuguese. Note that lo, la, los, and las are used after the infinitive form of a verb.

Direct Object Pronoun	English Equivalent
me	me
o/a/lo/la/te	you
o/a/lo/la	him/her/it
nos/a gente	us
os/as/los/las	(all of) you
os/as/los/las	them

Indirect Object Pronouns

Like direct object pronouns, these take the place of indirect objects in a sentence. Also like direct object pronouns, they usually come before the verb in Brazilian Portuguese.

Indirect Object Pronoun	English Equivalent
me	me
para mim	to/for me
lhe/te	you
para você	to/for you
lhe	him
para o senhor/para a senhora	to/for you
lhe	him
para ele/ela	to/for him/her
nos	us
para nós	to/for us
lhes	(all of) you
para vocês	to/for (all of) you
lhes	them
para eles/elas	to/for them