Now we’ll look at some ways to add emphasis and clarity when using tonic pronouns in European Portuguese.
In practice, the context will usually be enough to resolve any confusion, but it’s important to know how to make yourself clear.
Adding Próprio or Mesmo
When using a tonic pronoun reflexively (meaning it refers back to the subject of the sentence), you can add próprio or mesmo for emphasis:
- Fiz isto a mim → Fiz isto a mim próprioI did this to myself (masc.)
- Fiz isto a mim → Fiz isto a mim própriaI did this to myself (fem.)
- Fizeste isto a ti→ Fizeste isto a ti próprioYou did this to yourself
- Fizemos isto a nós→ Fizemos isto a nós própriosWe did this to ourselves
- Fizeram isto a vocês→ Fizeram isto a vocês mesmosYou did this to yourselves
This is especially important when using si and consigo to refer to himself/herself/itself/themselves:
- Ele falou de si → Ele falou de si próprioHe talked about himself
- Ele está preocupado consigo → Ele está preocupado consigo mesmo.He's worried about himself.
- Ela desenhou-se a si → Ela desenhou-se a si própriaShe drew herself
Otherwise, without more context, most would assume these meant He talked about you / He’s worried about you (você), as that’s the more common usage nowadays.
Doubling Up
It’s common to use both clitic pronouns and tonic pronouns together to add emphasis or clarity.
For example, to indicate an indirect object in a sentence, you could use just a clitic pronoun, just a tonic pronoun, or both. The choice often comes down to what sounds most natural, rather than explicit rules:
- tonic pronoun only: Ele não disse isso a mim.He didn't say that to me. – Correct, but less natural
- clitic pronoun only: Ele não me disse issoHe didn't say that to me. – Much more common to hear this version
- both: Ele não me disse isso a mim.He didn't say that to me. – Adding “a mim” adds emphasis (e.g. if you found out a friend said two different things to you and someone else, and you want to clarify).
The clitic carries the basic meaning, and the tonic pronoun reinforces it. The same idea applies in other contexts, too, such as these reflexive examples:
- Desenhei-me → Desenhei-me a mimI drew myself
- Desenhaste-te → Desenhaste-te a ti (mesmo) You drew yourself
- Desenhámo-nos → Desenhámo-nos a nós (próprios) We drew ourselves
Other times it’s genuinely necessary to use both to avoid ambiguity. This is especially the case with the clitic pronoun lhe, which (as we’ll explore more later) can refer to ele, ela, or você. Adding a ele, a ela, or a si makes it clear who you’re referring to. For example:
- O Pedro não lhe disse nada → O Pedro não lhe disse nada a elePedro didn't say anything to him
- Eu entreguei-lhe o envelope → Eu entreguei-lhe o envelope a eleI gave the envelope to him
- O médico receitou-lhe este remédio → O médico receitou-lhe a si este remédio?The doctor prescribed this medicine to you?
- O João disse-lhe isso → O João disse-lhe isso a siJoão said that to you
Comments
Can you explain please what mesmo and próprio mean and are they always paired in the same way ; mesmo with consigo and próprio with si?
Olá 🙂 In this context, you shouldn’t think of mesmo and próprio as having a specific meaning per se; they work together with the preceding pronoun to emphasize who the subject is or that the action is reflexive. Both words also have other unrelated uses, so you do have to keep context in mind when looking at them. Those pairings aren’t fixed; the two words are typically interchangeable.
Olá! Couldn’t you also say “O médico receitou este remédio a si”? What does the “-lhe” add?
Muito obrigado! Estou a aprender bastante!
Olá, Eric. Yes, in that sentence, you can omit the “-lhe” or, in alternative, omit the “a si”. As the learning note describes, they are used together for emphasis and clarity, but it is not mandatory 🙂
Can you explain why
They care about us is
Eles preocupam-se connosco
while They think about us is
Eles pensam em nós
Olá, Peter. Verbs may have different requirements for prepositions and clitic pronouns. So, while the verb preocupar usually asks for the preposition com (connosco = com + nós), the verb pensar comes with the preposition em instead. Verbs such as gostar ask for the preposition de. And so on. It does take some memorization to get used to all these different patterns.
And why does the first example require -se after the verb while the second one does not?
Olá, Peter. That’s because the verb preocupar is used reflexively and pensar isn’t. More on reflexive verbs here (I think you’ve already seen this, in the meantime): Reflexive Pronouns
Yes, I’m there now. Scary stuff! Amazingly, after studying French for many years in school, the concept of reflexive verbs and clitic and tonic pronouns was never covered. I checked and these same concepts exist in French, which makes me realize just how poor my French classes were. You guys should adapt your site for other languages! 🙂
Are “entre si” and “um com o outro” interchangeable?
Yes, between two people, we can use both interchangeably 🙂
HI,
Why do you use de in “Ele falou de si” and em in ” O Joao falou em nos”? Or can both be used to say to “talk about”?
Thanks
Olá! The verb falar accepts different pairings: falar de, falar sobre, falar em.
They’re mostly interchangeable, although sometimes we might prefer one over the other just due to common usage patterns set over time. Some cases below:
– Sometimes “falar em” can imply that the topic of conversation was incidental or brief.
Example: Por falar em filmes, viste o novo lançamento da Marvel? [Speaking of movies, did you watch the latest Marvel release?]
– “Falar de” is a usual preference when we refer to talking negatively about someone (but this preposition can still be used neutrally anyway).
Example: Porque é que estás a falar dele assim? [Why are you talking about him like that?]
– To refer to the main topic of a conversation/presentation/etc, “falar sobre” and “falar de” are preferred over “falar em”.
Example: Precisamos de falar sobre a Joana. [We need to talk about Joana.]
Olá. With “O médico receitou-lhe a si este remédio?”, why is it clear whom we’re talking about? Couldn’t it also be “the doctor prescribed this medicine to her”? Obrigado!
Without the emphasis of “a si”, -lhe could mean her, him or you (sing. formal) without context! Adding “a si” it makes it clear that the subject is you (sing. formal). Here “a si” means “to you”! Never “to her” or “to him”. In that case would be “a ela” or “a ele”, respectively.
Aha! Muito obrigado!
Surely it should be:
‘Eles trouxeram o gato com eles’, not ‘…consigo. as it is ‘with them’?
My wife agrees with me – e ela é portuguesa!
Olá! Grammatically speaking, both versions are possible. As noted in the Learning Note, ‘consigo’ can be used as a 3rd-person reflexive pronoun, whether singular or plural. However, it is true that this won’t sound very natural in every sentence or for every speaker. In fact, the use of the plural ‘consigo’ seems to be more restricted to formal language nowadays. There’s also a tendency to place this pronoun right after the verb, rather than after the object — that is, “Trouxeram consigo [X]” seems more common than “Trouxeram [X] consigo”.
I’m sorry but looking at the learning notes I can’t find the pronoun ‘si’ before this one. I am sure I am missing something obvious but when does se become si?
“Se” and “si” are similar, but distinct pronouns. “Si” must be used after a preposition, while “se” connects directly to a verb conjugation (either before or after it). “Se” is always reflexive or pseudo-reflexive, while “si” can also refer to other persons, as discussed above. In reflexive contexts (for actions that the subject applies to themselves), either pronoun might be used, as long the sentence is worded accordingly. For example:
– “Ele deu-se permissão para fazer isto” – He gave himself permission to do this. (no preposition between verb and ‘se’)
– “Ele deu a si mesmo permissão para fazer isto” – He gave himself permission to do this. (preposition ‘a’ between verb and ‘si’. FYI, ‘mesmo’ is discussed in the learning note about Reflexivity with Tonic Pronouns)
It’s amazing how such a ‘simple’ subject gives arise to so many subtle differences and ways of saying similar things. For me, I would like to see another module on this subject as there are so many permutations to appreciate and understand; as for me the lesson material on its own needs all these comments above to make some sense of it all. Thanks again.