In Portuguese, when we use a verb that asks for both a direct and indirect object, we can create a contraction by combining the 3rd person direct object pronoun with the indirect object pronoun.
Naturally, this only applies to cases in which the objects are known, i.e. it’s clear from the context of the conversation what/who they refer to.
Let’s see a practical example…
Dei uma prenda à Joana.I gave Joana a gift.
In the sentence above, neither the direct object (uma prenda) nor the indirect object (a Joana) have been replaced by a clitic.
Dei-lhe uma prenda.I gave her a gift.
Now, we’ve replaced the indirect object (a Joana) with the clitic –lhe, while the direct object remains in place.
Dei-lha.I gave it to her.
Finally, both objects have been replaced by clitics. The direct object, a prenda, was replaced by the clitic –a. The indirect object, à Joana, was replaced by the clitic -lhe. Then, the two were merged: -lhe + -a = -lha.
This merger only happens when the direct object is it/them (o, a, os, as). If the direct object is something else, you would just say the pronoun separately.
The table below shows how to make these mergers between indirect object pronouns (me, te, lhe, nos, vos) and 3rd person direct object pronouns (o, a, os, as).
Guide to Merging Pronouns
What about -lhes?
These mergers are not usually done with –lhes. This is because they can easily be confused with the mergers for the singular –lhe, as they’re exactly the same:
So, to minimize confusion, when -lhes is replacing the indirect object, we usually specify the direct object after it. For example, we’d probably say Nós demos-lhes um computador.We gave them a computer. instead of the merged form, Nós demos-lho.
Comments
Hi,
If in the sentence”We gave them a computer.”, we wanted to say “We gave it to them”, would we never shorten the direct object, the computer, or else how could we say that?
Many thanks
Olá Gill!
Just like in English, we could shorten the direct object depending on the context. If so, the phrase “We gave it to them.” could be “Nós demo-lo a eles/elas”, where -lo refers to the computer. Completing it with “a eles” or “a elas” (to them) emphasizes to whom it was given, since saying only “Nós demos-lho.” wouldn’t be so specific. It could be either to him/her or to them.
Cheers,
Luís
Olá Luís,
Thanks for your explanation. Meanwhile, I would like to ask why “Nós demos-lho” and not “Nós demo-lho”
In complemento direto , we omit the s, r, z and add “l” to “a”or “o”. Is it also the “lho” “lha” with the component of complemento direto be omitting the “s” in the end of the verb?
Olá! Ending consonants are only dropped with 3rd-person direct object pronouns 🙂 With indirect object pronouns and with these contracted pronouns (indirect+direct), the consonants are kept. So, we should write ‘demos-lho’.
This may be a silly question, but when merging/ contracting direct and indirect object pronouns in Portuguese, does the indirect pronoun always precede the direct pronoun? Isn’t this the opposite in English? Thanks!
Olá! Yes, in Portuguese, the indirect pronoun is always the ‘backbone’ of the contracted forms, as shown in the table 🙂
This is really helpful. But I have a question. I’ve been learning European Portuguese and this is the information I expected. But I was told by a friend in Brazil that combining the pronouns in everyday speech isn’t very common and they would be more likely to say ‘O deu a mim’. [he gave it to me – where o is a masculine object]. Would you agree with this? Thanks for your help.
It is indeed not very common to merge direct & indirect object pronouns in casual speech. So, combinations such as ‘deu-mo’ (deu-me + o) or “dei-lha” (dei-lhe + a) are unusual. One common way to work around the presence of the two objects (direct & indirect) is to simply omit one of them, if obvious in context. Some examples:
– Ele deu-te o livro? / Sim, ele deu-me. (Did he give you the book? / Yes, he gave it [to me].) -> omitted indirect object
– Ele deu o livro à Sara? / Não, ele deu a mim. (Did he give the book to Sara? / No, he gave [it] to me) -> omitted direct object
We can also, for example, use a clitic pronoun for the direct object and a tonic pronoun for the indirect object:
– Ele deu o livro a quem? / Ele deu-o a mim (Who did he give the book to? / He gave it to me)
That’s pretty much what your friend was suggesting, but their example sounds awkward in European Portuguese. Unless grammatically required in a certain sentence, we would not place the object pronoun before the verb (“…o deu a mim”), but after (“…deu-o a mim”).
Hi,
I’ve been practicing using this app for a year now and I still cannot understand half of the people being recorded on the street for the life of me. It’s either they don’t pronounce the whole phrases, or the sound quality is bad or both.
I don’t know why but there is a huge difference between the studio recording and the people recorded on the street.
Does anyone else feel the same?
The street recordings are meant to demonstrate ‘real-world’ Portuguese – with regional accents, particular pronunciations, and even with the interference of external conditions – which makes them inherently challenging, especially for less trained ears.
These people are mostly random people we approach on the street, so it is really difficult to have them indoors. We understand that this can be frustrating, but we believe it’s an important part of learning a language to be exposed to how it’s spoken in a variety of real-life situations.
I’m sure these videos will gradually feel less challenging to you as you go along! Whenever you’re in doubt, it’s totally OK if you just rely on the audio examples to confirm what is being said. 🙂
I actually love outdoor speakers because that how most people speak and it helps to get familiar with more severe word swallowing. I have not heard many people speak yr staffs excellent pronunciation. It is like trying to understand scottich when you have inly been taught the queens english. But i agree that sometimes the street guys very difficult
Thank you so much for this helpful article! I’ve been looking for a nice, organized table with all these contractions (including with 《-lhes》) for so long!
I had two questions on more specific sentences that I was trying to say in Portuguese:
1) One sentence I wanted to say was, “I think it’s because of the windshield wipers. The rubber must be worn down because all it does is leave streaks *whenever one uses them*.” I translated it as, —Eu acho qur é dos limpa-pára-brisas. A borracha deve estar gasta porque só deixa riscas *sempre que se os usa*.
Is 《se os》correct here? They wouldn’t contract, right? It reminded me of some pronominal constructions that are more commonly heard in Spanish
2) Another time, I was trying to say, from watching a soap opera, that, “She saw them kissing.”
Would it be, — Ela viu-os a beijar.?
Or rather, — Ela viu-os a beijar-se., since I think 《beijar》could also become take the reciprocal pronoun 《se》to mean “kissing each other.”
But then, is the infinitivo impessoal actually incorrect here? Would it be more correct to say, — Ela viu-os a beijarem.?
Or even — Ela viu-os a beijarem-se.?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Muito obrigado!
Olá! You’re welcome – thank you too for the kind words 🙂 Answering your questions:
1) Right, “se os” never contracts. But we wouldn’t use it here. We would say “sempre que [eles] se usam” (whenever they’re used) or “sempre que [eu] os uso” (whenever I use them).
2) Yes, you should add “-se” in this case to indicate the reciprocity. And these two options are equally correct: “Ela viu-os a beijar-se” / “Ela viu-os a beijarem-se”. The impersonal infinitive is fine here because we’ve already previously established that we’re talking about “them”, so the personal infinitive is not required for clarity (but can still be optionally used).
Muito obrigado pelo esclarecimento! 🙂 Bom fim de semana
We are just doing this business in my course and although I accept it is part of the syllabus, what I want to know is how often this construct is used in everyday conversation. I have seen a comment elsewhere that it is rather literary and avoided in idiomatic speech.
Indeed, as also noted in a previous comment of mine in this same Learning Note, these mergers are not commonly used in casual conversation 🙂
Where to place the combined pronouns in negative sentences? In front of the verb ? Is this sentence correct?
Eu comprei-lhe a laranja –> Eu não lha comprei.
Olá 🙂 The sentence is correct – the pronouns come before the verb because the negation attracts them to that position.