In today’s episode you’ll learn about a very important preposition — “com”, which means “with” in Portuguese. “Com” can be tricky because of how it combines with personal pronouns. For example, you can’t say “com mi” ❌. You have to say “comigo” ✅ – “with me”. Some pronouns take on a new form like this […]
“With” In Portuguese – How To Use It Correctly
Basic Portuguese Grammar
This Learning Note was designed to serve as a very condensed overview of basic Portuguese grammar. We hope this will help give you a “big picture” view of the language before you dive into the details. You’ll notice there are many links throughout, in case you want to explore a particular topic, or bookmark it […]
Gostos Semelhantes
Similar Interests
Rita realizes that she has quite a bit in common with Marcelo’s siblings! Listen for lots of possessive pronouns and possessive determiners throughout their conversation.
Relative Pronouns
This unit will cover relative pronouns in Portuguese. Relative pronouns are used to connect a dependent clause to the main clause of a sentence. A dependent clause refers to someone or something mentioned previously. The relative pronoun establishes a relationship with an antecedent and it’s that relation that allows us to understand who or what […]
Verb Phrases & Clitic Pronouns
In our unit on clitic object pronouns in Portuguese, we discussed where to place clitics within a sentence. More specifically, we talked about whether the clitic goes before the verb, after the verb, or in the middle of the verb. When auxiliary verbs get involved, there are now 2 verbs, so the rules change a […]
Dia de Praia
Beach Day
Luísa and Gaspar make plans for the weekend. Listen for how tonic pronouns are used throughout their conversation.
Asking Questions in Portuguese
Yes/No Questions in Portuguese There are a number of different ways to form questions in Portuguese. We’ll start with those for which the answers are either affirmative or negative. These are the easiest Portuguese questions to ask because very few changes have to be made to turn a statement into a question. 1. Add a […]
The Pronouns Si & Consigo
Grammatically speaking, the pronouns si and consigo belong to the 3rd person subjects: ele(s)/ela(s). This is because they were initially only used as reflexive pronouns*, which are pronouns that refer to the same subject or thing as the verb. For example: The sentence above is still correct and wouldn’t be confusing because the context makes […]
Using Tonic Pronouns with Prepositions
In this Learning Note, we’ll explore each tonic pronoun and see some examples of how it is used along with different prepositions. As you will see, certain prepositions change the form of the pronoun, especially . Summary Before we explain each pronoun in detail, here’s a quick overview. This chart shows each individual tonic pronoun […]
Introduction to Tonic Pronouns
Personal pronouns can be classified according to how they are used within a sentence. There are clitic pronouns (), which are unstressed, and tonic pronouns (), which are stressed. This learning note will serve as an introduction to tonic pronouns in Portuguese, however, let’s first see an overview of all the personal pronouns in order […]
Determiners vs. Pronouns
To master Portuguese, it is essential that we tackle determiners. As you may recall, we have already learned about a few types of determiners in previous units, such as articles, possessives, and demonstratives. So this will be a good opportunity to review, as well as to be introduced to some new types. In this unit, […]
Clitic Pronouns: Nos & Vos
In this lesson we’ll explore two more clitic object pronouns in Portuguese, nos and vos. A quick reminder: With 1st person plural verbs that end in s, such as vamos, the s is dropped before adding the pronoun nos. For example: vamos + nos = vamo-nos, as in Nos Nos corresponds to us or to/for us, […]
Reflexive Pronouns
Portuguese reflexive verbs are formed by adding the reflexive pronouns me, te, se, or nos. When the direct object or indirect object represents the same person or thing as the subject of the verb, it’s expressed by a reflexive pronoun. In other words, we use reflexive pronouns when the action is something one does to […]
Clitic Pronouns: Me & Te
In this lesson we’ll explore the first two clitic object pronouns in Portuguese, me and te. A few quick reminders: No hyphens are required if they’re proclitics (placed before the verb) 2 hyphens are required if they’re mesoclitic (placed between two parts of verb) 1 hyphen is required if they’re enclitics (placed after the verb) […]
Merging Clitic Object Pronouns
In Portuguese, when we use a verb that asks for both a direct and indirect object (and the objects are known, i.e. we’re aware of what/who they are), we can create a contraction by combining the third person direct object pronoun with the indirect object pronoun. Sounds complicated, we know. Let’s see a practical example… […]
Clitic Pronouns: 3rd Person
In this lesson we’ll explore 3rd-person clitic object pronouns in Portuguese. We saved these for last because they are a little bit more complicated. Unlike the others we’ve practiced so far in the Clitic Pronouns unit, there are different forms depending on whether it’s a direct or indirect object pronoun. (Visit the introduction learning note […]
Clitic Pronouns: Direct & Indirect Objects
are one of the trickiest subjects to learn and master in Portuguese. But don’t despair — we’re here to help! Throughout these lessons you’ll learn how to use clitic object pronouns correctly, but first you should understand more about the difference between direct and indirect objects. The objects of a sentence can be represented in various […]
Object Pronouns in Portuguese
In this lesson, we’ll have a look at direct and indirect object pronouns in Portuguese. These fall into the category of , along with reflexive pronouns, which we will cover separately, but which follow many of the same rules. Keep in mind that we are focusing on how to use object pronouns in European Portuguese, as […]
The Imperative
When someone yells or a doctor says , there’s one thing they’re doing in common: using the mood! There are 2 types of imperatives in Portuguese: the affirmative and the negative, shown below respectively. In these examples, the speaker is talking to multiple people, i.e. using the vocês (you – plural) form. Regular Verbs in […]
As Manhãs do Tiago
Tiago's Mornings
Tiago makes his father’s life difficult as he gets ready for school in the morning. Hugo finally finds a way of motivating him to cooperate.
When to Use Dele/Dela vs. Seu/Sua
Dele vs seu? When forming 3rd person possessives in European Portuguese, how do we decide when to use dele, dela, deles, delas vs. seu, sua, seus, suas? Possessives formed with de are less ambiguous: they agree strictly with the subject, not with the object. In contrast, seu and its derivatives agree with the object, so […]
3rd Person Possessives: De + Pronoun
The Ambiguity of Seu, Sua, Seus, and Suas To review, the Portuguese possessive pronouns/determiners for the third-person forms are the following: Subject Possessive Pronoun/Determiner English Equivalent Ele, Ela, Você His, Her/Hers, Your/Yours(formal) Eles, Elas Their, Theirs As you can see, , , , , and all share the same exact possessive determiners! Since the determiners agree with […]
Introduction to Possessives
Possessive Determiners vs. Possessive Pronouns In this unit, we’re going to learn about possessive determiners and possessive pronouns in Portuguese, which both serve the function of expressing possession or ownership of something. In English, these are words like my, your, his, her, their, and our (possessive determiners) and mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, and ours […]
1st and 2nd Person Possessives
Mine, Yours, and Ours Let’s take a closer look at this first group of possessives: meu, teu, nosso and vosso, plus their feminine and plural forms. Subject Possessive Pronoun/Determiner (for masculine nouns) Possessive Pronoun/Determiner (for feminine nouns) Eu Tu Nós Vós, Vocês Gender and Number Agreement Remember that the pronoun/determiner has to agree in gender […]