Pronoun placement: before or after the verb?
Where do object pronouns go? Brazil usually puts them before the verb (Ele me disse), Portugal after it with a hyphen (Ele disse-me). Some words pull the pronoun before the verb in both varieties.
| situation | both varieties | example |
|---|---|---|
| after não, nunca, ninguém, nada | before the verb | Não me lembro. Nunca a vi. |
| after question words | before | Quem te disse? |
| after que and other conjunctions | before | Espero que se divirta. |
| after já, ainda, também, só, tudo, todos | before | Já o vi. Tudo se resolveu. |
| start of sentence | Portugal: after; Brazil: before in speech | Dá-me (PT) / Me dá (BR) |
| future and conditional (formal) | inside or before, never after | Dir-te-ei (PT) / Te direi (BR) |
Compound tenses and infinitives
- With ter + participle the pronoun goes with ter, never after the participle: Ela o tinha visto / Ela tinha-o visto.
- With an infinitive, Brazil often puts the pronoun before the infinitive (vou te ligar), Portugal after (vou ligar-te).
- In formal Brazilian writing, a sentence does not begin with a pronoun: Diga-me, not Me diga.
- Mesoclisis (inside the verb: dar-lhe-ei) is formal written Portuguese, rare in Brazil.
Examples
- Ele me contou tudo. / Ele contou-me tudo.He told me everything.
- Não se preocupe.Don’t worry.
- Quando nos vemos?When shall we meet?
- Eu já lhe expliquei.I’ve already explained it to you.
- Ela o tinha convidado.She had invited him.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Quem disse-te isso?✓ Quem te disse isso?Question words pull the pronoun before the verb in both Brazil and Portugal; English always puts the object after the verb.
- ✗ Espero que lembre-se de mim.✓ Espero que se lembre de mim.After que the pronoun goes before the verb in every variety; English keeps the object after the verb, which pulls se to the wrong side.
- ✗ Já vi-o ontem.✓ Já o vi ontem.já is one of the adverbs that pull the pronoun before the verb, even in Portugal where after-verb placement is otherwise normal.
- ✗ Tudo resolveu-se bem.✓ Tudo se resolveu bem.Indefinite words like tudo and todos at the start pull the pronoun before the verb in both varieties.
- ✗ Ela tinha visto-o antes.✓ Ela o tinha visto antes.A pronoun never attaches to a participle; English “had seen him” puts the object last, but Portuguese ties it to the auxiliary ter.