Portuguese made easy - object (direct) pronouns
What you need to know about object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us , you them etc)
1) Study (and memorize!) the following tables:
rect
Singular |
English |
Portuguese Direct object pronoun |
me |
me |
|
you (familiar) |
te |
|
you (formal) |
o / a |
|
him |
o |
|
her |
a |
|
it* |
- |
Because all words in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine there is no specific word for "it". Use "him" or "her" ("o" / "a") instead.
Plural |
English |
Portuguese |
us |
nos |
|
you (more than 1 person) |
vos |
|
them (masculine)* |
os |
|
them (feminine) |
as |
* A group is always referred to as masculine if there is one masculine word present. So even if there is a group with 500 women and just one small boy the group is regarded as masculine!
1) Word Order
Pronouns normally come after the verb - just like in English. Always use a hyphen.
Can you help me? = Pode ajudar-me?
I bought them = (Eu) comprei-as
But pronouns come before the verb:
1) in negative sentences
2) when there is a question word (eg who, when, how, which, what etc)
3) after certain adverbs
4) always in spoken Brazilian Portuguese (well, almost always).
I didn't see him = não o vi
when did you buy them? = quando as comprou?
I only did it yesterday = só o fiz ontem
Advanced Rules:
-lo, -la, -los, -las
For verbs ending in "r" (very common) or "z" (not so common), remove the final letter of the verb and add an “l” to the -o, -a, -os, -as to make -lo, -la, -los, -las
Levar + os = levá-los (to take them)
Fazer + a = fazê-la (to make it)
Abrir + o = Abri-lo (to open it)
Ela fez + a = Ela fê-la
(Notice that when you take away the letter you have to compensate by adding an accent (acute for “a” and circumflex for “e”). Not necessary for “ir” verbs
Do exactly the same thing if the verb ends in an “s” .
Tu compras + os = Tu compra-los
(Here not necessary to add an accent)
-no, -na, -nos, -nas
After an “m” (for example: they buy = compram) add an “n” to the o, a, os, as to make -no, -na, -nos, -nas
Levam + os = levam-nos (they take them)
Fazem + a = fazam-na (they make it)
Abriram + o = Abriram-no (they opened it)