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Portuguese made easy - object (direct) pronouns

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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)

 

 

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