Língua Portuguesa – Unidade 1 3.11.

2021

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Before reading this document, please watch the video I’ve uploaded on Moodle, you can also
find it there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE3gXZFDLyY

Singular English Portuguese

I eu
you (familiar) tu
you (semiformal) você
you (formal) o senhor / a senhora
he ele
she ela
it* -

Because all words in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine there is no specific word for "it". Use the
name of the object instead.

Plural English Portuguese

we nós
you (more than 1 person, vocês
informal)
you (more than 1 person, os senhores /
formal) as senhoras
they (masculine)* eles
they (feminine) elas

* 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 boy the group is regarded as masculine.

Something to remember about personal pronouns

The Portuguese very often don't use them. This is because, like in Serbian, in Portuguese the actual verb
contains the information needed to tell you who is doing what. So, in English if you say: "speak English",
you don't know if it is "I speak English", "you speak English" or "we speak English". In Portuguese, like
in Serbian, if you say: "falo inglês”, it can only mean "I speak English" (“govorim engleski”). So, it is not
necessary to say the personal pronoun all the time.

Compare the following:

Nós falamos inglês = We speak English.
Falamos inglês = We speak English (here the pronoun "nós" is omitted).
Língua Portuguesa A1.2 – Unidade 1 3.11.2020

How to say "you"

In English we use "you", very economically, for everyone - whether it is your husband, your child, your
boss, a group of friends or a group or strangers we are referring to.

Brazilian Portuguese is pretty similar to English. Brazilians use “você” (singular) and “vocês” (plural) for
everyone. In European Portuguese the situation is a bit more complex.

1) For family and friends, the more familiar form "tu" is used.

2) In situations where they don't know the name of the person (asking directions, talking to people in a shop
etc.) they'll say " Mr.” - o senhor - or “Madam" - a senhora - or the plural form: os senhores / as senhoras.

3) The European Portuguese is also very fond of using the name of the person being addressed instead of
using "you" in very formal situations, when you we know the person’s name. So, instead of saying to
Alex “Você gosta de futebol?” (do you like football) or “O senhor gosta de futebol?” (Do you like
football, sir?) we Portuguese would say: “O Alex gosta de futebol?” (Does Alex like football?).