Portuguese made easy - indirect pronouns
What you need to know about indirect pronouns (how to say "to me, to you, to him, to her, to it, to us , to you, to them" etc)
1) Use indirect pronouns (see chart below) when you want to say "to him / to her / to them" etc
2) indirect pronouns are very common after the following verbs:
English |
Portuguese |
Give Write Send show Ask Say / tell Telephone / call / ring lend |
Dar Escrever Enviar / mandar Mostrar Perguntar / pedir Dizer / contar Telefonar emprestar |
(Notice that in english we often leave out the "to": I gave the book to him; I gave him the book!)
3) Study (and memorize!) the following tables:
Singular |
English Indirect object pronoun |
Portuguese Indirect object pronoun |
Alternative |
(to) me |
-me |
para mim |
|
(to) you (familiar) |
-te |
para ti |
|
(to) you (formal) |
-lhe |
para si |
|
(to) him |
-lhe |
para ele |
|
(to) her |
-lhe |
para ela |
|
(to) it* |
- |
- |
*Because all words in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine there is no specific word for "it". Use "him" or "her" instead.
Plural |
English |
Portuguese |
Alternative |
(to) us |
-nos |
para nós |
|
(to) you (more than 1 person) |
-vos |
para vós |
|
(to) them (masculine)* |
-lhes |
para eles |
|
(to) them (feminine) |
-lhes |
para elas |
1) Word Order
Pronouns normally come after the verb - just like in English. Always use a hyphen.
Eu escrevi-lhes uma carta. (I wrote them a letter / I wrote a letter to them)
Eles mandaram-me um e-mail. (They sent me an e-mail / They sent an e-mail to me)
Pronouns come before the verb however
1) in negative sentences
Eu não lhes escrevi uma carta (I didn't send them a letter)
Eles não me mandaram um e-mail (They didn't send me an e-mail)
2) when there is a question word (eg who, when, how, which, what etc)
Quando lhe deu o livro? (When did you give the book?)
3) after certain adverbs
Eu já lhe perguntei (I already asked him)