Tonic Object Pronouns in Portuguese: Mim, Ti, Si, and More

A solid understanding of Portuguese tonic object pronouns enhances natural and fluent speech. These pronouns follow prepositions and emphasize the object of a sentence. Let’s take a closer look at them.

What Are Tonic Pronouns?

Tonic pronouns in Portuguese (aka as prepositional object pronouns) are used after prepositions such as para (for), com (with), de (of/from), a (to), or por (by). They give extra emphasis to the person or thing receiving the action and look different from atonic object pronouns, which come immediately after or before the verb.

The table below illustrates the typical word order: subject > verb > preposition > tonic object pronoun (TOP).

SUB		PREP.	TOP
eu	VERB	em* de** a sem até por para	mim (me)
tu			ti (you)
você			si (you, formal)
ele, ela			ele, ela (him, her) * nele, nela ** dele, dela
nós			nós (us)
vocês			vocês (you)
eles, elas			eles, elas (them) * neles, nelas ** dele, dela

Here are a few examples:

Eu tenho algo para ti.
I have something for you.

Tu não conseguias viver sem mim, pois não?
You couldn’t live without me, could you?

Eu não acredito nela. (em + ela)
I don’t believe her.

Ela sacrificou-se por vocês.
She sacrificed herself for you.

Eu não me lembro de si! (formal)
I don’t remember you!

Eles vieram até nós para falar connosco e nos conhecer.
They came to us to talk to us and get to know us.

Eu enviei-te a mensagem a ti.
I sent the message to you.

Notice that the last example includes two object pronouns: an atonic pronoun (te) placed immediately after the verb, and a tonic pronoun (ti) following a preposition. Both mean ‘you,’ and this illustrates the emphatic use of tonic pronouns (Enviei-te a mensagem would suffice).

The preposition com is somewhat unique in this context, as it merges with tonic pronouns (except for the third person):

SUB		COM + TOP
eu	VERB	comigo (with me)
tu		contigo (with you)
você		consigo (with you, formal)
ele, ela		com ele, com ela (with him, with her)
nós		connosco (with us)
vocês		convosco (with you)
eles, elas		com eles, com elas (with them)

Here are a few examples:

Queres ir comigo ao cinema?
Do you want to go with me to the cinema?

Ela veio connosco no comboio.
She came with us on the train.

Eu gosto de estar com eles.
I like to hang out with them.

Notice that consigo often indicates reflexive meaning (it points back to the subject). Compare these two sentences:

Eu posso ir consigo ao supermercado. (formal, as opposed to contigo)
I can go with you to the supermarket.

Ele levou os documentos consigo. (reflexive meaning)
He took the documents with him.

And that’s it! Now you know the basics of tonic pronouns in Portuguese. With practice, using forms like mim, ti, si, and others will feel natural. Stay tuned and keep practicing!