Portuguese Verb-Pronoun Placement

You have probably noticed that when using reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun placement varies – sometimes comes after the verb, sometimes precedes the verb. The same happens with direct and indirect object pronouns (me, te, lhe, o/a, etc.) or with the impersonal se.

The patterns governing verb-pronoun placement are the same for object and reflexive pronouns and the impersonal se; I will use any of them in the sentence examples below. Read on.

Single Verb

In single-verb sentences, by default, pronouns come after the verb and with a hyphen in between:

Eu deito–me todos os dias pelas 22h.
I go to bed every day at around 10 pm.

Ela deu–lhe um abraço.
She gave him a hug.

However, there are situations where these pronouns swap positions with the verb. In that case, there’s no hyphen in between.

Accordingly, the reversed word order will apply when the verb is preceded by either (1) negative words, (2) question words, (3) subordinating conjunctions and prepositions, (4) adverbs, or (5) indefinite pronouns:

1. Negative words	não, nunca, ninguém, nenhum, nada, jamais, etc.
2. Question words	o que, porque, quanto/a(s), quando, qual/quais, onde, quem, etc.
3. Subordinate conjunctions	que, para, por, porque, se, como, em, de, conforme, etc.
4. Adverbs	ainda, já, sempre, também, talvez, pouco, bastante, muito, tanto, tão, só, lá etc.
5. Indefinite pronouns	tudo, todo/a(s), bastantes, muito/a(s), pouco/a(s), alguém, algo, etc.

Let’s look at a few examples regarding each of the groups above.

1. Negative words

Eu nunca me esqueço de lavar os dentes depois de comer.
I never forget to brush my teeth after eating.

Não se fala doutra coisa por cá.
We don’t talk about anything else here.

2. Question words

(I am using the term “question words” as a simplification; indeed, this group includes pronouns other than interrogative, namely relative pronouns)

Ele sabe bem com quem se mete.
He knows well who he’s messing with.

Como se explica esta situação?
How can this situation be explained?

3. Subordinate conjunctions

Ela veio ao meu casamento para me provocar.
She came to my wedding to tease me.

Se te calas estás a consentir a situação.
If you remain silent, you are consenting to the situation.

Learn more about Portuguese Conjunctions.

4. Adverbs

Ele ainda se queixa de coisas que aconteceram há mais de 20 anos.
He still complains about things that happened more than 20 years ago.

Só me dás problemas.
You give me nothing but trouble.

Learn more about Portuguese Indefinite Pronouns.

5. Indefinite pronouns

Nada se perde, tudo se transforms.
Nothing is lost, everything is transformed.

Alguém se lembra da aula de ontem?
Does anyone remember yesterday’s lesson?

Compound Verb Structure

When the main verb is preceded by an auxiliary verb – ir, começar, querer, poder, conseguir, estar, ajudar, costumar among others – you can place the pronoun (1) after the main verb or (2) after the main verb (the latter might sound more colloquial). It’s up to you.

Here’s an example with the auxiliary verb poder:

(1) Posso ajudar-te amanhã.
(2) Posso–te audar amanhã.
I can help you tomorrow.

However, if the verbs are preceded by any of those words that we’ve covered before – negative words, interrogatives, adverbs, etc. – the pronoun will preferably come first (no hyphen):

Infelizmente, não te posso ajudar amanhã.
Unfortunately, I can’t help you tomorrow.

Importantly! There’s a special case, namely when we use the verb ter as an auxiliary to form Perfect tenses (just like with have in English). In that case, by default, the pronoun should come right after ter (otherwise it will sound off):

Ele tem-se cuidado bem.
He’s taken good care of himself.

Again, if the verbs are preceded by any of those words mentioned before (negative words, interrogatives, etc. ), the pronoun is best placed before the auxiliary:

Ele não se tem cuidado bem.
He hasn’t taken good care of himself.

Futuro/Condicional

With Future and Conditional tenses, we place these pronouns between the stem and the ending of the verb form:

[Futuro]
Abraçar-te-ei quando chegares.
I’ll hug you when you arrive.

[Condicional]
Abraçar-te-ia se estivesses aqui.
I’d hug you if you were here.

Keep in mind that the examples above sound very formal and people usually don’t talk like that. Learn more about it:
Future Tense in Portuguese
Conditional in Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese

The placement of object pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese is somehow more flexible. There’s still a clear tendency to place the pronoun before the verb:

(pt) Lembro-me bem de ti.
(br) Me lembro bem de você.
I remember you very well.

(pt) Apeteceu-lhe um gelado.
(br) Lhe apeteceu um gelado.
He was in the mood for ice cream.

Learn more about How European and Brazilian Portuguese Compare.

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