Brazilian Portuguese Grammar

Object pronouns and placement rules

Object pronouns
Unstressed		Stressed
Portuguese	English	Portuguese	English	Portuguese	English
me	me	mim	me	comigo	with me
te	you	ti	you	contigo	with you
o, lhe	him	ele	him, it	---------------
a, lhe	her	ela	her, it	---------------
nos	us	nós	us	conosco	with us
vos	you	vós	you	convosco	with you
os, lhes	them	eles	them	---------------
as, lhes	them	elas	them	---------------
Notes: The object pronoun se will be discussed on The word se; *Portuguese pronouns comigo, contigo, conosco* and convosco may be translated into English by using a preposition different than with**.

Things you need to know

1. The unstressed pronouns can be placed before the verb, after the verb or within the verb, whereas the stressed pronouns can only be placed after prepositions:

Próclise (proclitic position) is the name given to the placement of unstressed object pronouns before the verb;
Ênclise (enclitic position) is the name given to the placement of unstressed object pronouns after the verb;
Mesóclise (mesoclitic position) is the name given to the placement of unstressed object pronouns within the verb.

2. When there is ênclise, the unstressed pronouns are always joined to the verb with a hyphen:

Object pronoun	Verb + pronoun	Spelling	Example	Translation
me	dê + me	dê-me	Dê-me um beijo.	Give me a kiss.
te	amo + te	amo-te	Amo-te muito.	I love you very much.
lhe (masc.)	comprei + lhe	comprei-lhe	Comprei-lhe um presente.	I bought him a gift.
lhe (fem.)	enviava + lhe	enviava-lhe	Enviava-lhe mensagens.	I used to send her messages.
nos	conte + nos	conte-nos	Conte-nos a verdade.	Tell us the truth.
vos	ofereço + vos	ofereço-vos	Ofereço-vos a minha lealdade.	I offer you my loyalty.
lhes (masc.)	disse + lhes	disse-lhes	Disse-lhes que dormiria.	I told them I would sleep.
lhes (fem.)	pedi + lhes	pediu-lhes	Pediu-lhes que saíssem da sala.	He asked them to leave the room.
Enclitic pronouns are always joined to the verb with a hyphen.