Pronomes pessoaisPersonal pronouns

Personal pronouns represent the people in discourse and substitute nouns already known in the statement. In Portuguese, they vary according to their function in the sentence, and can mark the subject, direct object, indirect object, reflexivity, and form of address. Correct use also depends on verbal agreement, the preposition that accompanies them, and their placement relative to the verb, a topic related to Pronouns and to the groups of Oblique Pronouns, Reflexive Pronouns and Forms of Address.

The nominative pronouns function as the subject and normally agree with the verb. The first-, second-, and third-person forms are used to indicate who speaks, with whom one speaks, and of whom one speaks. In many varieties, the pronoun tu alternates with you, and you require the verb in the third person.

The unstressed oblique pronouns serve chiefly as direct objects and attach to the verb without a preposition. They vary in form and agree with gender and number in the third person. This group is central to Oblique Pronouns and shows the reduced form of the object in the sentence.

Tonic oblique pronouns appear after a preposition and function as prepositional complements. Thus they appear in structures such as para mim, com ti, and de nós. When the preposition combines with the pronoun, special forms such as comigo, contigo, consigo, conosco and convosco appear.

The pronoun lhe and the plural lhes normally indicate indirect object and substitute complements introduced by a preposition required by the verb. They are frequent with verbs such as dar, oferecer, dizer and responder. The use of lhe does not mark gender; the reference appears in the context of the sentence.

Reflexive pronouns indicate that the action falls on the subject itself. The form appears in the third person and, in constructions with preposition, tonic forms such as para si are used. This usage is directly linked to Reflexive Pronouns.

Forms of address vary according to region and level of formality. Você is very frequent in Brazilian Portuguese and governs the verb in the third person, while tu is common in several areas of European Portuguese and in parts of Brazil, with agreement that can vary locally. Vocês retain the plural and also require a verb in the third person, which brings it closer to the structure of formal and everyday address.

The position of unstressed pronouns relative to the verb can be proclisis, enclisis, or mesoclisis. Proclisis occurs before the verb, enclisis after the verb, and mesoclisis inside the future tense form. In informal speech, proclisis is very frequent, even where the written standard favors enclisis, and European Portuguese preserves normative positions more strongly.

Portuguese frequently allows ellipsis of the subject, that is, an unexpressed subject when the verbal person already identifies it. Therefore, the sentence can begin directly with the verb without loss of clarity. This characteristic helps explain why the nominative case is often implicit in speech and in writing.

The agreement of personal pronouns appears in the opposition between singular and plural and, in the third person, between masculine and feminine. This marking is observed in the nominative pronouns, in the third-person oblique pronouns, and in the forms of address that require a corresponding verb. The relationship between form and function is decisive to avoid ambiguities and to recognize the grammatical person in Demonstrative Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns, Relative Pronouns and Interrogative Pronouns.

Personal pronouns organize reference to the people in discourse and change form according to syntactic function, the preposition, reflexivity, and form of address. The nominative case marks the subject, the unstressed and stressed oblique forms distribute complements; lhe and lhes express indirect object; se and tonic forms indicate reflexivity, and pronominal placement determines the position with respect to the verb. In real use, the choice between tu, você and vocês, as well as the omission of the subject and the combinations with prepositions, depends on the linguistic variety and the level of formality.