The pronouns of address are used to refer to a person with a specific degree of formality, respect, or familiarity. They function as direct reference to the interlocutor, like Personal Pronouns, but follow their own rules of agreement and register. In Portuguese, the choice of form depends on social relationship, age, hierarchy, and regional variety, in dialogue with the general system of Pronouns.

The most common forms are organized by degree of formality and regional use. Você is the most widespread informal form and typically requires third-person agreement. Tu is the informal second-person form, very productive in Portugal and in several regions of Brazil, while o senhor and a senhora express respect and social distance.

RegiãoRegion	Palavra ou ExpressãoWord or Expression	Definição RegionalRegional Definition	ExemploExample
GeralGeneral	VocêYou (informal)	Forma informal muito usada que pode valer como tratamento genérico e normalmente pede verbo na terceira pessoa.A very common informal form that can function as a generic form of address and typically requires a third-person verb.	Você pode entrar.You may enter.
PortugalPortugal	TuYou (informal)	Forma informal de segunda pessoa, muito frequente na fala cotidiana.An informal second-person form, very common in everyday speech.	Tu sabes a resposta.You know the answer.
BrasilBrazil	O senhorMr.	Forma formal e respeitosa, usada para tratar um homem com deferência.A formal and respectful form, used to address a man with deference.	O senhor poderia esperar.Sir, could you wait?
BrasilBrazil	A senhoraMa'am	Forma formal e respeitosa, usada para tratar uma mulher com deferência.A formal and respectful form, used to address a woman with deference.	A senhora deseja sentar.Ma'am, would you like to sit down?

In very solemn or institutional contexts, one uses Your Excellency and Your Honor, always with respectful reference and hierarchical distance. These forms belong to the elevated register and appear in official communication, speeches, and ceremonial texts. In everyday speech, they are rare, and their use depends on the social function occupied by the person addressed.

IdeiaIdea	ExemploExample
Vossa Excelência exige tratamento cerimonioso e se reserva a autoridades.Your Excellency requires ceremonial treatment and is reserved for authorities.	Vossa Excelência comparecerá à sessão.Your Excellency will attend the session.
Vossa Senhoria aparece em situações formais de respeito institucional.Your Honor appears in formal situations of institutional respect.	Vossa Senhoria deverá assinar o documento.Your Honor should sign the document.
O registro solene marca distância social e reforça protocolo.The solemn register marks social distance and reinforces protocol.	Vossa Excelência decidirá com calma.Your Excellency will decide calmly.

Address pronouns normally require third-person verbs, even when the communicative intention is to address the interlocutor directly. Therefore, 'você poderia' and 'o senhor sabe' follow the expected agreement, while vós, being an archaic and ceremonial form, preserves the second person plural. In many varieties, especially in Brazil, there is mixing between tu and third-person verbs, which shows variation in usage and not a standard rule.

IdeiaIdea	ExemploExample
Você pede verbo na terceira pessoa.You ask for a verb in the third person.	Você gosta de café.You like coffee.
O senhor e a senhora também pedem verbo na terceira pessoa.Mr. and Mrs. also require a third-person verb.	A senhora tem razão.Ma'am is right.
Vós conserva concordância de segunda pessoa do plural.Vós preserves the second-person plural concord.	Vós sois bem-vindos.You all are welcome.
Tu pode aparecer com verbo de terceira pessoa em variedades populares.You can appear with third-person verbs in popular varieties.	Tu vai sair cedo.You are going to leave early.

The pronouns of address can appear before or after the name when they accompany a vocative, and punctuation helps to separate the summons from the rest of the sentence. In direct use, the form of address may appear isolated by commas, which clearly marks the person being addressed. When accompanied by a title and name, these pronouns reinforce the social relation and the degree of formality of the utterance.

IdeiaIdea	ExemploExample
O pronome pode vir antes do nome em chamamento formal.The pronoun can come before the name in formal address.	O senhor Carlos pode entrar.Mr. Carlos may enter.
O pronome pode vir depois do nome com valor de vocativo.The pronoun can come after the name, functioning as a vocative.	Carlos, o senhor pode entrar.Carlos, sir, you may enter.
Vírgulas separam o vocativo do restante da frase.Commas separate the vocative from the rest of the sentence.	Senhora, aguarde um instante.Madam, please wait a moment.
O tratamento acompanha a pessoa e não a função sintática principal.The form of address follows the person, not the main syntactic function.	Doutor Silva, a senhora foi chamada.Dr. Silva, ma'am, you were called.

In Portuguese, it is common to address someone by the professional or honorific title followed by the surname, especially in contexts of respect or formality. Doctor, professor and master can function as forms of address even outside the strict sense of academic rank. The use with a given name is possible, but in many Brazilian contexts it sounds more distant than using the surname.

IdeiaIdea	ExemploExample
Doutor(a) é usado como forma respeitosa de tratamento.Doutor(a) is used as a respectful form of address.	Doutor Almeida, chegou cedo.Dr. Almeida, you arrived early.
Professor(a) pode funcionar como tratamento formal.Professor(a) can function as a formal form of address.	Professora Costa, a turma espera.Professor Costa, the class is waiting.
Mestre pode expressar respeito profissional ou social.Mestre can express professional or social respect.	Mestre João, a encomenda chegou.Master João, the package has arrived.
O sobrenome costuma reforçar distância e formalidade.The surname tends to reinforce distance and formality.	Senhora Pereira, por favor sente-se.Madam Pereira, please take a seat.

With você and other third-person forms of address, possessives also follow third-person agreement, such as seu and sua. Therefore, the system avoids teu and tua when the referent is você, except in very specific regional contexts or in styles that reproduce local speech. This choice connects to the behavior of Demonstrative Pronouns, which also depend on the speaker's point of view.

IdeiaIdea	ExemploExample
Você combina com seu e sua.You combine with seu and sua.	Você trouxe sua pasta.You brought your briefcase.
O senhor também combina com seu e sua.The gentleman also aligns with seu and sua.	O senhor esqueceu seu casaco.Sir, you forgot your coat.
Teu e tua não acompanham você no uso padrão.Teu and tua do not accompany you in standard usage.	Você perdeu seu bilhete.You lost your ticket.
A escolha do possessivo segue o mesmo tratamento usado na frase.The choice of possessive follows the same treatment used in the sentence.	A senhora terminou sua tarefa.Ma'am, you finished your task.

The choice among você, tu, o senhor, a senhora, and the formal forms depends on register, hierarchy, and social distance. Brazil tends to favor você in everyday conversation, while Portugal favors tu in informal situations; in both countries, institutional respect calls for more ceremonial forms. The form of address can change within the same conversation depending on the degree of intimacy, and this also affects how Interrogative Pronouns are read in questions addressed to the interlocutor.

RegiãoRegion	Palavra ou ExpressãoWord or Expression	Definição RegionalRegional Definition	ExemploExample
BrasilBrazil	VocêYou (informal)	É a escolha mais frequente na fala cotidiana e em muitos contextos neutros.It is the most frequent choice in everyday speech and in many neutral contexts.	Você sabe, porque a conversa é informal.You know, because the conversation is informal.
PortugalPortugal	TuYou (informal)	É a escolha mais natural em muitos contextos informais de proximidade.It is the most natural choice in many informal contexts of closeness.	Tu vens, porque somos amigos.You come, because we are friends.
Formalidade altaHigh Formality	Vossa ExcelênciaYour Excellency	É reservada a autoridades e situações protocolares.It is reserved for authorities and ceremonial situations.	Vossa Excelência responde, porque o cerimonial exige.Your Excellency responds, because ceremonial protocol requires it.
Distância respeitosaRespectful distance.	O senhor e a senhoraMr. and Mrs.	São usados quando se quer manter deferência sem recorrer ao registro máximo.They are used when one wants to maintain deference without resorting to the highest level of formality.	O senhor aguarda, porque o atendimento continua.The gentleman waits, because the service continues.

The pronouns of address organize the relationship between speaker and interlocutor through formality, hierarchy, and regional variation. Você and tu cover the most frequent informal uses, o senhor and a senhora mark respect, and Vossa Excelência and Vossa Senhoria belong to the official register. The agreement, the position in the sentence, and the possessive chosen show that treatment in Portuguese functions as an integrated part of grammar and social context.