B1 · The pronouns
Pronoun position: before the verb
Topic 90 of 133 · about 4 minutes
Your goal
You can put the object pronoun in the right place — before the verb after não, after question words and in subordinate clauses.
Não te ouvi, desculpa.I did not hear you, sorry.
Onde a encontraste?Where did you meet her?
Espero que me escrevas.I hope you will write to me.
Done at 8 of 10, including 3 of 4 written yourself · about 5 min
Explainer video
Watch first – then practise
The essentials
RememberNegation, question and subordinate clause pull it forward.
Four kinds of word pull it forward, and they are in every other sentence.
- Signal words
- não
- nunca
- quem
- que
- já
- também
The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese.
negation
| my name is | chamo-me |
| my name is not | não me chamo |
| who told you that? | quem te disse? |
| he said he would ring me | disse que me telefonava |
| I have already told you | já te disse |
| he told me too | também me disse |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
After a negation it stands in front.
Não me lembro do nome.I do not remember the name.
After a question word it stands in front.
Quem te disse isso?Who told you that?
In a subordinate clause it stands in front.
Disse que me telefonava hoje.He said he would ring me today.
More rules (1)
After já, também, só and talvez it stands in front.
Já te disse duas vezes.I have already told you twice.
Example sentences
1 more example sentences
Também lhe disse a mesma coisa.I told him the same thing too.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The negation pulls the pronoun forward, and there is no choice about it. Não chamo-me Ana is not clumsy, it is wrong — and it is the sentence in which the mistake happens most, because chamo-me was learnt as a single block on the first day. It is not a block: it is two words that happen to be joined when nothing is standing in front of them.
Lesson
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The basic position in Portugal is at the back. But four kinds of word drag the pronoun forward, and they turn up so often that the front position may well be the one you write most.
First, the negation: não me chamo Ana, nunca o vi, ninguém lhe disse nada.
Second, the question words: quem te disse isso?, onde a encontraste?
Third, the little words que, se, quando, porque — anything that opens a subordinate clause: disse que me telefonava. And fourth, a few adverbs: já, também, talvez, só.
The verbs on this page, in every form: dizer · escrever · ouvir · esperar · encontrar
Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.