B1 · Reflexive verbs · about 3 minutes
Verbs that change with se
The same verb twice: esquecer takes an object, esquecer-se takes a preposition.
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“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need2
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- a queixathe complaint
- arrepender-seto regret
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
RememberWith se a preposition nearly always comes too.
- Signal words
- ir-se embora
- lembrar-se de
- esquecer-se de
- queixar-se de
The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) person ending
| I remember | (eu) lembro-me |
| you remember | (tu) lembras-te |
| he / she remembers, you remember | (ele / ela / você) lembra-se |
| we remember | (nós) lembramo-nos |
| you remember, plural and formal | (vós) lembrais-vos |
| they remember, you remember (plural) | (eles / elas / vocês) lembram-se |
| I leave | (eu) vou-me embora |
| you leave | (tu) vais-te embora |
| he / she leaves, you leave | (ele / ela / você) vai-se embora |
| we leave | (nós) vamo-nos embora |
| you leave, plural and formal | (vós) ides-vos embora |
| they leave, you leave (plural) | (eles / elas / vocês) vão-se embora |
| to go / to leave | ir / ir-se embora |
| to remind / to remember | lembrar / lembrar-se de |
| to find / to meet | encontrar / encontrar-se |
| to forget / to forget | esquecer / esquecer-se de |
| to seem / to look like | parecer / parecer-se com |
| to complain about | queixar-se de |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
With se the meaning changes.
Vou-me embora, está a ficar tarde.I am off, it is getting late.
The preposition belongs with it.
Não me lembro do nome dele.I do not remember his name.
encontrar-se means to meet.
Encontrámo-nos à porta do cinema.We met outside the cinema.
A few exist only with se.
Ele queixa-se sempre do trânsito.He is always complaining about the traffic.
Example sentences
Esqueci-me completamente da reunião.I completely forgot the meeting.
Ela parece-se muito com a mãe.She looks very like her mother.
Vamo-nos embora antes que comece a chover.Let us go before it starts raining.
1 more example sentences
Arrependi-me de ter dito aquilo.I regretted having said that.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Esquecer and esquecer-se de both mean « to forget » and build the sentence differently: esqueci o guarda-chuvawith no prepositionesqueci-me do guarda-chuvawith one Both are right — the mixture of the two is not.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
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Your progress
What your lesson on this topic shows:
The lesson decides this, not a button: passed at 80% on the first try, mastered when you pass it again on another day.
Next on the path: 105 · The future after quando and seBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A number of verbs mean something different with se than without. Lembrar is « to remind »; lembrar-se de is « to remember ». English marks that pair with two separate verbs, so the idea is familiar; what is new is that here it is the same word twice.
The commonest: ir (to go) against ir-se embora (to leave); encontrar (to find) against encontrar-se (to meet); esquecer (to forget) against esquecer-se de (to forget); parecer (to seem) against parecer-se com (to look like).
That third pair is the useful one, because both members mean « to forget » and they build the sentence differently. Esqueci o guarda-chuva takes a direct object, exactly like English. Esqueci-me do guarda-chuva takes the pronoun and a preposition. Both are correct; what is wrong is half of each.
With many of these the preposition is part of the meaning: lembrar-se de, esquecer-se de, queixar-se de, rir-se de, parecer-se com. And three verbs exist almost only with se: queixar-se(to complain)arrepender-se(to regret)atrever-se(to dare)
The verbs on this page, in every form: estar · ter · ficar · ir · começar · parecer · chover · esquecer