The Brazilian Portuguese reflexive pronouns me, te, se, nos, and vos are used when the subjectNo definition set for subjectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and the objectNo definition set for objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. are the same. For example:
Ele vestiu-se rapidamente.
He dressed himself rapidly.
In Brazilian Portuguese, the most common reflexive pronoun is se, because it can be used with most subject pronouns, as an equivalent to “yourself,” “yourselves,” “himself,” “herself,” “itself,” or “themselves.”
In this post, we’ll review the various reflexive pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese, as well as when and how to use them.
Officially, reflexive pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese follow the verb and are attached to it via a hyphen. For example:
Maria viu-se no espelho.
Maria saw herself in the mirror.
However, in informal Brazilian Portuguese (written and spoken) many speakers prefer to place this pronoun before the verb, without the hyphen, as in:
Maria se viu no espelho.
Maria saw herself in the mirror.
This makes placement of reflexive pronouns the same as the placement of unstressed direct and indirect object pronouns.
Reflexive pronouns can also be used after prepositions, but in this case they have a special form, called a “stressed form.”
Carla está cheia de si.
Carla is really confident.
lit. Carla is full of herself.
For complete details, check out this chart of the placement rules for Brazilian Portuguese reflexive pronouns.
The Brazilian Portuguese reflexive pronouns are me, te, se, nos, and vos . These are the equivalents of the English pronouns that end in “-self / -selves.”
Reflexive Pronouns | Translation(s) | Subject Pronoun(s) |
|---|---|---|
me | myself | eu(I) |
te | yourself | tu(you) |
nos | ourselves | nós(we) |
vos | yourselves | vós(you) |
se | yourself | você(you sg.) |
himself, itself | ele(he, it) | |
herself, itself | ela(she, it) | |
yourselves | vocês(you pl.) | |
themselves | eles, elas(they) |
The reflexive pronouns nos(ourselves) and vos(yourselves) carry no written accent. This distinguishes them from the subject pronouns vós and nós.
Vós lembrais-vos das suas viagens aos EUA?
Do you remember your travels to the USA?
If you want to know more about subject pronouns take a look at our post!
Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these reflexive pronouns, beginning with se.
The reflexive pronoun se is used for most subject pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese: você, vocês, ele, eles, and ela, elas. Take a look at the examples below.
Você enganou-se.
You were wrong.
lit. You tricked yourself.
Guilherme prepara-se para o exame.
Guilherme prepares himself for the exam.
As meninas se atiraram nos braços da mãe.
The girls threw themselves into their mom’s arms.
Because, in Brazilian Portuguese, the verb conjugation is the same for você, ele, ela vs. vocês, eles, elas, these subject pronouns are only omitted if the subject is clear from context. Therefore, you will usually have a subject pronoun to help you distinguish between the different meanings of se.
The reflexive pronouns me(myself), te(yourself), nos(ourselves), and vos(yourselves) are used for the subject pronouns eu(I), tu(you), nós(we), and vós(you). Let’s see some examples:
(Eu) chamo-me Paulo.
(Eu) me chamo Paulo.
I call myself Paulo.
(Tu) levantas-te muito cedo.
(Tu) te levantas muito cedo.
You get (yourself) up too early.
There are two special rules to follow when the subject is “we”:
When the reflexive pronoun nos(ourselves) is placed after verbs ending with -s, the final -s must be dropped. Note that we do not remove the -s if the reflexive pronoun is used before the verb.
Nós preocupamo-nos com você.
Nós nos preocupamos com você.
We care about you.
In informal Brazilian Portuguese, you can use the phrase a gente(we) to replace the subject pronoun nós(we). In this case, we use the reflexive pronoun se instead of nos.
✅ A gente se preocupa com você.
❌ A gente nos preocupa com você.
We care about you.
When accompanied by a preposition — such as a(to), para(to), em(in), de(from, of), and por(for) — you must use the stressed form of the reflexive pronoun instead:
Stressed Reflexive Pronouns | Translation(s) | Subject Pronoun(s) |
|---|---|---|
mim | (to / in) myself | eu(I) |
ti | (to / in) yourself | tu(you) |
nós | (to / in) ourselves | nós(we) |
vós | (to / in) yourselves | vós(you) |
si | (to / in) yourself | você(you sg.) |
(to / in) himself, itself | ele(he, it) | |
(to / in) herself, itself | ela(she, it) | |
(to / in) yourselves | vocês(you pl.) | |
(to / in) themselves | eles, elas(they) |
For example:
Eu olhei para mim no espelho do carro.
I looked at myself in the car mirror.
Pedro confia em si.
Pedro believes in himself.
Só você pode fazer algo por si.
You are the only one who can do something for yourself.
Reflexive pronouns that follow prepositions should not be placed before the verb. As you can notice in the examples given, the reflexive pronoun is always placed after the preposition.
The word mesmo(s) / mesma(s)(self) can accompany the stressed forms of reflexive pronouns to emphasize the idea of reflexivity, as in:
Eu olhei para mim mesma no espelho.
Pedro confia em si mesmo.
Notice in these examples that mesmo must agree in gender and number with the person or thing it refers to, even if the reflexive pronoun doesn’t reflect that gender.
In Brazilian Portuguese, when the preposition com(with) is used before a stressed reflexive pronouns, the two form a contraction:
com + mim → comigo
com + ti → contigo
com + si → consigo
com + nós → conosco
com + vós → convosco
For example:
Trouxemos a família conosco.
We brought the family with us.
In Brazilian Portuguese, reflexive verbs are verbs that must be accompanied by a reflexive pronoun. Some reflexive verbs in Brazilian Portuguese, such as apresentar-se(to introduce oneself) or olhar-se(to look at oneself), are also often accompanied by reflexive pronouns in English.
Eu apresentei-me para os meus colegas.
Eu me apresentei para os meus colegas.
I introduced myself to my colleagues.
However, there are also many reflexive verbs in Brazilian Portuguese that do not require a reflexive pronoun in English, such as preocupar-se(to worry) and divertir-se(to have fun).
Pedro diverte-se muito na escola.
Pedro se diverte muito na escola.
Pedro has lots of fun at school.
In the infinitive form, reflexive verbs in Brazilian Portuguese are always accompanied by the reflexive pronoun se, as in:
vestir-se(to dress oneself)
pentear-se(to brush oneself)
arrumar-se(to get ready)
Just like in English, there are also some verbs in Brazilian Portuguese that can be either reflexive (when directed at the self) or non-reflexive (when directed at someone/something else). For example: arrumar(-se)(to get ready) or pentear(-se)(to comb):
Eu me penteio.
I comb myself (i.e. my own hair).
Eu penteio o cabelo da minha filha.
I comb my daughter’s hair.
Take a look at some more reflexive verbs in Brazilian Portuguese!
Reciprocal pronouns are used when two or more actors do something to each other. The reciprocal pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese are:
nos → “each other” (me and someone else)
vos → “each other” (you and someone else)
se → “each other” (someone and someone else)
Notice that these are the same as the reflexive pronouns nos, vos, and se. They also follow the same grammatical rules, even though they have a slightly different meaning:
Carla e eu falamo-nos ao telefone.
Carla e eu nos falamos ao telefone.
Carla and I spoke with each other on the phone.
The fact that the reciprocal and reflexive uses of nos, vos, and se are identical may cause ambiguity. For instance, see the two options for translating the following sentence:
Paulo e Roberto convenceram-se.
✅ Paulo and Roberto convinced themselves.
✅ Paulo and Roberto convinced each other.
To avoid uncertainty, you can add the following Brazilian Portuguese expressions after nos, vos, and se, depending on your meaning.
reflexive + a + reflexive pronoun + mesmos/as
Paulo e Roberto convenceram-se a si mesmos.
Paulo and Roberto convinced themselves.
reciprocal + um ao outro / uns aos outros / entre si (one another)
Paulo e Roberto convenceram-se um ao outro.
Paulo and Roberto convinced each other.
reciprocal + reciprocamente(reciprocally) / mutuamente(mutually)
Paulo e Roberto convenceram-se reciprocamente.
Paulo and Roberto reciprocally convinced each other.
In this post, we’ve reviewed the reflexive pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese.
Reflexive pronouns
me(myself)
te(yourself)
nos(ourselves)
vos(yourselves)
se(yourself, himself, herself, itself, yourselves, themselves)
Stressed reflexive pronouns (after prepositions)
mim(myself)
ti(yourself)
nós(ourselves)
vós(yourselves)
si(yourself, himself, herself, itself, yourselves, themselves)
As we learned, some verbs in Brazilian Portuguese are always reflexive, while others can have both a reflexive and non-reflexive form.
Feeling confident? Now it is time to practice using reflexive pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese with these activities.
