a tattooed woman on a horse in a cowboy hat blows a traditional horn

Study Resource: Reflexive verbs in Brazilian Portuguese

By: Ana Amélia Rodrigues dos Santos
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our Brazilian Portuguese Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

This study resource presents some examples of different kinds of reflexive verbs in Brazilian Portuguese.

Intransitive reflexive verbs

Verbs that are often used only as reflexive:

Brazilian Portuguese
English

comportar-se

to behave oneself

queixar-se

to complain

arrepender-se

to regret

chamar-se

to call oneself

zangar-se

to be mad

abster-se

to abstain

lembrar-se

to remember oneself

atrever-se

to dare

despedir-se

to say goodbye

*Verbs like chamar-se and despedir-se are often reflexive. But the non-reflexive forms, have different meanings: chamar(to call someone else on the phone) and despedir(to fire).

Transitive reflexive verbs

Verbs that can be either reflexive or non-reflexive:

Brazilian Portuguese
English

levantar-se

to get up

deitar-se

to lie down

olhar-se

to look at oneself

arrumar-se

to get ready

vestir-se

to get dressed

pentear-se

to comb oneself

barbear-se

to shave oneself

cuidar-se

to take care of oneself

alongar-se

to stretch out

preocupar-se

to worry

incubir-se

to take care of oneself

contorcer-se

to squirm

machucar-se/ ferir-se

to get hurt

cortar-se

to cut oneself

apresentar-se

to introduce oneself

divertir-se

to enjoy oneself

convercer-se

to convince oneself

negar-se

to deny oneself

encorajar-se

to encourage oneself

enganar-se

to deceive

alimentar-se

to feed oneself

maquiar-se

to put on makeup

encontrar-se

to meet up

inscrever-se

to sign up

lamentar-se

to feel sorry for something

banhar-se

to bathe

casar-se

to get married

mudar-se

to move (homes)

surpreender-se

to surprise oneself

Expressions with reflexive pronouns

  • fazer-se de bobo:

    The literal translation of this expression is “to make a fool of oneself.”

    However, when a person says, “Ela se fez de boba durante a conversa,” it actually means that she pretended to not have understood something.

  • matar-se de + infinitive:

    The literal translation of matar-se de de is “to kill oneself by” + verb.

    However, when a person says, “O aluno se matou de estudar para o exame,” it means that the student studied a lot for the exam and put a lot of effort into doing it.

To embark on your next language adventure, join Mango on social!

Ready to take the next step?

The Mango Languages learning platform is designed to get you speaking like a local quickly and easily.

Mango app open on multiple devices
Log InSign Up