The Brazilian Portuguese personal infinitive is a form of the infinitiveNo definition set for infinitiveLorem 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. verb that takes a personal ending that agreesNo definition set for agreesLorem 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. with a 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.. Personal infinitives are used in cases where you need to use an infinitive, but you want it to have its own, independent subject:
Helen preparou a festa para nós comemorarmos a sua vitória.
Helen prepared the party for us to celebrate her victory.
→ The infinitive has a different subject (nós) from the main clauseNo definition set for main clauseLorem 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. (Helen).
If you would like to know more about how to form and use the personal infinitive in Brazilian Portuguese, stay tuned and continue reading this post!
How to form the personal infinitive?
The personal infinitive is formed by adding endings to the infinitive form of the verb that reflect which personal pronoun that would be the subject of the infinitive.
In Brazilian Portuguese, impersonal infinitives, verbs in their dictionary form, end in -ar, -er, -ir, or, in a few cases, they can also end with -or.
Impersonal Infinitives:
pôr(to put) → repôr(to repose), compor(to compose), ...
To form the personal infinitive, you’ll add “personal” endings, reflecting the personNo definition set for personLorem 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 numberNo definition set for numberLorem 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. of the subject, to the impersonal infinitive form.
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
*This is a very formal use of “you” and rarely used in Brazilian Portuguese.
**Notice that pôr loses its accent in the forms with endings
Notice that while the personal infinitive takes a special ending if the subject is tu / nós / vós / vocês / eles / elas, the form of the personal infinitive is identical to the impersonal infinitive if the subject is eu / ele / ela / você.
When using a personal infinitive form that does acquire a particular personal ending, the subject pronoun can be omitted. However, if using a personal infinitive that looks just like the impersonal infinitive, it is common sense to use the pronoun in front of them to avoid doubt with regard to the subject. Compare:
infinitive basepersonal ending
Helen preparou uma festa para comemorarmos a sua vitória.
Helen prepared a party for us to celebrate her victory.
infinitive basepersonal pronoun
Helen preparou uma festa para você comemorar a sua vitória.
Helen prepared a party for you to celebrate her victory.
We use the same set of endings for the personal infinitive that we use for the future subjunctive, so the forms will often look the same:
personal infinitive
Depois de chegarem em casa, eles ligaram para o Emanuel.
After arriving home, they called Emanuel.
future subjunctive
Quando eles chegarem em casa, vão ligar para o Emanuel.
After arriving home, they called Emanuel.
However, irregular verbs such as ser(to be) and ir(to go), will use different stems for each of these two forms:
Curious to read more about the future subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese? Take a look at this post.
When to use the personal infinitive in Brazilian Portuguese?
The personal infinitive is used when an infinitive has its own subject that is different from the subject of the main clause. Personal infinitives are only used for unfinished actions and are most often found in subordinate clausesNo definition set for subordinate clausesLorem 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.. For example:
subject of main clausesubject of the infinitivepersonal infinitive
Esta é a última chance de os jogadores darem alegria ao povo brasileiro.
This is the last chance for the players to bring joy to the Brazilian people.
Look at the difference in meaning between using the personal infinitive and the impersonal infinitive:
impersonal infinitive
Helen preparou uma festa para comemorar a sua vitória.
Helen prepared a party to celebrate her victory.
→ Who is celebrating? We do not know exactly.
impersonal infinitive
Helen preparou uma festa para nós comemorarmos a sua vitória.
Helen prepared a party for us to celebrate her victory.
→ Who is celebrating? Us!
In English, we show this difference only by adding “for” + subject before the infinitive, but the infinitive itself only has one form (“to” + verb). In Brazilian Portuguese, though, we change the form of the infinitive and that alone is sufficient to show the difference.
Now that we know the general rule of the personal infinitive, let’s move on to talk about some specific circumstances where it can also be used.
Using the personal infinitive after prepositions
The personal infinitive can be used in subordinate clauses that are introduced by prepositions and prepositional expressions like para(to), por(for), de(from/of), sem(without), depois de(after), antes de(before), em vez de(instead of), apesar de(instead of), and ao (a(to) + o(the)).
Eu não vou sair de casa antes de vocês chegarem.
I will not leave home before you arrive.
When the prepositions ao and por are at the beginning of a sentence (before the main verb), they are often followed by the personal infinitive. This clarifies the subject.
Ao entrarmos no trem, ele partiu.
As we got on the train, it left.
Por chegarem cedo ao seu destino final, resolveram descansar um pouco antes de sair.
As they arrived early at their final destination, they decided to rest a bit before leaving.
In this context, you can use a conjugated verb in the present, preterite, or future tense, if you replace ao and por with conjunctions:
Replace ao with quando(when) or assim que(as soon as)
conjugated verb
Assim que entramos no trem, ele partiu.
As soon as we got on the train, it left.
Replace por with porque(because)
conjugated verb
Porque chegaram cedo ao seu destino final, resolveram descansar um pouco antes de sair.
Because they arrived early at their final destination, they decided to rest a bit before leaving.
Using personal infinitives after impersonal expressions
The personal infinitive can also be used after impersonal expressions like é possível(it is possible), é impossível(it is possible), é fácil(it is easy), and é bom(it is good) in order to specify, instead of generalizing, the subject of the action.
É bom terminarmos isso logo.
It’s good (for us) to get this over with soon.
These same expressions can alternatively be followed by que(that) + present subjunctive. So, the example above would be:
present subjunctive
É bom que terminemos isso logo.
It’s good that we get this over with soon.
Using personal infinitive of the expression ‘ouvir dizer’ (to hear about)
We often use the personal infinitive in the expression ouvir dizer(to hear said). Follow this formula:
ouvir
present or preterite
Ouvi dizerem que a viagem para o Brasil foi ótima.
I heard (from some source) that the trip to Brazil was great.
Although the personal infinitive dizerem refers to the third person plural eles, elas(they) form, here it is used to express simply that the source was vague. You don’t have to have heard more than one person say it. Instead, it can be used in either of the following contexts:
I don’t know or don’t remember who I heard this information from
I know who I heard this information from, but I don't want to expose the source
The impersonal infinitive can also be used in the expression above. However, its use carries a more impersonal meaning and doesn’t express the idea of credibility with regard to the information as the personal infinitive does.
impersonal infinitive
Ouvi dizer que a viagem para o Brasil foi ótima.
I heard that the trip to Brazil was great.
Personal infinitives vs. subordinate clauses
In most cases, you can replace a personal infinitive with a subordinate clause introduced by que(that). For example:
personal infinitivepreterite indicative
✅ Ouvi conversarem sobre o Paulo.
✅ Ouvi que conversaram sobre o Paulo.
I heard that they were talking about Paul.
personal infinitivepresent subjunctive
✅ É preciso ficarem em casa durante a tempestade.
✅ É preciso que fiquem em casa durante a tempestade.
It is necessary that you stay indoors during the storm.
In everyday language, though, the personal infinitive is more commonly used than the subjunctive.
You can theoretically make this same exchange between a subordinate clause and the impersonal infinitive as well, however this produces a significant difference in meaning, because the impersonal infinitive is more generic than a conjugated verb. Compare:
impersonal infinitive
É impossível dormir até mais tarde durante o verão.
It is impossible to sleep till late during summer.
→ The impersonal infinitive is generic
present subjunctive
É impossível que durma até mais tarde durante o verão.
It is impossible that he/she will sleep till late during summer.
→ The conjugated verb implies a specific subject
When do the personal and impersonal infinitive have the same meaning?
The personal and impersonal infinitive are interchangeable in the following cases:
when the subject of the main clause and of the infinitive is the same
when the main clause contains some specific verbs, like mandar(to demand)
Let’s take a look at each of them.
When the two clauses have the same subject
When the subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject of the main clause, the use of the personal infinitive is optional. Let’s take a look at the example below:
personal infinitiveimpersonal infinitive
Eles pediram para participarem da festa.
Eles pediram para participar da festa.
They asked to attend the party.
In both of the sentences above, the same people who asked the question would be attending the party, and so the impersonal and personal infinitives are interchangeable.
When the main clause contains some specific verbs
When the main clause contains the verbs mandar(to demand), fazer(to do), deixar(to leave, to drop off, to let go), ver(to see), or ouvir(to listen), the personal infinitive becomes optional in the subordinate clause. This is true even when the infinitive’s subject is different from the one in the main clause.
In this circumstance, you can choose to use the impersonal or the personal infinitive, with no difference in meaning:
impersonal infinitivepersonal infinitive
Vi os rapazes sair da sala.
Vi os rapazes saírem da sala.
I saw the boys leaving the room.
→ The subjects are different: eu(I) vs. rapazes(boys), but the impersonal infinitive is permitted.
impersonal infinitivepersonal infinitive
Ouvimos os cachorros latir.
Ouvimos os cachorros latirem.
→ The subjects are different: nós(we) vs. cachorros(dogs), but the impersonal infinitive is permitted.
When NOT to use the personal infinitive?
The personal infinitive should not be used with an imperative function, after certain prepositions, after the expressions fácil de, difícil de, and bom de, and when there is no reference to a subject. Let’s take a look.
In the imperative
The personal infinitive can not be used as an imperative (command). The impersonal infinitive can serve this function, but it should not be conjugated.
impersonal infinitive
Honor your father and mother.
After certain prepositions
We saw above that you can use a personal infinitive in a subordinate clause that is introduced by a preposition like para(to), however the phrase that follows the preposition is not a subordinate clause, you should not be using a personal infinitive. There are two main cases when this is the case: within a preposition + infinitive complementNo definition set for complementLorem 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. or after a preposition following a verb in the passive voice.
Within a preposition + infinitive complement:
When using an infinitive after a preposition in a phrase that functions as the complement of a noun, adjective, adverb, or verb, use an impersonal infinitive, not a personal one:
O chefe deu ao funcionário o direito de recusar a oferta.
The boss gave the employee the right to refuse the offer.
→ de recusar a oferta is the complement of direto.
Regina convenceu os alunos a entregar os trabalhos esta semana.
Regina convinced the students to turn in their work this week.
→ a entregar os trabalhos is the complement of convenceu
Check out this chart with more expressions with preposition + infinitive complements.
After a preposition that follows a passive verb:
If a preposition follows a verb in the passive voice, you can use an impersonal infinitive, but you should not use a personal infinitive.
passive verbimpersonal infinitive
Os livros foram feitos para entreter as crianças.
The books were made to entertain the kids.
After ‘fácil de,’ ‘difícil de,’ and ‘bom de’
The personal infinitive should not be used to make general statements in which a noun is described using a phrase like fácil de(easy to) + infinitive, difícil de(difficult to) + infinitive, or bom de(good to) + infinitive. We most often use these phrases to describe the object of the infinitive.
Esses são trabalhos difíceis de fazer.
These are difficult jobs to do.
→ Trabalhos is understood to be the object of fazer: Someone does the jobs.
Aquelas foram situações fáceis de entender.
Those were easy situations to understand.
→ Situações is understood to be the object of entender: Someone understands the situations.
Because the word described by the bold phrases above is understood to be the object of the infinitive, it would not make sense to use a personal infinitive, which marks the features of the infinitive’s subject.
You can use a personal infinitive if the infinitive is structurally passive, because in this case, the noun being described is actually the subject of the passive infinitive:
Esses são trabalhos difíceis de serem feitos.
These are difficult jobs to be done.
→ Trabalhos is the subject of serem feitos: The jobs are being done.
Aquelas foram situações fáceis de serem entendidas.
Those were situations that were easy to understand.
→ Situações is the subject of serem entendidas: The situations are being understood.
When the infinitive has no subject
The personal infinitive should not be used when there is no reference to a subject.
Navegar é preciso, viver não é preciso.
Navigating is necessary, living is not necessary.
→ Quote by Fernando Pessoa
What is a compound personal infinitive?
A compound personal infinitive is a type of personal infinitive that is used in the same circumstances as the simple form, though we use this form only to describe an action that is or will be finished before the main action of a sentence. It is parallel to English constructions like, “for him to have slept” or “for them to have forgotten.”
The compound form of a personal infinitive is formed by combining the personal infinitive form of the auxiliaryNo definition set for auxiliaryLorem 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. ter(to have) with the past participle of the main verb, as in:
Depois de terem lido o livro, decidiram assistir o filme também.
After they had read the book, they decided to watch the movie too.
You can use the personal infinitive form of the auxiliary haver(to have) instead of ter(to have) in the compound form of the personal infinitive.
personal infinitivepast participle
Depois de haverem lido o livro, decidirão se vão assistir o filme ou não.
After they have read the book, they will decide if they will watch the movie or not.
However, haver is a very formal auxiliary and rarely used in everyday language. In informal Brazilian Portuguese, the auxiliary ter(to have) is mostly used.
Here are some more examples in which a compound personal infinitive is used:
personal infinitivepast participle
Eu agradeço por você ter vindo me visitar.
I appreciate you having come to visit me.
→ Agradeço and ter vindo have different subjects. The visit finished before the appreciation was felt.
Ele ficou feliz por termos chegado cedo.
He was glad (about us) having arrived early.
→ Ficou and termos chegado have different subjects. The arrival happened before he felt glad.
Foi bom terem terminado o trabalho antes de irem embora.
It was good for them to have finished the job before they left.
→ Here we are using the infinitive after an impersonal expression in the preterite form, so we are saying that they finished the job before some past moment when it was good.
Summary
In this post, we saw that:
The personal infinitive is a very special feature in Brazilian Portuguese, and that it takes on endings depending on person and number of the subject.
Personal infinitives most often occur in subordinate clauses.
Using the personal infinitive is mandatory when its subject of the infinitive is different from the subject of the main clause.
The compound form for the personal infinitive expresses a concluded fact in the past or future actions that will be completed in relation to other actions also in the future.
Now, why don’t you practice forming and using the personal infinitive in Brazilian Portuguese with our activities?
To embark on your next language adventure, join Mango on social!
