How are personal pronouns combined?
Below is a list of personal pronouns:
| pronoun | translation | good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Eu | I | |
| Tu | You | ‘You person’. More informal in Portugal. Less common in Brazil. |
| Você | You | ‘You person’. More formal in Portugal. Common in Brazil. |
| Ele – Ela | He – She | There is no ‘it’. Things will either be masculine or feminine. |
| Nós | We | |
| Vós | You | This is very rare. Ignore it when you see it on verb conjugation dictionaries. |
| Vocês | You | ‘You people’. This has replaced vós in modern Portuguese. |
| Eles – Elas | They | Eles: masculine. Elas: feminine. Eles is also used when a group has different genders. |
Listen to the pronouns on the table above: Listen
Conjugate verb ser
This is how to conjugate verb ser (to be):
Ser = to be, e.g. I am…, you are.., she is…, they are… etc.
| pronoun | ser |
|---|---|
| Eu | sou |
| Tu | és |
| Você | é |
| Ele – Ela | é |
| Nós | somos |
| Vocês | são |
| Eles – Elas | são |
Listen to the combinations of pronoun + ser on the table above:
 Listen |
 Listen |
Note that some combinations are unique. Example: és can only go with tu. This means you have the option to just say és and the listener will know you mean tu és. However, for example, é can go not only with você, but also with ele, and ela. Therefore, it is often clearer to say você é instead of only é. This rationale works for all verbs.
Differing pronouns
Considering that the same verb conjugation may go with different pronouns — e.g. vocês são, eles são — every time we display a table of verbs, we can use the following format:
| pronoun | ser |
|---|---|
| Eu | sou |
| Tu | és |
| Você – Ele – Ela | é |
| Nós | somos |
| Vocês – Eles – Elas | são |
If we assume we know the above, we can make our table even simpler:
| ser | |
|---|---|
| Eu | sou |
| Tu | és |
| Ele | é |
| Nós | somos |
| Elas | são |
Common verb
Ser is the most frequently used verb in Portuguese. If you can easily retrieve its conjugation, it will be a great step forward in your progress. Play with flashcards to reinforce the conjugation:
Click here to play the match game on Quizlet.
Foundations of Portuguese for Global Communication
Foundations of Portuguese for Global Communication
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