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

Study Resource: Placement rules for reflexive pronouns 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:

The following charts summarize the rules about where to place reflexive pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese.

In simple tenses (one verb)

The chart below illustrates where you should put reflexive pronouns in sentences with a reflexive verb in a simple tense (i.e. a verb without an auxiliary).

AFTER the verb
BEFORE the verb
BETWEEN the stem and the ending

In most circumstances, the reflexive pronoun follows the verb.

Maria viu-se no espelho.

Maria saw herself in the mirror.

The reflexive pronoun comes before the verb in a few cases:

  • With words or expressions with a negative value:

    Carlos nunca se inscreveu no evento.

    Carlos never signed up for the event.

  • With adverbs or indefinite pronouns:

    Aqui as crianças se sentem mais felizes.

    Here the kids feel better.

  • In phrases beginning with interrogative pronouns:

    Por que você se veste assim?

    Why do you dress up like that?

  • Words used to join a dependent clause to an independent clause:

    Quando eu me levantar, vou estudar.

    When I wake up, I will study.

  • After relative pronouns:

    Eu pedi que eles se apresentassem.

    I asked them to introduce themselves.

BETWEEN the stem and the ending:

This placement is formal, but it can be done in a few cases:

  • In the future tense:

    Levantar-me-ei cedo amanhã.

    I will wake up early tomorrow.

  • In the conditional:

    Se tivéssemos tempo, divertir-nos-íamos mais.

    If we had time, we would have more fun.

With compound verbs (two verbs working together)

When a reflexive verb is used in a construction that uses an auxiliary verb, the placement rules are as follows:

  • With most auxiliary verbs (including modal verbs), the pronoun can come before or after the main verb:

    • ✅ Você precisa vestir-se rapidamente.
      ✅ Você precisa se vestir rapidamente.

      You need to dress up fast.

    • ✅ Os artistas estão se arrumando.
      ✅ Os artistas estão arrumando-se.

      The artists are getting ready.

  • With the auxiliary verbs ter(have) or haver(have), the reflexive pronoun should come between the auxiliary and the main verb.

    Eu tinha me esquecido do encontro.

    I had forgotten the meeting.

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