Direct Object Pronouns in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese direct object pronouns replace the person or thing directly affected by an action: Vejo a Marta becomes Vejo-a (“I see her”). The basic forms are me, te, o, a, nos, vos, os, as. In an ordinary affirmative sentence, European Portuguese usually places them after the verb (Chamo-te amanhã), while Brazilian Portuguese commonly places them before it (Te chamo amanhã).

Overview

A direct object is the person or thing directly affected by a verb—in plain terms, the answer to “whom?” or “what?” after the action. In A Rita compra o jornal (“Rita buys the newspaper”), o jornal is the direct object: Rita buys what? The newspaper. A direct object pronoun is a short word that replaces that object: A Rita compra-o (“Rita buys it”).

These pronouns let you avoid repetition. Instead of saying Conheço a Rita e vejo a Rita todos os dias, Portuguese can say Conheço a Rita e vejo-a todos os dias (“I know Rita and see her every day”). This is a core A1 skill, especially with everyday verbs such as ver (“see”), chamar (“call”), ajudar (“help”), comprar (“buy”), and conhecer (“know”).

English learners need to watch two differences. First, Portuguese o, a, os, as agree with the grammatical gender and number of the object; English “it” does not. Second, the small pronoun may appear before or after the verb. That choice varies sharply between European Portuguese (EP) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP), as well as with sentence structure and level of formality.

How It Works

Step 1: identify the direct object

Find the verb, then ask who or what receives its action:

• O João vê a Maria. — João sees whom? Maria.
• Eu compro os bilhetes. — I buy what? The tickets.
• Ela ajuda-nos. — She helps whom? Us.

A direct object normally follows the verb without a preposition. This matters because an object introduced by a (“to”) is often an indirect object—the recipient rather than the thing directly acted on—and uses a different set of pronouns. For example, in Dou o livro à Ana (“I give the book to Ana”), o livro is direct, but à Ana is indirect.

Step 2: choose the pronoun

Meaning	Singular	Plural
first person	me — me	nos — us
second person	te — you (informal singular)	vos — you (plural)
third person	o — him/it; a — her/it	os — them (masculine/mixed); as — them (feminine)

The forms me, te, nos, vos refer to grammatical person. The forms o, a, os, as agree with the noun they replace:

• o livro → o: Compro-o. (“I buy it.”)
• a revista → a: Compro-a. (“I buy it.”)
• os livros → os: Compro-os. (“I buy them.”)
• as revistas → as: Compro-as. (“I buy them.”)

Gender follows the Portuguese noun, not the English translation. A casa is feminine, so “I see it” is Vejo-a. A group containing masculine and feminine people normally takes masculine plural os.

Vos remains part of the full system, but it is uncommon in most everyday Brazilian Portuguese. In Portugal it may occur where speakers use plural vós, although vocês and other constructions are widespread. Learn to recognise vos, but do not let it distract from the high-frequency forms.

Step 3: place the pronoun

These short, unstressed forms are called clitics (pronouns that attach closely to a verb). Their position is one of the clearest differences between the major varieties of Portuguese.

A beginner-safe contrast

Situation	European Portuguese	Brazilian Portuguese
ordinary affirmative clause	Vejo-te amanhã.	Te vejo amanhã. / Eu te vejo amanhã.
negative clause	Não te vejo hoje.	Não te vejo hoje.
third-person object	A Ana compra-o.	A Ana o compra. (formal)

In European Portuguese, an object pronoun normally follows the verb in a simple affirmative main clause. This is enclisis (placement after the verb), and a hyphen joins the two: vejo-te, ajudamo-la, compram-nos.

In Brazilian Portuguese, proclisis (placement before the verb) is normal in conversation and common in writing: me chama, te vejo, nos ajuda. A subject often comes first: Eu te vejo amanhã. Formal Brazilian writing follows more restrictive placement conventions than everyday speech, especially with o, a, os, as, so you will also meet forms such as vi-o.

Negation normally pulls the pronoun before the verb in both varieties:

• Não me conhece. — “He/She doesn’t know me.”
• Nunca o vimos. — “We never saw him/it.”

Other words and clause types can also require or favour placement before the verb, particularly in European Portuguese. The full system belongs to later study; at A1, make affirmative EP after / everyday BP before / negative before your working rule.

Spelling changes with o, a, os, as

When o, a, os, as follow certain verb endings, their form changes to keep pronunciation smooth.

After a verb ending in -r, -s, or -z

The final consonant disappears, and the pronoun becomes lo, la, los, las. Written accents may be added to preserve the verb’s stress.

Starting combination	Result	Meaning
comprar + o	comprá-lo	to buy it
ver + a	vê-la	to see her/it
fiz + o	fi-lo	I did it
faz + as	fá-las	he/she does them

This pattern is especially visible when a pronoun follows an infinitive (the dictionary form, such as comprar): Quero comprá-lo (“I want to buy it”).

After a nasal ending

After endings such as -m, -ão, -õe, the pronoun becomes no, na, nos, nas:

• Viram + o → Viram-no. (“They saw him/it.”)
• Dão + a → Dão-na. (“They give it/her.”)
• Põe + os → Põe-nos aqui. (“Put them here.”)

Do not confuse these attached forms with the ordinary words no, na, nos, nas meaning “in the” or “on the.” Context and the hyphen show their function.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
A Sofia vê-me todos os dias.	Sofia sees me every day.	EP-style pronoun after an affirmative verb
A Sofia me vê todos os dias.	Sofia sees me every day.	Natural BP placement
Chamo-te amanhã.	I’ll call you tomorrow.	Typical EP affirmative pattern
Te chamo amanhã.	I’ll call you tomorrow.	Common conversational BP pattern
Não te chamo tão tarde.	I won’t call you so late.	Negation puts the pronoun before the verb
Conheces o Paulo? Sim, conheço-o.	Do you know Paulo? Yes, I know him.	Masculine singular o
A chave está aqui; vejo-a na mesa.	The key is here; I see it on the table.	Feminine singular a agrees with a chave
Precisamos dos bilhetes. Vou comprá-los agora.	We need the tickets. I’m going to buy them now.	comprar + os becomes comprá-los
As fotografias ficaram ótimas. Vou mostrá-las à Ana.	The photos turned out great. I’m going to show them to Ana.	Feminine plural las after an infinitive
Eles viram-nos à entrada.	They saw us at the entrance.	nos means “us” here
Eles viram-no à entrada.	They saw him at the entrance.	After nasal viram, o becomes no
Nunca a encontro de manhã.	I never find her in the morning.	Nunca triggers placement before the verb
Quem vos convidou?	Who invited you?	Plural vos; more relevant in EP or formal/literary contexts
Eu os vejo com frequência.	I see them often.	Formal/standard BP proclisis after an explicit subject

Common Mistakes

Keeping the noun and the pronoun as two ordinary objects

• Wrong: Vejo-a a Maria todos os dias.
• Right: Vejo a Maria todos os dias. / Vejo-a todos os dias.
• Why: The pronoun normally replaces the noun phrase. Use one or the other in a neutral beginner sentence. Portuguese can repeat an object for emphasis in special constructions, but that is not the basic pattern.

Choosing o or a by the object’s natural sex only

• Wrong: Compro-o for a bicicleta.
• Right: Compro-a.
• Why: O/a/os/as agree with the Portuguese noun’s grammatical gender and number. Bicicleta is feminine even though a bicycle has no natural sex.

Putting the pronoun after a negative verb

• Wrong: Não vejo-o hoje.
• Right: Não o vejo hoje.
• Why: Negative words such as não and nunca require or strongly favour the pronoun before the verb. This is a dependable rule in both major varieties.

Forgetting the hyphen in enclisis

• Wrong: Chamo te amanhã.
• Right: Chamo-te amanhã.
• Why: When an unstressed object pronoun follows the verb, standard spelling joins it with a hyphen.

Writing comprar-o instead of comprá-lo

• Wrong: Quero comprar-o.
• Right: Quero comprá-lo.
• Why: Before o/a/os/as, final -r disappears and the pronoun gains l. The accent in comprá- keeps the original stress.

Treating every English “you” as te

• Wrong: assuming te fits every listener and every region.
• Right: choose according to the form of address and the variety you are learning.
• Why: Portuguese distinguishes informal singular, plural, and formal or third-person address. In addition, Brazilian speakers often combine você with te in everyday usage, while formal norms and regional habits differ. Learn complete phrases from your target variety rather than making a one-to-one rule from English “you.”

Usage Notes

European and Brazilian Portuguese

European Portuguese makes frequent everyday use of post-verbal clitics: Vi-o ontem, Ajuda-me, por favor, Encontrámo-nos cedo. Before the verb, they appear when a trigger such as negation, certain adverbs, question words, or a subordinate clause calls for it: Não o vi; Foi a pessoa que me ajudou.

Brazilian speech strongly favours pronouns before the verb, including at the beginning of an utterance: Me ajuda?, Te ligo mais tarde. Traditional formal writing may prefer Ajude-me and may avoid beginning a sentence with a clitic. This is a register difference, not evidence that everyday Brazilian speech is careless.

Third-person o, a, os, as are much more frequent in careful writing than in relaxed Brazilian conversation. Speakers may repeat the noun, omit an understood object, or use ele/ela/eles/elas after the verb: Eu vi ela ontem. That last pattern is widespread in speech but is often rejected in formal edited language, where Eu a vi ontem is expected. As a learner, recognise the spoken form and use the clitic form when formal correctness matters.

People and things

Portuguese uses the same third-person forms for people and things. Thus o can mean “him” or masculine “it,” while a can mean “her” or feminine “it.” Context supplies the English translation:

• Onde está o Rui? Não o vejo. — “Where is Rui? I don’t see him.”
• Onde está o carro? Não o vejo. — “Where is the car? I don’t see it.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master every placement rule at A1, but you will encounter three labels later:

• proclisis: before the verb, as in Não o conheço;
• enclisis: after the verb, as in Conheço-o;
• mesoclisis: inside a future or conditional verb form, as in Vê-lo-ei amanhã (“I will see him tomorrow”).

Mesoclisis survives mainly in very formal European Portuguese and formal or legal styles; everyday speakers usually choose another construction. Pronoun placement also becomes more complex with infinitives, participles, auxiliary verbs, subordinate clauses, and commands. For instance, Quero vê-lo is natural in EP and formal writing, while BP commonly has Quero vê-lo in careful writing but may use Quero ver ele in informal speech.

Direct and indirect object pronouns can also combine. Forms such as mo (me + o), to (te + o), and lho (lhe + o) belong to a later topic and vary greatly in everyday frequency across regions. First make sure you can tell the thing given from its recipient: in Dou o livro à Marta, “the book” is the direct object and “Marta” is the indirect object.

Finally, some verbs do not divide their objects in exactly the same way as their closest English equivalent. Rather than deciding from the English sentence alone, learn common Portuguese verbs with their usual patterns. A dictionary example can tell you whether a verb takes a direct object or a preposition.

Practice Tips

1. Replace one noun at a time. Write four nouns—o café, a chave, os bilhetes, as cartas—and turn Compro... into Compro-o, compro-a, compro-os, compro-as. Then repeat with a negative sentence: Não o compro, and so on.
2. Train one variety first. If your goal is Portugal, practise pairs such as Vejo a Ana → Vejo-a. If your goal is Brazil, practise Eu vejo a Ana → Eu a vejo for formal usage and notice the alternatives used in natural conversation.
3. Listen for triggers. When you hear não, nunca, quem, or que, pause and note where the pronoun appears. This builds placement awareness without requiring you to memorise the entire advanced rule system at once.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — distinguishes the person performing the action from the object receiving it.
• Next step: Combined Object Pronouns — shows how direct and indirect pronouns merge in forms such as mo and lho.
• Advanced study: Pronoun Placement — covers proclisis, enclisis, mesoclisis, triggers, and register in detail.