Indirect Object Pronouns in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese uses me, te, lhe, nos, vos and lhes to replace the person who receives something or benefits from an action: Dou o livro à Ana becomes Dou-lhe o livro (“I give her the book”). These short pronouns do not distinguish gender: lhe can mean “to him,” “to her” or formal “to you.” Their position varies, especially between European and Brazilian Portuguese.

Overview

An indirect object is the person or group to whom, or for whom, something is done. In A Rita dá o livro ao Pedro (“Rita gives the book to Pedro”), o livro is the direct object—the thing being given—and ao Pedro is the indirect object—the recipient. Portuguese can replace ao Pedro with lhe: A Rita dá-lhe o livro.

This is an A1 topic because the basic idea is small and highly useful. You can use these pronouns with everyday verbs such as dar (“give”), dizer (“tell”), mostrar (“show”), escrever (“write”) and telefonar (“phone”). Unlike English, Portuguese normally places the short pronoun next to the verb rather than leaving “to” before it.

The inventory is easy to learn, but placement deserves attention. European Portuguese commonly attaches a pronoun after an affirmative verb: Digo-te amanhã. Brazilian Portuguese commonly puts it before the verb: Te digo amanhã. Both patterns belong to Portuguese, but you should follow one regional model consistently when you speak or write.

How It Works

The pronoun set

Person referred to	Pronoun	Usual English meaning	Example
1st person singular	me	to/for me	Ela deu-me um conselho.
2nd person singular, familiar	te	to/for you	Conto-te tudo.
3rd person singular	lhe	to/for him, her, it	Mandei-lhe uma mensagem.
Formal singular addressee	lhe	to/for you	Posso fazer-lhe uma pergunta?
1st person plural	nos	to/for us	Mostraram-nos a casa.
2nd person plural	vos	to/for you all	Digo-vos a verdade.
3rd person plural	lhes	to/for them	Escrevemos-lhes ontem.

A pronoun is a short word that stands in for a noun or name. Here, lhe can replace ao João, à Marta or another singular recipient. It has no masculine/feminine contrast. Lhes replaces a plural recipient such as aos alunos or às minhas amigas.

The form vos is standard and remains normal in European Portuguese when addressing several people with vós or in certain traditional and regional uses. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, vocês is the normal plural “you,” and speakers usually avoid vos, choosing forms such as para vocês, a vocês or, in more formal language, lhes.

Recognizing an indirect object

Start with a full noun phrase, usually introduced by a:

• Dou o livro à Sofia. — “I give the book to Sofia.”
• Telefonamos aos nossos avós. — “We phone our grandparents.”
• O professor explica a regra aos alunos. — “The teacher explains the rule to the students.”

Then replace only the recipient:

• Dou-lhe o livro.
• Telefonamos-lhes.
• O professor explica-lhes a regra.

Do not keep both the full indirect object and the pronoun unless you intentionally use a reinforcing or clarifying structure. At beginner level, make a clean replacement first.

English does not always show “to.” In “I tell her the truth,” her is still the recipient. Portuguese uses the indirect form: Digo-lhe a verdade. With each verb, learn the Portuguese pattern rather than mechanically copying the English word order.

Basic placement: before or after the verb

A pronoun before the verb is called proclitic placement; in plain terms, it “leans” on the following verb. A pronoun attached after the verb is enclitic placement; it leans on the preceding verb.

Affirmative main clauses

In standard European Portuguese, an affirmative independent clause normally uses verb + hyphen + pronoun:

• Dou-te o livro.
• Telefono-lhe amanhã.
• Enviamos-lhes o documento.

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, placement before the verb is much more usual:

• Te dou o livro.
• Lhe telefono amanhã.
• Lhes enviamos o documento.

Formal Brazilian writing may follow more conservative placement rules, while natural speech often begins a sentence with an unstressed pronoun: Me explica isso. Sentence-initial me/te/lhe is avoided in traditional prescriptive writing, but is completely ordinary in Brazilian conversation.

Words that draw the pronoun before the verb

In standard usage, several elements trigger placement before the verb. The most useful beginner trigger is negation:

• Não te digo. — “I’m not telling you.”
• Nunca lhe telefono à noite. — “I never phone him/her at night.”
• Ninguém nos explicou a regra. — “Nobody explained the rule to us.”

Pronouns also normally come before the verb in many subordinate clauses (clauses that depend on another clause) and after question words:

• Sei que ela lhe escreveu. — “I know that she wrote to him/her.”
• Quando me podes responder? — “When can you answer me?”
• Este é o livro que te emprestei. — “This is the book that I lent you.”

For an A1 learner, a safe European Portuguese rule is: use a hyphen after an affirmative main verb, but put the pronoun before the verb after não and other clear triggers. If you are learning Brazilian Portuguese, expect pre-verbal placement to be the everyday default.

Pronoun plus thing

Many sentences contain both a recipient and a thing:

subject + verb + indirect-object pronoun + direct object

• Eu dou-te o livro.
• Ela lhe explicou o problema.
• Nós enviámos-lhes as fotografias.

The direct object is the person or thing directly affected by the action—in these examples, o livro, o problema and as fotografias. This article focuses on replacing the recipient only. Combining an indirect pronoun with a direct-object pronoun creates forms such as mo and lho; those belong to a later stage and are introduced below only as recognition material.

Lhe, lhes and clarification

Because lhe does not show gender, Escrevi-lhe can mean “I wrote to him,” “I wrote to her,” or “I wrote to you” in formal address. Context often makes the meaning obvious. When it does not, Portuguese can use a stressed phrase:

• Escrevi a ele, não a ela. — “I wrote to him, not to her.”
• Entreguei o documento a ela. — “I handed the document to her.”
• Expliquei tudo a vocês. — “I explained everything to you all.”

These phrases are especially frequent in Brazilian Portuguese. They are not simple one-for-one variants in every sentence: preposition choice depends on the verb and meaning. Learn a alguém with verbs such as dar algo a alguém and dizer algo a alguém.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Dou-te o livro depois do almoço.	I’ll give you the book after lunch.	European Portuguese affirmative placement
Telefono-lhe amanhã de manhã.	I’ll call him/her tomorrow morning.	lhe with a singular recipient
Digo-vos a verdade.	I’m telling you all the truth.	vos, especially European Portuguese
Escrevo-lhes uma carta todos os meses.	I write them a letter every month.	lhes for several recipients
A Ana deu-me um ótimo conselho.	Ana gave me some excellent advice.	me means “to me”
O guia mostrou-nos a cidade.	The guide showed us the city.	nos means “to us”
Não te conto o final do filme.	I’m not telling you the end of the film.	Negation puts te before the verb
Já lhe enviaste o endereço?	Have you sent him/her the address yet?	já commonly favors pre-verbal placement
Sei que ela nos explicou tudo.	I know that she explained everything to us.	Pronoun in a subordinate clause
Quando lhes podemos entregar as chaves?	When can we hand them the keys?	Question word before the pronoun and verb
Posso fazer-lhe uma pergunta?	May I ask you a question?	Polite/formal singular “you”
A professora explica-lhes a regra outra vez.	The teacher explains the rule to them again.	Recipient plus direct object
Te mando as fotos hoje.	I’ll send you the photos today.	Natural everyday Brazilian Portuguese
Eu lhe disse que chegaria cedo.	I told him/her that I would arrive early.	Common Brazilian pre-verbal lhe

Common Mistakes

Using a direct-object form for a recipient

• Wrong: Eu o dei o livro.
• Right: Eu dei-lhe o livro. / Eu lhe dei o livro.
• Why: The book is the thing given; the person receiving it is an indirect object. Use lhe, not direct-object o.

Making lhe agree with gender

• Wrong: Dei-lhe o livro ao Paulo, mas dei-la uma revista à Ana.
• Right: Dei-lhe o livro ao Paulo, mas dei-lhe uma revista à Ana.
• Why: lhe is the same for a masculine or feminine singular recipient. It changes only for number: lhe versus lhes.

Forgetting the plural in lhes

• Wrong: Escrevi-lhe aos meus pais.
• Right: Escrevi-lhes. / Escrevi aos meus pais.
• Why: A plural recipient requires lhes. In a simple replacement exercise, do not keep aos meus pais as well.

Putting the pronoun after a negative verb

• Wrong: Não digo-te a resposta.
• Right: Não te digo a resposta.
• Why: Não draws an unstressed object pronoun before the verb in both standard European and Brazilian Portuguese.

Translating English “for” automatically

• Wrong assumption: Every English phrase with “for someone” can be replaced by lhe.
• Better: Check the Portuguese verb pattern: Comprei-lhe um presente is possible (“I bought him/her a present”), but Este presente é para ela keeps para ela (“This present is for her”).
• Why: Meaning and verb structure matter more than the English preposition.

Mixing regional models without noticing

• Inconsistent practice: Eu te digo agora, then treating every pre-verbal pronoun as wrong because a European textbook gives Digo-te agora.
• Better: Recognize both, and choose the model appropriate to your course, region or conversation partner.
• Why: Pronoun placement is one of the clearest differences between everyday Brazilian and European Portuguese.

Usage Notes

European and Brazilian preferences

European Portuguese uses me, te, lhe, nos, vos, lhes actively and generally follows the placement contrast between post-verbal and triggered pre-verbal forms. Unstressed pronouns can be pronounced quite lightly, so dou-te may initially be hard to hear.

Brazilian Portuguese strongly favors pronouns before the verb in everyday speech. Me, te and nos are very common. The use of lhe/lhes varies by region and register: speakers may use lhe for a formal or third-person recipient, use it as a form of address, or prefer explicit phrases such as para ele, para ela and para vocês. In informal speech, te may occur with você in many regions. That mixture is widespread in real usage, although formal teaching may recommend maintaining a consistent person system.

Formal “you” is context-dependent

In European Portuguese, lhe can refer politely to a person addressed as você, o senhor or a senhora: Posso mostrar-lhe o quarto, senhora Silva? In Brazil, o senhor/a senhora remains a clear respectful choice, while você ranges from neutral to informal depending on region and relationship. The grammar of lhe alone does not tell you exactly how formal the interaction is.

Some verbs differ from English

Learn the complement with the verb. Standard Portuguese has telefonar a alguém (“phone someone”), responder a alguém (“answer someone”) and obedecer a alguém (“obey someone”), so these can take lhe: Telefonei-lhe, Respondi-lhe, Obedeci-lhe. Everyday Brazilian usage may choose other constructions, but recognizing the standard pattern helps with formal writing and European Portuguese.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but you will encounter them later.

Two object pronouns together

When both the recipient and the thing are pronouns, Portuguese can combine them. For example, me + o becomes mo, and lhe + o becomes lho:

• Ele deu-mo. — “He gave it to me.”
• Eu entreguei-lho. — “I handed it to him/her.”
• Não lho contei. — “I didn’t tell it to him/her.”

Related forms include ma, mos, mas; to, ta, tos, tas; no-lo, no-la; vo-lo, vo-la; lhos, lhas. These combinations are productive in formal and European Portuguese, but many sound uncommon in everyday Brazilian speech, where speakers often rephrase: Ele deu isso para mim or Eu entreguei o documento a ela.

Future and conditional mesoclisis

Very formal Portuguese may place a pronoun inside a synthetic future or conditional verb. This is called mesoclisis—literally, middle placement:

• Dar-lhe-ei uma resposta amanhã. — “I will give him/her an answer tomorrow.”
• Enviar-lhes-íamos os documentos. — “We would send them the documents.”

It is associated with formal writing and careful style, especially in Brazil, and is rare in ordinary conversation. A natural alternative is often a different future construction: Vou dar-lhe uma resposta in European Portuguese or Vou lhe dar uma resposta in Brazilian Portuguese.

Clarifying or emphasizing a recipient

A full phrase can clarify a potentially ambiguous pronoun: Dei-lhe o livro a ela, não a ele. Such doubling has regional and stylistic constraints, so beginners should not treat it as obligatory. Its purpose is usually contrast or clarity, not basic agreement.

Pronouns and infinitives

Placement around an infinitive can vary with syntax and regional style: Quero dizer-te uma coisa is natural in European Portuguese, while Quero te dizer uma coisa is natural in Brazil. With a negative infinitive phrase, you may see para não lhe dizer a verdade. These patterns become easier once you understand verb phrases and pronoun-placement triggers.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-part sentences. Choose a verb, a thing and a recipient: dar + o café + à Marta. Say the full sentence, then replace only the recipient: Dou-lhe o café.
2. Drill placement in pairs. For European Portuguese, contrast an affirmative and negative form: Conto-te tudo / Não te conto tudo. For Brazilian Portuguese, record the everyday pattern too: Te conto tudo / Não te conto tudo.
3. Listen for regional choices. In a Portuguese recording, note whether speakers say dou-lhe, lhe dou or use para ele/ela. Copy one model in your own production, but train yourself to understand the others.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — helps you identify who performs the action before adding a recipient.