Reflexive Verbs in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese reflexive verbs pair a verb with me, te, se, nos, vos, or se: Levanto-me às sete means “I get up at seven.” The pronoun matches the person doing the action. In European Portuguese it normally follows the verb in a simple affirmative statement, while Brazilian Portuguese commonly puts it before the verb: chamo-me and me chamo both mean “my name is.”

Overview

A reflexive pronoun is a short word that points back to the subject—the person or thing doing the action. In A Ana veste-se, Ana both performs and receives the action: “Ana gets dressed.” Portuguese also uses the same pattern in verbs whose natural English translation has no “-self,” such as chamar-se (“to be called”), levantar-se (“to get up”), and divertir-se (“to have fun”).

This is an A1 topic because reflexive verbs are central to introductions and daily routines. You need them to say your name, describe when you wake up and go to bed, or explain how you get ready. The basic job is simple: conjugate the verb and choose the pronoun that matches its subject.

For an English-speaking learner, there are two important differences. First, English and Portuguese do not mark the same verbs as reflexive: natural English often says “I get up,” where Portuguese says, literally, something closer to “I raise myself.” Second, the position of the little pronoun changes according to sentence structure and regional usage.

How It Works

The six reflexive pronouns

The subject is who performs the action. The reflexive pronoun must refer to that same person.

Subject	Pronoun	Approximate English value	Example
eu	me	myself	levanto-me / me levanto
tu	te	yourself	levantas-te / te levantas
ele, ela, você	se	himself, herself, yourself	levanta-se / se levanta
nós	nos	ourselves	levantamo-nos / nos levantamos
vós	vos	yourselves	levantais-vos / vos levantais
eles, elas, vocês	se	themselves, yourselves	levantam-se / se levantam

Você takes a third-person verb and se, not te: Você se chama Rui? The traditional vós/vos forms occur in religious, literary, and some regional language, but everyday plural “you” is usually vocês/se.

Conjugate the verb, then match the pronoun

Dictionaries show the infinitive with -se, for example levantar-se. The -se is not part of the verb ending. To build a present-tense form:

1. Remove infinitive -se: levantar.
2. Conjugate the verb: levanto, levantas, levanta...
3. Select the matching pronoun: me, te, se...
4. Put the pronoun in the position required by the sentence and variety of Portuguese.

In a standard European Portuguese affirmative statement, levantar-se follows this pattern:

Person	Form	Meaning
eu	levanto-me	I get up
tu	levantas-te	you get up
ele/ela/você	levanta-se	he/she gets up; you get up
nós	levantamo-nos	we get up
vós	levantais-vos	you get up
eles/elas/vocês	levantam-se	they get up; you get up

Before -nos, the final -s of a first-person-plural verb form disappears: levantamos + nos becomes levantamo-nos; divertimos + nos becomes divertimo-nos. This spelling change applies when the pronoun is attached after the verb. It does not occur when the pronoun comes first: não nos levantamos.

Three relationships between verb and pronoun

Not every verb with -se works in exactly the same way.

• A genuinely self-directed action: O Pedro lava-se (“Pedro washes himself”). The person acts on the same person.
• A routine or change-of-position verb: Ela deita-se cedo (“She goes to bed early”). English normally uses no “herself.”
• A verb learned as a pronominal expression: Eles divertem-se (“They have fun”). Here it is best to learn the complete unit divertir-se rather than translate each part.

Some verbs change meaning when the pronoun disappears. Levanto a mala means “I lift the suitcase,” but levanto-me means “I get up.” Deito o bebé na cama means “I lay the baby in bed,” while deito-me means “I go to bed” or “I lie down.”

Pronoun placement: the beginner rule

There are two terms worth recognizing: enclisis means putting the pronoun after and attaching it to the verb; proclisis means putting it before the verb.

In European Portuguese, use enclisis in a plain affirmative main clause:

• Chamo-me Inês. — My name is Inês.
• O Tiago veste-se depressa. — Tiago gets dressed quickly.
• Deitamo-nos à meia-noite. — We go to bed at midnight.

Use a hyphen when the pronoun follows the verb. Several common words attract the pronoun to a position before the verb:

• negation: Não me levanto cedo.
• a question word: Como te chamas?
• certain adverbs: Já se vestiu. (“He/She has already got dressed.”)
• a subordinate clause (a dependent part introduced by a word such as que): Sei que ela se levanta cedo.

In Brazilian Portuguese, proclisis is extremely common, especially in speech:

• Eu me chamo Beatriz.
• Ele se levanta às sete.
• Nós nos divertimos muito.

Sentence-initial pronouns such as Me chamo Beatriz are natural in everyday Brazilian speech and informal writing. More formal editing may prefer Eu me chamo Beatriz or, depending on style, Chamo-me Beatriz. In either variety, não and question words naturally favor the pronoun before the verb: Não me lembro; Como você se chama?

Reflexive or reciprocal?

With a plural subject, the same pronouns can mean “each other” rather than “ourselves/themselves.” This is called a reciprocal meaning—each person acts toward the other.

• Nós vemo-nos ao sábado. — We see each other on Saturdays.
• Eles abraçaram-se. — They hugged each other.

Context normally makes the meaning clear. If necessary, Portuguese can add um ao outro (“each other”): Eles ajudaram-se um ao outro.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Como te chamas?	What’s your name?	Informal singular tu; the question word attracts te.
Chamo-me Leonor.	My name is Leonor.	Standard European Portuguese affirmative placement.
Eu me chamo Rafael.	My name is Rafael.	Common Brazilian Portuguese pattern.
Levanto-me às sete.	I get up at seven.	Daily routine; European-style enclisis.
Não me levanto cedo ao domingo.	I don’t get up early on Sundays.	Não requires the pronoun before the verb.
Ela deita-se tarde.	She goes to bed late.	A plain affirmative statement.
A que horas vocês se deitam?	What time do you go to bed?	Vocês takes third-person plural and se.
Vestimo-nos antes do pequeno-almoço.	We get dressed before breakfast.	The final -s is dropped before attached nos.
As crianças já se vestem sozinhas.	The children already dress themselves.	Já attracts the pronoun; sozinhas reinforces “by themselves.”
Senta-te aqui, por favor.	Sit here, please.	Affirmative tu command in European Portuguese.
O bebé chama-se Tomás.	The baby is called Tomás.	Chamar-se gives a person’s name.
Divertimo-nos muito na festa.	We had a lot of fun at the party.	Past event; attached nos causes loss of final -s.
Eles olham-se ao espelho.	They look at themselves in the mirror.	Reflexive meaning.
Os amigos cumprimentaram-se.	The friends greeted each other.	Reciprocal meaning.

Common Mistakes

Leaving out the pronoun

• Wrong: Eu levanto às sete. (for “I get up at seven”)
• Right: Eu levanto-me às sete. / Eu me levanto às sete.
• Why: Without the pronoun, levantar normally means to raise or lift something. Use levantar-se for getting up.

Using se for every person

• Wrong: Eu se chamo Daniel.
• Right: Eu chamo-me Daniel. / Eu me chamo Daniel.
• Why: Dictionary -se changes to match the subject. With eu, use me.

Combining você with te

• Wrong: Como você te chama?
• Right: Como você se chama?
• Why: In the standard pattern, você takes third-person grammar and therefore se. Como te chamas? is correct with tu.

Putting the pronoun after a negative verb

• Wrong: Não levanto-me cedo.
• Right: Não me levanto cedo.
• Why: Não attracts an unstressed pronoun to the position before the verb in both major varieties.

Keeping the -s before attached nos

• Wrong: Nós levantamos-nos cedo.
• Right: Nós levantamo-nos cedo.
• Why: The final -s is removed when nos is attached to a first-person-plural verb form.

Translating English “myself” mechanically

• Wrong: Eu próprio fiz-me o jantar. (intended: “I made dinner myself.”)
• Right: Eu próprio fiz o jantar. / Fiz o jantar sozinho.
• Why: English emphatic “myself” does not make the verb reflexive. Use próprio or sozinho when the meaning is “without help” or “personally.”

Usage Notes

European Portuguese generally preserves the traditional contrast between enclisis in neutral affirmative clauses (ela senta-se) and proclisis after an attracting word (ela não se senta). In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, proclisis is the everyday default in many environments (ela se senta). You do not need to mix the two systems at random: choose the variety you are learning, while learning to recognize both.

Portuguese often includes a reflexive pronoun where English does not. Learn frequent routine verbs as complete vocabulary items: acordar-se or simply acordar (“to wake up,” with variation in use), levantar-se, lavar-se, vestir-se, sentar-se, and deitar-se. Not every apparent English equivalent behaves identically, so a good dictionary example is more reliable than word-for-word translation.

Be careful with chamar. Chamar alguém means “to call someone”: Chamo a Ana. Chamar-se gives a name: Ela chama-se Ana / Ela se chama Ana. The presence of the pronoun changes the sentence structure and meaning.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

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

With an infinitive, pronoun position can vary. European Portuguese commonly attaches it: É melhor deitar-me cedo (“It is better for me to go to bed early”). Brazilian Portuguese often uses placement such as É melhor eu me deitar cedo. The explicit eu makes clear who will go to bed.

With compound verb forms, European Portuguese generally places the pronoun with the conjugated auxiliary: Tenho-me levantado cedo (“I have been getting up early”), and an attracting word moves it before that auxiliary: Não me tenho levantado cedo. Brazilian usage commonly has Tenho me levantado cedo. With a gerund, forms such as European vestindo-se and Brazilian se vestindo reflect the same broader regional preferences.

Formal European Portuguese also has mesoclisis, placement inside a future or conditional verb form: levantar-me-ei (“I will get up”). It is now strongly associated with formal writing and careful style; everyday language normally chooses a simpler construction, such as vou levantar-me. Recognizing the form is more useful than trying to produce it as a beginner.

Finally, se has jobs that are not reflexive. It can mark an impersonal statement or a passive-like construction, as in Vendem-se casas (“Houses are for sale”). In such a sentence, the meaning is not “the houses sell themselves.” Later study of impersonal and passive constructions will help you distinguish these uses.

Practice Tips

1. Build a six-line routine with one subject per line: eu levanto-me, tu levantas-te, and so on. Then rewrite it with the pronouns before the verbs to practise recognizing Brazilian placement.
2. Make paired cards for affirmative and negative sentences: Ela deita-se cedo → Ela não se deita cedo. This trains placement at the same time as meaning.
3. Learn each new item in a short phrase, not just as an infinitive: chamar-se Marta, vestir-se depressa, divertir-se na festa. Say which variety each model represents so that your own usage stays consistent.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -AR Verbs — provides the present-tense endings used in verbs such as levantar-se, deitar-se, and chamar-se.