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Reflexive Verbs Made Simple in Portuguese

Reflexive Verbs Made Simple in Portuguese

posted on June 30, 2015

Reflexive Verbs Made Simple in Portuguese

Reflexive verbs express what a person does to him/herself.

In other words, reflexive verbs are used when the person who performs the action is also the person who receives the action. For example: “I cut myself cooking”. The action reflects back on the subject. That is why they are called reflexive verbs.

Being a reflexive verb does not give the verb a new verb tense or conjugation. You conjugate the verb in the tense that you need just like any other verb.

What indicates that it is a reflexive verb is the use of a reflexive pronoun.

Let me show you how to use reflexive verbs. There are 15 examples in this lesson and flashcards to help you learn 29 commonly used reflexive verbs. 

Examples of Reflexive Verbs in Action

Example 1:

Eu me cortei cozinhando. = I cut myself cooking.

Reflexive Verbs Made Simple in Portuguese

  • The verb Cortar is conjugated in the past tense. Nothing new here: Eu cortei.
  • Now notice that ME before the verb. That is the reflexive pronoun associated with Eu.
  • In this sentence, it works as “myself” in English.

Example 2:

Ana se cortou cozinhando. = Ana cut herself cooking.

  • The verb Cortar is conjugated in the past tense: Ana cortou.
  • Before the verb, you see the reflexive pronoun SE which is associated with Ele, Ela.
  • In English you use “herself” or “himself”

 

Reflexive Pronouns

Personal Pronoun Reflexive Pronoun Exemple
Eu me Eu me cortei. (I cut myself)
Tu te Tu te cortaste. (You cut yourself)
Você se Você se cortou. (You cut yourself)
Ele se Ele se cortou. (He cut himself)
Ela se Ela se cortou. (She cut herself)
A gente se A gente se cortou. (We cut ourselves)
Nós nos Nós nos cortamos. (We cut ourselves)
Vocês se Vocês se cortaram. (You cut yourselves)
Eles se Eles se cortaram. (They cut themselves)
Elas se Elas se cortaram. (They cut themselves)

 

A verb can be reflexive in Portuguese, but not in English

Often times a verb is reflexive in Portuguese, but not in English. That is, it would not take “myself”, “himself”, etc. in English, but it is reflexive in Portuguese.

Example:

  • As crianças se divertem no parque. = Kids have fun in the playground.

So how do you know when you need to use a reflexive pronoun?

You just know. There is no simple rule here. You need to learn which verbs are reflexive and when. Check out our flashcards below to learn 29 common reflexive verbs.

 

Should you place the reflexive pronoun before or after the verb?

Usually you have the option to place the pronoun before or after the verb.

In writing, especially formal writing for business or school, the preference is to place the pronoun after the verb.

  • Ana cortou-se cozinhando. = Ana cut herself cooking.

Use a hyphen when you place the pronoun after the verb,.

In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, we usually put the reflexive pronoun before the verb:

  • Ana se cortou cozinhando. = Ana cut herself cooking.

With that said, there are a few situations in which you need to place the pronoun before the verb even in formal Portuguese. You don’t have an option in these situations.

 

When You Need to Place the Pronoun Before the Verb

  1. When you have a negative word in the sentence
  • Eu não me cortei. = I didn’t cut myself.
  • Paulo nunca se diverte nas festas. = Paulo never has fun at the parties.
  • Ninguém se cortou. Que bom! = No one got cut. That’s nice!

 

  1. When you have a question word in the sentence
  • Quem se cortou? = Who got cut?
  • Quando Ana se cortou? = When did Ana cut herself?

 

  1. After relative pronouns such as que and quem
  • Ana é a pessoa que mais se corta na cozinha. = Ana is the person who cuts herself the most in the kitchen.

There are a few other rules. These are the most common.

When You Have Two Verbs

When you have two verbs in a row, you can place the reflexive pronoun:

  1. between the two verbs; do not use a hyphen in Brazil
  2. or after the second verb, using a hyphen

In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, it is more common to place it between the verbs.

  • Eu vou me vestir. = I am going to get dressed.
  • Eu vou vestir-me. = I am going to get dressed.
  • Diana quer se levantar. = Diana wants to get up.
  • Diana quer levantar-se. = Diana wants to get up.

 

When You Cannot Place the Pronoun Before the Verb

You cannot start a sentence with a reflexive pronoun.

But I need to say that this may be the most disrespected grammar rule in spoken Brazilian Portuguese. In fact, I will even recommend that you break the rule in order to sound more natural in Brazil.

  • Chamo-me Luciana. = My name is Luciana. (This sounds very formal in Brazil)
  • Me chamo Luciana. = My name is Luciana. (This sounds more natural in Brazil)

 

Do Brazilians Always Use Reflexive Verbs?

Well, they should. But as you know, sometimes people develop different ways of speaking in different parts of the country.

The rules above are the official rules for the whole country. But in some parts of Brazil you will hear some reflexive verbs used without the reflexive pronouns.

Should you do the same? If you live in one of these parts of Brazil, you may find it easier to speak like everyone else. But keep in mind that it sounds wrong to those who use the reflexive verbs correctly.

 

13 Examples with Common Reflexive Verbs

  1. Cristina se apaixonou pelo Brasil.

= Cristina fell in love with Brazil.

Reflexive Verbs Made Simple in Portuguese

  1. João e Clara se apaixonaram à primeira vista.

= João and Clara fell in love at first sight.

 

  1. Daniel se arrependeu de ter saído do emprego.

= Daniel regretted leaving his job.

 

  1. Ana está se arrumando para ir ao casamento de Priscila.

= Ana is getting ready to go to Priscila’s wedding.

 

  1. Ana geralmente não gosta de se maquiar.

= Usually Ana does not like to put on makeup.

 

  1. Ana se veste rápido.

= Ana gets dressed quickly.

 

  1. João não gosta de se barbear.

= João doesn’t like to shave.

 

  1. Eu te dei o endereço errado. Desculpe. Eu me enganei.

= I gave you the wrong address. Sorry. I made a mistake.

 

  1. Eu me levanto às 7 durante a semana. E você?

= I get up at 7 during the week. How about you?

 

  1. Como você se chama?

= What is your name? (Literally: How are you called?)

Reflexive Verbs Made Simple in Portuguese

  1. A gente se divertiu muito no casamento.

= We had a lot of fun at the wedding.

 

  1. Cadê a Ana? Ela foi embora sem se despedir?

= Where is Ana? Did she leave without saying goodbye?

Reflexive Verbs Made Simple in Portuguese

  1. Não estou me sentindo muito bem hoje.

= I am not feeling very well today.

 

Flashcards: 29 Reflexive Verbs

Tips to use the flashcards

  • Use the dropdown menu below the cards to choose a study mode.
  • In Flashcard mode, click Options on the top right side to enable sound and choose if you want to see the English or the Portuguese card first, or if you prefer to see both cards at the same time.
  • Try the different study modes to make it more fun and see what works better for you.
  • If you like games, choose Scatter or Space Race study modes.

We have more flashcards in our Portuguese Starter Kit. Check them out too!

Learning Tip

One of the best ways to retain new vocabulary and make sure that you are using your grammar correctly is to use it in context. Your brain will retain the new words better if it sees them in real-life use.

If you have a Portuguese instructor, practice the reflexive verbs with your teacher. A good instructor will facilitate your learning through carefully selected class activities and exercises.

If you are looking for a great Brazilian Portuguese instructor, Book a Trial Lesson with a Street Smart Brazil teacher to see how we can help you speak Portuguese comfortably and correctly.

Happy learning!

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About Luciana Lage

Luciana Lage founded Street Smart Brazil drawing on her passion for Brazilian Portuguese language and culture. Street Smart Brazil has been helping learners around the globe speak Portuguese with ease since 2008. Luciana has also taught Portuguese at the University of California, Berkeley and at the University of San Francisco.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Josh

    April 27, 2021 at 7:13 pm

    Eu gosto muito o seu blog. O rifado por compatir. Por favor me pode ayudar entender cuado um verbo reflexivo tem uma á a final? Así como perder-se-a.

    Me pode dar um ejemplo de uma oracão em inglés que utiliza este tipo de palavras?

    Reply
    • Luciana Lage

      April 28, 2021 at 10:45 am

      Oi, Josh! This is a question of Colocação Pronominal, which applies not only to reflexive verbs. Check out this video: https://youtu.be/k6BHgmlsFmE This lesson is for Brazilian students, so it may be challenging to follow the teacher, but I think it will help you. At about 6 minutes in the lesson she shares an example like the one you asked me about.

      In Brazil we do not use mesóclise (which is this form of colocação pronominal). It fell out of use.

      Reply
      • Josh

        April 29, 2021 at 9:18 pm

        Este vídeo foi muito útil. Tudo fica muito claro agora. Obrigado mesmo!

        E também obrigado por dizer que não se utiliza mesóclise no Brasil. Eu encontro muitos exemplos de mesóclise na Bíblia e até agora me confundia bastante.

        Reply
        • Luciana Lage

          April 30, 2021 at 1:47 pm

          Fiquei feliz de saber que o vídeo foi útil 🙂

          Reply
  2. Odell jensen

    October 8, 2019 at 3:10 am

    I am a beginner learning Portuguese. The examples are very difficult for me to understand. There is a question that says ‘ How do I know when to use a reflexive pronoun’ The answer ‘ You just know’ Well as a native Engish speaker learning Portuguese, I do not know and I come to this site so I could know. Receiving that answer does not help. Where do I get answers if they are not here. It is not as easy as you say it is

    Reply
    • Luciana Lage

      October 9, 2019 at 12:38 pm

      You need to memorize which verbs are reflexive and when they are reflexive. There is no general rule that can tell you what verbs are and are not reflexive.

      Reply
    • Steve

      July 13, 2020 at 7:07 pm

      Guess what Odell, it’s the same answer English teachers give to Brazilians when learning irregular verbs, uncountable nouns, gerunds, pronunciations, silent letters, spelling, capitalizing rules, prepositions, etc. Sooooo get used to it. Studying a list of reflexive verbs is way less complicated.

      Reply
  3. Richard Ashton

    October 14, 2018 at 11:30 pm

    Ive been trying to learn Portuguese for over 10 years and I can still barely string a sentence together. I’m giving it one last try before I give up and admit I’m not smart enough lol
    Can you help me with this,
    algumas obras de arte se perderam na guerra
    Some works of art were lost in the war
    Is perder a reflexive verb? How is se translated to were?

    Just such a frustrating language to learn as I think I’m doing well and then it becomes impossible. Nearly every word means 4 different things and it’s driving me crazy. English is such a simple straight forward language

    Reply
    • Luciana Lage

      October 30, 2018 at 5:43 pm

      Hi, Richard! It is challenging to learn a language, I understand it.

      Perder is can be used as a reflexive verb. It is what is happening in the sentence that you asked about. Another example: Hoje me perdi em Nova York = Today I got lost in NY.

      Reply
  4. hamad

    July 16, 2018 at 6:19 am

    Eu gosto muito de seguir o seu blog por que é muito bom. Eu não sou nativo da esta língua. Por isso eu aprendo como outros.

    Reply
    • Luciana Lage

      July 16, 2018 at 4:53 pm

      Muito obrigada!

      Reply
  5. Masoud

    May 22, 2018 at 9:18 am

    Hi. This was very nice. Please let me know how many kind of ‘se’ we have in Portuguese? If you covered all of them please let me know the links.

    Thanks Luciana

    Reply
    • Luciana Lage

      May 25, 2018 at 10:22 am

      Oi, Masoud! I have not covered all the “se” in Portuguese. A good one to practice is when se = if. Depending on the sentence you will need different verb tenses.

      Reply
  6. Khalid Azhar

    August 14, 2017 at 12:30 am

    Ola,
    Muito obrigado. Seu blog é muito abrangente. Eu freqüentemente o segui.
    Por favor, Corrija a ortografia abaixo

    2. João e Clara se apaixonaram à primeira vista.

    = João and Clara feel ** in love at first sight. / fell**

    Reply
    • Luciana Lage

      August 14, 2017 at 10:24 am

      Obrigada, Khalid!

      Reply

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