Formal Direct Object Pronouns (O, A, Os, As) | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

The third-person direct object clitics o, a, os, as are the backbone of formal written Brazilian Portuguese. You will not say them much in conversation — spoken Brazil prefers vi ele or simply dropping the object — but you cannot read a newspaper, contract, novel, or academic paper without them, and you cannot write educated Portuguese without controlling them. This page is your reference for the prescriptive system.

The forms agree in gender and number

Unlike English "it/them," which ignore gender, the Portuguese clitics must match the noun they replace.

Clitic	Replaces	English
o	masculine singular noun	him / it
a	feminine singular noun	her / it
os	masculine (or mixed) plural	them
as	feminine plural	them

The agreement is with the grammatical gender of the replaced noun, not with any natural gender. O livro (the book, masculine) becomes o; a mesa (the table, feminine) becomes a.

Comprei o livro e li-o em dois dias.

I bought the book and read it in two days. (formal/literary)

A proposta é interessante; vamos analisá-la com calma.

The proposal is interesting; let's analyze it carefully. (formal)

Os documentos chegaram e o advogado já os revisou.

The documents arrived and the lawyer has already reviewed them. (formal)

Note that o/a/os/as also serve as the formal way to say "you" as a direct object — Eu o vi, senhor ("I saw you, sir"). The same clitic covers "him/it" and formal "you," with context disambiguating.

Foi um prazer conhecê-lo, senhor diretor.

It was a pleasure to meet you, director. (formal address — o = you)

Placement: proclisis vs enclisis

The clitic can sit before the verb (proclisis) or after it attached by a hyphen (enclisis). Choosing correctly is the heart of the formal system, and it follows real rules — not free choice.

Enclisis (after the verb)

The traditional default in formal Portuguese is enclisis, especially when the clause begins with the verb. The clitic attaches with a hyphen.

Encontrei-o na entrada do prédio.

I found him at the building entrance. (formal — verb-initial, so enclisis)

Convidaram-na para a cerimônia.

They invited her to the ceremony. (formal)

You cannot begin a formal written sentence with a clitic — "O vi" is prescriptively wrong as a sentence opener (even though spoken Brazil happily says me liga sentence-initially with me). Hence enclisis steps in: Vi-o.

Proclisis (before the verb)

Certain "attractor" words pull the clitic in front of the verb. The most common triggers are:

Negation: não, nunca, ninguém, nada, jamais.
Subordinating conjunctions: que, quando, porque, se, embora.
Certain adverbs: já, sempre, talvez, também.
Most relative and interrogative words: que, quem, onde.

Não o vi na reunião de ontem.

I didn't see him at yesterday's meeting. (negation triggers proclisis)

Sei que a encontraram sã e salva.

I know (that) they found her safe and sound. ('que' triggers proclisis)

Quando os recebermos, avisaremos.

When we receive them, we'll let you know. ('quando' triggers proclisis)

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The mental rule: a sentence can't start with a clitic, so a verb-initial clause uses enclisis. But put an attractor word (não, que, quando...) in front of the verb and the clitic jumps to proclisis. Brazilian writing actually leans proclitic far more than European Portuguese — when in doubt and an attractor is present, proclisis is the safer Brazilian choice.

Fusion with verb endings (preview)

The clitics o/a/os/as physically merge with certain verb endings, producing forms that look alarming at first:

Verbs ending in -r, -s, -z drop that consonant and the clitic gains an l: fazer + o → fazê-lo, fizemos + os → fizemo-los, fez + a → fê-la.
Verbs ending in a nasal sound (-m, -ão, -õe) trigger a clitic that gains an n: dão + os → dão-nos → spelled dão-nos; põe + a → põe-na.

É difícil fazê-lo sem ajuda.

It's hard to do it without help. (fazer + o → fazê-lo)

Quero vê-la antes da viagem.

I want to see her before the trip. (ver + a → vê-la)

This fusion has its own dedicated page; for now, just recognize that vê-lo, fazê-la, comprá-los are the formal clitics merging with an infinitive, not strange new words.

When to use this system — and when not to

Use o/a/os/as when you are:

writing formal prose, reports, contracts, or academic work;
reading literature, journalism, or official documents;
speaking in a deliberately elevated or ceremonial register (a courtroom, a formal speech).

Do not force these clitics into casual conversation. Saying "Vi-o ontem" to a friend sounds stiff and over-educated; Brazilians say vi ele or drop the object. The skill you're building here is bidirectional comprehension and formal production, not casual speech. See the colloquial page for the spoken counterpart.

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Think of o/a/os/as as your "reading and writing" gear and vi ele / object-dropping as your "talking" gear. Fluent learners shift between them by register, exactly as Brazilians do.

Common Mistakes

❌ Vi a proposta e analisei-o ontem.

Gender mismatch — 'proposta' is feminine, so the clitic must be 'a', not 'o'.

✅ Vi a proposta e analisei-a ontem.

I saw the proposal and analyzed it yesterday.

❌ O encontrei na entrada. (formal writing, verb is clause-initial)

Incorrect for formal writing — a clause can't open with a clitic; use enclisis.

✅ Encontrei-o na entrada.

I found him at the entrance. (verb-initial → enclisis)

❌ Não encontrei-o na reunião.

Incorrect — negation 'não' triggers proclisis, so the clitic must come before the verb.

✅ Não o encontrei na reunião.

I didn't find him at the meeting.

❌ Quero ver-a antes da viagem.

Incorrect fusion — after an -r infinitive the clitic becomes -la with an accent on the verb: 'vê-la'.

✅ Quero vê-la antes da viagem.

I want to see her before the trip.

❌ Os documentos? Já revisei eles. (in a formal report)

✅ Os documentos? Já os revisei.

The documents? I've already reviewed them. (formal)

Key Takeaways

o / a / os / as agree in gender and number with the noun they replace, and also serve as the formal direct-object "you."
A clause cannot start with a clitic, so verb-initial clauses use enclisis (hyphenated, after the verb): encontrei-o.
Attractor words — negation, conjunctions like que/quando, adverbs like já/nunca — trigger proclisis (before the verb): não o vi. Brazilian writing favors proclisis more than European Portuguese.
The clitics fuse with verb endings (fazê-lo, vê-la, comprá-los); see the dedicated contractions page.
This is the written/formal gear. For speech, switch to vi ele or object omission — don't mix the registers.

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