One of the very first things that separates Brazilian Portuguese from the European standard — and from the textbook — is where you put the object pronoun. The grammar books say the default is after the verb (Viu-me = "saw me"). Real Brazilians say it before the verb almost everywhere (Me viu), even at the very start of a sentence, which the prescriptive rule forbids outright. This page teaches both systems and, crucially, tells you which one to actually use.
The three positions (the vocabulary)
Portuguese grammar names three slots for the clitic relative to the verb:
- Próclise (proclisis) — pronoun before the verb, no hyphen: me viu, te amo, o comprei.
- Ênclise (enclisis) — pronoun after the verb, with a hyphen: viu-me, amo-te, comprei-o.
- Mesóclise (mesoclisis) — pronoun inside a future or conditional verb: ver-me-á ("he will see me"), dar-lhe-ia ("I would give him").
English has nothing comparable: object pronouns in English live in one fixed place, after the verb (I saw her, never I her saw). Portuguese instead slides the pronoun around depending on what comes before the verb — and the rules differ between the written standard and spoken Brazil.
The prescriptive system (formal writing)
The standard, taught in school and required in formal exams (concursos, vestibular), works like this.
Enclisis is the default. In an affirmative main clause with nothing special before the verb, the pronoun goes after it.
O detetive observou-a por vários minutos.
The detective watched her for several minutes. (formal written — enclisis)
Proclisis is forced by certain "attractor" words before the verb. The main triggers are:
- Negation: não, nunca, jamais, ninguém, nada — Não me viu.
- Subordinating conjunctions: que, porque, quando, se, embora — Disse que me viu.
- Certain adverbs: já, sempre, talvez, também, ainda — Sempre me ajuda.
- Most interrogative and relative words: quem, que, onde — Quem te chamou?
Não a observou por tempo suficiente.
He didn't watch her for long enough. (formal — negation forces proclisis)
Foi o gerente que me atendeu ontem.
It was the manager who served me yesterday. (formal — relative 'que' forces proclisis)
Mesoclisis appears only with the future and conditional, and only in formal/literary registers. It is essentially extinct in speech and rare even in writing.
Informá-lo-emos assim que houver novidades.
We will inform you as soon as there is news. (literary/very formal — mesoclisis)
What Brazilians actually do: proclisis everywhere
Spoken Brazilian Portuguese has collapsed the whole system into one habit: put the pronoun before the verb, always. This includes the absolute start of a sentence, exactly where the prescriptive rule bans it.
Me liga quando chegar em casa.
Call me when you get home. (everyday speech — sentence-initial proclisis)
Te amo demais.
I love you so much. (everyday speech — 'Te amo', never 'Amo-te' in Brazil)
Me empresta dez reais?
Will you lend me ten reais? (everyday speech)
This is not sloppy or "incorrect" Brazilian — it is the genuine grammar of the spoken language, used by educated speakers in every region. A Brazilian who said Amo-te to a partner would sound like they were quoting a 19th-century novel. The enclitic survives in Brazil mainly in frozen formal writing, journalism, and the speech of someone deliberately performing formality.
Se vira aí que eu já volto.
Manage on your own for a bit, I'll be right back. (informal — 'se' proclitic, sentence-initial)
The split that matters for learners
Put bluntly:
| Context | Prescriptive / formal written | Spoken & informal BR |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative main clause | Enclisis: Viu-me | Proclisis: Me viu |
| Sentence-initial | Enclisis required: Chamo-te | Proclisis: Te chamo |
| After negation/conjunction | Proclisis: Não me viu | Proclisis: Não me viu (same!) |
| Future/conditional | Mesoclisis or proclisis | Proclisis: Me vai ver / Vai me ver |
Notice that the negation/conjunction row is identical in both systems — proclisis. That is your safe harbor: after não, que, quando, and friends, the pronoun goes before the verb in every register. If you simply use proclisis everywhere, you will always be correct in speech and only "wrong" (overly informal) in the narrow case of formal writing.
Quando me viu, ela sorriu.
When she saw me, she smiled. (correct in both formal and informal — conjunction forces proclisis)
Placement with verb clusters
When there are two verbs (auxiliary + main verb, or a verb + infinitive/gerund), Brazilian speech attaches the clitic to whichever verb is handy — usually right before the main verb.
Vou te ligar mais tarde.
I'm going to call you later. (everyday — clitic before the infinitive)
Tô te esperando aqui fora.
I'm waiting for you out here. (everyday — clitic before the gerund)
The formal written equivalents would be Ligar-te-ei or Vou ligar-te and Estou esperando-te — both correct on paper, both vanishingly rare in conversation. For the imperative specifically, see Imperative + Clitic Pronouns.
Common Mistakes
❌ Amo-te, said casually to a partner in Brazil.
Not ungrammatical, but it sounds archaic/European — no Brazilian speaks this way.
✅ Te amo.
I love you. (natural spoken Brazilian)
❌ Liga-me quando chegar.
Sounds stiff/European in everyday speech.
✅ Me liga quando chegar.
Call me when you get home. (natural Brazilian, even sentence-initially)
❌ Não viu-me na festa.
Incorrect even in formal writing — negation forces the pronoun BEFORE the verb.
✅ Não me viu na festa.
He didn't see me at the party. (correct in every register)
❌ Que chamou-te?
Incorrect — the interrogative/relative 'que' forces proclisis.
✅ Quem te chamou?
Who called you? (proclisis after the question word)
❌ Eu vou ligar-te depois, as everyday spoken Brazilian.
Understandable but unnatural in speech.
✅ Eu vou te ligar depois.
I'll call you later. (natural Brazilian clitic placement)
Key Takeaways
- Three positions exist: proclisis (before), enclisis (after), mesoclisis (inside future/conditional, literary only).
- The prescriptive default is enclisis; spoken Brazilian default is proclisis — even at the start of a sentence.
- After negation and conjunctions both systems agree on proclisis — your reliable safe zone.
- Say Me liga, Te amo, Me empresta without hesitation; reserve Liga-me, Amo-te for formal writing or a deliberately literary tone.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- BR Colloquial Direct Object: 'Vi Ele' / 'Te Vi'A2 — The direct object system Brazilians actually speak — proclitic me/te, subject pronouns as objects, and dropping the object entirely.
- Proclisis as BR Default (Speech)A2 — In spoken Brazilian Portuguese the object pronoun goes before the verb almost every time — even at the start of a sentence.
- Enclisis in Formal Written BRB1 — The hyphenated post-verbal clitic — Chamo-me João, viu-me, sentou-se — that you need for formal Brazilian writing and the spelling changes it triggers.
- Imperative + Clitic PronounsB1 — Where object pronouns go with commands — the prescriptive enclitic rule (fale-me) versus the Brazilian colloquial reality (me fala), one of the biggest BR/PT-PT splits.
- Direct Object Pronouns: OverviewA2 — Brazilian Portuguese has two parallel systems for direct object pronouns — a formal written one and the spoken one Brazilians actually use.