An indirect object is the person to whom or for whom something happens — the recipient. In English we mark this with "to/for" or with word order (I gave *him the book). Portuguese has a dedicated set of clitic pronouns for the job: *me, te, lhe, nos, lhes. They are short, unstressed, and lean on the verb. This page covers what they are and how they behave — and it tells you the single most important fact about them in Brazil: in everyday speech, lhe is quietly dying, replaced by para ele / para ela.
The forms
| Pronoun | Means "to/for…" | Register note |
|---|---|---|
| me | to/for me | universal, fully alive |
| te | to/for you (sg.) | universal in BR speech |
| lhe | to/for him / her / you (formal) | fading in speech; alive in formal writing |
| nos | to/for us | somewhat formal; speech prefers pra gente |
| lhes | to/for them / you all (formal) | formal/written only |
These are the same forms as the reflexive and (for me, te, nos) the direct-object pronouns. What makes a pronoun "indirect" is its role in the sentence — the recipient — not its spelling. Only lhe / lhes are exclusively indirect in the standard grammar.
Ele me deu um presente lindo.
He gave me a beautiful present. (everyday — 'me' = to me)
Vou te contar um segredo.
I'm going to tell you a secret. (everyday — 'te' = to you)
Eles nos enviaram o contrato por e-mail.
They sent us the contract by email. ('nos' = to us, slightly formal tone)
How they attach to the verb
Indirect clitics follow the same placement logic as direct objects (see Direct Object Pronoun Placement). In spoken Brazil, that means proclisis — before the verb — almost everywhere, including the start of a sentence.
Me empresta o carregador?
Will you lend me the charger? (everyday — 'me' before the verb, sentence-initial)
Te mando o arquivo agora mesmo.
I'll send you the file right now. (everyday)
In formal writing, the prescriptive rules apply: enclisis as default, proclisis after triggers. This is the register where you see the hyphenated deu-lhe, enviei-lhe.
Dei-lhe o livro na semana passada.
I gave him/her the book last week. (formal written — enclitic 'lhe')
A empresa enviou-lhes uma carta de agradecimento.
The company sent them a letter of thanks. (formal written)
The big Brazilian reality: 'lhe' is fading
Here is the fact that no European-Portuguese textbook will warn you about. In everyday Brazilian speech, the clitic lhe has largely disappeared as an indirect object. Brazilians don't say Dei-lhe o livro or Lhe dei o livro at the dinner table. Instead they reach for a prepositional phrase: para ele / para ela (often shortened to pra ele / pra ela).
Dei o livro pra ele ontem.
I gave him the book yesterday. (everyday — 'pra ele' replaces 'lhe')
Comprei um presente pra ela.
I bought her a present. (everyday)
Falei com ele sobre isso.
I talked to him about it. (everyday — many 'lhe' contexts are reframed with 'com ele')
The two living, fully-natural clitic indirect pronouns in Brazilian speech are me and te. Everything that would have been lhe or lhes gets re-expressed with para/pra + tonic pronoun. This is covered in depth in Para Ele / Para Ela: Prepositional Indirect Object.
Why 'lhe' is also ambiguous
Part of the reason lhe is retreating is that it is genuinely confusing. In the standard, lhe covers "to him," "to her," and "to you (formal)" all at once. So Eu lhe disse can mean "I told him," "I told her," or "I told you." Brazilians resolve this ambiguity the practical way — by naming the person with para ele / para ela / para você. There is also a separate Brazilian drift where lhe gets reanalyzed as a polite direct object meaning "you," which is a tangle of its own — see 'Lhe' as Direct Object in BR Colloquial.
Eu lhe agradeço pela atenção.
I thank you for your attention. (formal — set polite phrase where 'lhe' survives)
'Nos' vs 'pra gente'
The first-person plural nos ("to us") is fully grammatical but carries a faintly formal tone in speech. Casual Brazilian very often substitutes pra gente ("for us"), mirroring the way a gente has displaced nós as the everyday subject.
Eles trouxeram lembrancinhas pra gente.
They brought us little souvenirs. (everyday — 'pra gente' for 'nos')
O professor nos explicou a matéria de novo.
The teacher explained the material to us again. ('nos' — neutral/slightly formal)
Verbs that typically take an indirect object
The indirect object pronoun naturally appears with verbs of giving, telling, sending, and showing — verbs whose meaning implies a recipient: dar (to give), dizer/falar/contar (to tell), enviar/mandar (to send), mostrar (to show), pedir (to ask of), responder (to answer), agradecer (to thank), pertencer (to belong).
Me conta como foi a viagem!
Tell me how the trip went! (everyday — 'contar' + 'me')
Mostra pra ela a foto que você tirou.
Show her the photo you took. (everyday — 'pra ela' instead of 'lhe')
Common Mistakes
❌ Dei-lhe o livro. (said casually to a friend in Brazil)
Sounds bookish/European in speech — Brazilians say it differently out loud.
✅ Dei o livro pra ele.
I gave him the book. (natural spoken Brazilian)
❌ Eu falei ele sobre o problema.
Incorrect — 'falar' needs the preposition 'com'.
✅ Eu falei com ele sobre o problema.
I talked to him about the problem.
❌ Vou contar-te um segredo. (everyday speech)
Understandable but stiff — Brazilians front the clitic.
✅ Vou te contar um segredo.
I'm going to tell you a secret. (natural Brazilian)
❌ Comprei um presente lhe.
Incorrect — 'lhe' is a proclitic/enclitic clitic, not a stranded word after the object.
✅ Comprei um presente pra ela.
I bought her a present. (everyday solution)
❌ Ele deu eu um presente.
Incorrect — 'eu' is a subject pronoun and cannot be the recipient here.
✅ Ele me deu um presente.
He gave me a present. (use the clitic 'me' for the recipient)
Key Takeaways
- The clitic indirect objects are me, te, lhe, nos, lhes ("to/for me, you, him/her/you-formal, us, them").
- In formal writing they attach to the verb (deu-lhe, enviei-lhes); in speech they front the verb (me deu, te conto).
- me and te are fully alive in Brazilian speech; lhe / lhes are fading and survive mainly in fixed polite phrases.
- Brazilians replace lhe with pra ele / pra ela / pra você — your default for speech.
- nos is grammatical but often becomes pra gente in casual speech.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Para Ele / Para Ela: Prepositional Indirect ObjectA2 — The dominant Brazilian way to express a recipient: 'para + tonic pronoun' (para mim, para você, para ele) — colloquially 'pra' — which sidesteps the fading clitic 'lhe'.
- 'Lhe' as Direct Object in BR ColloquialB1 — A genuinely unstable Brazilian shift: 'lhe' — prescriptively an indirect (dative) pronoun — is increasingly used as a direct object and as a polite second-person 'you', especially in the Northeast.
- Indirect Object Pronoun PlacementA2 — Where the indirect object pronouns me, te, lhe, nos, and lhes go in relation to the verb — and why Brazilian speech defaults to proclisis.
- 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.
- Combined Object Pronouns: Me + O, Te + AB2 — The formal fused clitics mo, ma, to, ta, lho, lha — and why they are effectively dead in spoken Brazilian Portuguese.