A pronominal verb is a verb that carries a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos) as part of its identity, even when no real reflexive meaning is involved. In lembrar-se de ("to remember"), nobody is "remembering themselves" — the se is simply welded to the verb. The single most useful thing to understand about Brazilian Portuguese pronominal verbs is this: they are a vocabulary list as much as a grammar topic. Each one comes bundled with (a) the pronoun and (b) a fixed preposition, and you have to learn all three pieces together, the same way an English speaker learns "to put up with someone" as a unit rather than from rules.
What makes a verb pronominal
English has almost no true equivalent. We say "I remember" with a bare verb; Portuguese says eu me lembro (formal/written) — the pronoun is structurally required by the verb, not added for meaning. Linguists call these inherently pronominal or lexical pronominal verbs, to distinguish them from genuine reflexives (ela se penteia = "she combs herself") and reciprocals (eles se abraçaram = "they hugged each other").
The Brazilian colloquial reality: dropping the se
Here is the honest, messy truth that textbooks hide. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese (informal), the pronoun on many of these verbs is routinely dropped:
Esqueci de comprar o pão.
I forgot to buy the bread. (informal — se dropped)
Esqueci-me de comprar o pão.
I forgot to buy the bread. (formal/written — full pronominal form)
Both are heard. Lembrar de / esquecer de without the pronoun are completely normal in everyday Brazilian speech, and a learner who insists on lembrar-se de in casual conversation will sound slightly bookish. In writing, exams, and formal registers, however, the full pronominal form with de is still the expected standard. The preposition de, crucially, does not drop — that part is non-negotiable in every register.
Reference list
The table below gives the high-frequency pronominal verbs, their meaning, the required preposition, and a note on whether Brazilians commonly drop the pronoun in speech.
| Verb | Meaning | Preposition | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| lembrar-se | to remember | de | se often dropped (informal: lembrar de) |
| esquecer-se | to forget | de | se often dropped (informal: esquecer de) |
| arrepender-se | to regret, repent | de | se usually kept; de mandatory |
| queixar-se | to complain | de | se kept; (informal alternative: reclamar de) |
| atrever-se | to dare | a | se kept |
| dignar-se | to deign, condescend | a (or de) | (formal/literary) |
| dar-se conta | to realize, become aware | de | fixed expression; se kept |
| dar-se | to get along (with) | com | se kept |
| casar-se | to get married | com | se often dropped (informal: casar com) |
| sentir-se | to feel (a certain way) | — (+ adjective) | se usually kept |
| suicidar-se | to commit suicide | — (no prep.) | obligatorily pronominal |
Verbs that take de
This is the largest group, and de is where English speakers stumble hardest, because the English equivalents take no preposition at all ("I remember it," not "I remember of it").
Você se lembra do nome dela?
Do you remember her name?
Eu me esqueci completamente da reunião de hoje.
I completely forgot about today's meeting.
Ele se arrependeu de ter vendido o carro.
He regretted having sold the car.
A vizinha vive se queixando do barulho.
The neighbor is always complaining about the noise.
Note dar-se conta de, an extremely common way to say "to realize" — and a useful tool for avoiding the false friend realizar (which does not mean "to realize"):
Só me dei conta do erro depois de enviar o e-mail.
I only realized the mistake after sending the email.
Verbs that take a
Ninguém se atreveu a contradizer o chefe.
Nobody dared to contradict the boss.
Ela nem se dignou a responder. (formal)
She didn't even deign to answer.
Verbs that take com
A Júlia se casou com um colega de trabalho.
Júlia married a coworker.
Eu me dou muito bem com a minha sogra.
I get along really well with my mother-in-law.
Pronominal verbs with no preposition
A few are pronominal but take a direct complement or an adjective, with no linking preposition. Sentir-se is the everyday one — and the se matters: sentir (without se) means "to feel/sense something external," while sentir-se means "to feel a certain way oneself."
Não me sinto bem hoje.
I don't feel well today.
Sinto um cheiro de queimado. (no se — sensing something external)
I smell something burning.
Where the pronoun goes
In Brazil, the spoken default is proclisis — the pronoun comes before the verb (me lembro, se casou). This sounds wrong to European Portuguese ears, which prefer lembro-me, but it is the unmarked Brazilian pattern, even at the start of a sentence:
Me lembro como se fosse ontem. (informal BR)
I remember it as if it were yesterday.
Lembro-me como se fosse ontem. (formal/written)
I remember it as if it were yesterday.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu lembro o nome dele.
Incorrect — lembrar of a thing needs de (the bare transitive lembrar means 'to remind').
✅ Eu me lembro do nome dele. / Eu lembro do nome dele.
I remember his name.
❌ Esqueci a chave em casa... esqueci de pegar.
Mixed — note the two patterns: esquecer + direct object (left it) vs esquecer DE + verb (forgot to do).
✅ Esqueci a chave em casa porque esqueci de pegá-la.
I left the key at home because I forgot to grab it.
❌ Ela casou com o João.
Acceptable in speech, but in writing the pronominal form is expected.
✅ Ela se casou com o João.
She married João.
❌ Me arrependo a ter dito isso.
Incorrect — arrepender-se takes DE, not a.
✅ Me arrependo de ter dito isso.
I regret having said that.
❌ Eu senti triste.
Incorrect — to feel an emotion about yourself needs the pronominal sentir-se.
✅ Eu me senti triste.
I felt sad.
Key Takeaways
- Pronominal verbs are learned as three-part units: verb + pronoun + preposition.
- In Brazil, the pronoun (se) is frequently dropped in informal speech but kept in writing; the preposition is never dropped.
- The de-group (lembrar-se de, esquecer-se de, arrepender-se de, queixar-se de, dar-se conta de) is the biggest source of English-speaker errors, because the English verbs take no preposition.
- Brazilian word order puts the pronoun before the verb by default (me lembro), unlike European Portuguese.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Pronominal Verbs (Lexicalized 'Se')B1 — Verbs like lembrar-se, esquecer-se, and arrepender-se where 'se' is part of the verb itself — plus the colloquial Brazilian habit of dropping it.
- Reflexive Verbs: OverviewA2 — An introduction to Portuguese reflexive (pronominal) verbs — true reflexives, reciprocals, and lexicalized se-verbs — plus the BR drift toward dropping the pronoun.
- Reflexive Pronouns: me, te, se, nos, seA2 — The Brazilian reflexive pronoun set and its three jobs — true reflexive, reciprocal, and pronominal — with special attention to the overloaded 'se'.
- Verbs and Their Required PrepositionsB1 — A comprehensive reference list of Brazilian Portuguese verbs grouped by the preposition each one requires before its object.
- LembrarA1 — Full conjugation and usage reference for 'lembrar' — a regular -ar verb that means both 'to remind' and (reflexively) 'to remember', with a uniquely Brazilian habit of dropping the pronoun.
- EsquecerA2 — Full conjugation and usage reference for 'esquecer' (to forget) — an -er verb with a c→ç spelling change and a meaning that shifts depending on whether you use the reflexive pronoun.