The se-impersonal (sujeito indeterminado com se) is how Portuguese says "one does X" or "people do X" without naming anyone in particular. Trabalha-se muito no Brasil — "People work a lot in Brazil." It looks like the se-passive's identical twin, but it does a different job, and telling the two apart is the whole challenge of this page. The payoff is large: the se-impersonal hides inside one of the most useful phrases a learner ever needs — como se diz...?, "how do you say...?"
How it works
The structure is minimal:
se + an always-singular third-person verb, with no logical object
The verb is frozen in the third-person singular forever. There is no noun for it to agree with, because there is no object being acted upon — the sentence is about an activity in general, performed by an unspecified "one/people/you."
Aqui se vive bem.
One lives well here. / Life is good here.
Trabalha-se muito no Brasil.
People work a lot in Brazil.
Como se diz 'saudade' em inglês?
How do you say 'saudade' in English?
The crucial distinction: se-passive vs se-impersonal
This is the heart of the matter. Both constructions use se + a third-person verb, so they look identical at first glance. The difference is whether there is a logical object.
| Se-passive | Se-impersonal | |
|---|---|---|
| Is there a thing being acted on? | Yes — a logical object | No object |
| Does the verb agree with it? | Yes (can be plural) | No — always singular |
| Verb type | Transitive (takes a direct object) | Intransitive, or transitive + preposition |
| Example | Vendem-se casas. (houses are sold) | Vive-se bem aqui. (one lives well here) |
Compare the minimal pair:
Precisam-se de funcionários. (se-passive — funcionários is the object)
Employees are needed.
Precisa-se de paciência. (se-impersonal — singular, generic)
One needs patience. / Patience is needed.
The reason a verb followed by a preposition stays singular is that the preposition blocks the noun from being a direct object. In precisa-se de paciência, paciência is the object of de, not of precisar — so it cannot become a grammatical subject, and the verb defaults to the impersonal singular. This is why verbs like gostar de, precisar de, acreditar em, and falar de always take the singular se.
Nesse restaurante, come-se muito bem.
In that restaurant, one eats really well.
Acredita-se em fantasmas nessa região.
People believe in ghosts in that region.
"Como se diz...?" — drill this phrase
The single most valuable se-impersonal for a learner is the question como se diz...? ("how does one say...? / how do you say...?"). It is the polite, native-sounding way to ask for vocabulary, and it appears constantly in classrooms and conversation. Memorize the whole frame.
Como se diz 'cheers' em português?
How do you say 'cheers' in Portuguese?
Como se escreve o seu sobrenome?
How do you spell (write) your surname?
Como se faz pão de queijo?
How do you make pão de queijo?
Note that the "you" here is generic — you are not asking about the listener specifically, but about how anyone says/spells/makes the thing. That generic "you" is exactly what the se-impersonal encodes.
The big Brazilian rival: "a gente"
Here is the spoken-Brazilian reality. The se-impersonal is grammatically alive and you must recognize it, but in casual conversation Brazilians very often replace it with a gente (literally "the people," functioning as a generic "one" or "we"). Trabalha-se muito aqui and A gente trabalha muito aqui both mean roughly "people work a lot here," but the second sounds far more conversational.
No Brasil, a gente almoça por volta do meio-dia.
In Brazil, people have lunch around noon.
A gente nunca sabe o que vai acontecer.
You never know what's going to happen.
The split is one of register, not meaning:
| Register | Preferred construction |
|---|---|
| Formal / written | se-impersonal (trabalha-se, vive-se) |
| Casual speech | a gente + 3sg verb (a gente trabalha) |
| Rumors / hearsay | 3pl impersonal (dizem, falam) |
English comparison
English has three loose equivalents — generic "you" ("you live well here"), generic "they/people" ("people work a lot"), and formal "one" ("one must be careful") — and chooses among them mostly by register. Portuguese has the se-impersonal covering all three at once, plus the colloquial a gente and the hearsay 3pl. The mistake English speakers make is translating generic "you" with the second-person você, which in Portuguese sounds like you are pointing at your listener. Use se (formal) or a gente (casual) for the generic sense; reserve você for the actual person in front of you.
Common Mistakes
❌ Aqui vivem-se bem.
Incorrect — there is no object, so the verb cannot be plural; the se-impersonal is always singular.
✅ Aqui vive-se bem.
One lives well here.
❌ Como você diz 'saudade' em inglês? (asking generically)
Wrong sense — this asks the specific listener, not 'how does one say it'.
✅ Como se diz 'saudade' em inglês?
How do you say 'saudade' in English?
❌ Precisam-se de paciência.
Incorrect — with 'precisar de' the noun is not a direct object, so the verb stays singular.
✅ Precisa-se de paciência.
One needs patience.
❌ No Brasil, você come muito feijão. (meaning people in general)
Sounds like you're telling the listener about their own habits; not generic.
✅ No Brasil, come-se muito feijão. / A gente come muito feijão.
In Brazil, people eat a lot of beans.
Key Takeaways
- The se-impersonal is se + an always-singular 3rd-person verb with no logical object.
- It differs from the se-passive precisely by having no object — so it can never be plural.
- Verbs with a preposition (precisar de, gostar de) always take the impersonal singular se.
- Drill como se diz...? — it is the go-to phrase for asking how to say things.
- In casual speech, Brazilians often swap the se-impersonal for a gente + 3sg verb; choose by register.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Passive and Impersonal Voice: OverviewB1 — A map of the many ways Brazilian Portuguese expresses passive and impersonal meaning — and why speakers overwhelmingly avoid the true passive in favor of active circumlocutions.
- Se-Passive (Sintética Passive)A2 — The passive with se plus a third-person verb that agrees with the logical object — vende-se, alugam-se — and why Brazilians often skip the agreement.
- A Gente in Impersonal/Generic UseA2 — How a gente works as a generic 'one/people' pronoun (distinct from its 'we' meaning), why the verb stays third-person singular, and how context tells the two apart.
- Impersonal 3pl (Falam que...)B1 — The third-person plural with no subject for 'they/people/someone' — falam que, dizem que, bateram na porta — Brazil's everyday way to report hearsay and unknown agents.
- 'A Gente' as Colloquial 'Nós'A1 — How a gente became the everyday word for we in Brazil — and why it takes a singular verb.
- Impersonal SentencesB1 — Subjectless sentences in Brazilian Portuguese — weather, time, existence, and the se / 3rd-person-plural / a-gente generics, none of which use a dummy 'it'.