Reflexive Pronouns (Me, Te, Se, Nos, Vos, Se) | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

A reflexive pronoun is the "same-person" pronoun that tells you the action of the verb loops back to the subject. In English we use myself, yourself, ourselves: "I cut myself", "She introduced herself", "They talked to themselves". Portuguese builds the same idea with a six-form paradigm — me, te, se, nos, vos, se — attached to the verb as a clitic. These forms do a lot of work in Portuguese: they mark true reflexive actions (wash oneself), reciprocal actions (they greet each other), and a whole class of verbs that are simply idiomatically reflexive (to remember, to complain, to be located) with no obvious "self" meaning at all. For an A2 learner, these pronouns open up dozens of everyday verbs — lembrar-se, esquecer-se, levantar-se, sentar-se, chamar-se — and are the single most efficient way to talk about daily routines.

This page covers the full paradigm and its three main uses. For the mechanics of placing reflexive pronouns around the verb (lavo-me, não me lavo, lavar-me-ei), see Reflexive Pronoun Placement.

The paradigm

Portuguese has six reflexive forms, one for each person in the verbal system:

Subject	Reflexive pronoun	English equivalent
eu	me	myself
tu	te	yourself (informal, singular)
ele / ela / você / o senhor / a senhora	se	himself / herself / itself / yourself (formal)
nós	nos	ourselves
vós	vos	yourselves (archaic in EP speech; still used for 2pl in some registers)
eles / elas / vocês	se	themselves / yourselves (plural)

The most important thing to notice: the form se does double duty as both 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural. You use se for ele, ela, você, eles, elas, vocês, and the formal o senhor / a senhora / os senhores / as senhoras. The verb ending tells you whether you're dealing with a singular or plural subject. There's never a form *ses — se is invariable.

Ela chama-se Mariana.

Her name is Mariana. / She calls herself Mariana.

Eles chamam-se Pedro e Sofia.

They are called Pedro and Sofia. (se is the same form, but the verb is plural)

A second important observation: the four forms me, te, nos, vos are also the direct- and indirect-object pronouns for the same persons. The paradigm doesn't have a separate "reflexive me" — it's the ordinary clitic me, understood as reflexive because the subject and object refer to the same entity. Only se is morphologically reserved for reflexive (and reciprocal) uses.

Ela cortou-me (como objeto direto: 'she cut me').

She cut me. (me as direct object — not reflexive)

Ela cortou-se (reflexivo: 'she cut herself').

She cut herself. (reflexive — se signals that the subject is the one who got cut)

Use 1 — True reflexive meaning (subject acts on self)

The core use. The subject performs the action on themselves. In English these are "X -self" sentences.

Lavo-me sempre antes de sair de casa.

I always wash myself before leaving the house.

Tu cortaste-te com a faca?

Did you cut yourself with the knife?

Ele olhou-se ao espelho durante muito tempo.

He looked at himself in the mirror for a long time.

Nós apresentámo-nos aos novos colegas.

We introduced ourselves to the new colleagues.

Eles defenderam-se bem no julgamento.

They defended themselves well at the trial.

The subject and the object are the same person or thing, and the reflexive pronoun spells that out. Many routine body-care verbs fall into this category in Portuguese, often where English doesn't bother with "-self":

Vesti-me à pressa.

I got dressed in a hurry. (literally 'I dressed myself')

Ela maquilhou-se antes de sair.

She put on makeup before going out.

Barbeei-me esta manhã.

I shaved this morning.

Use 2 — Reciprocal meaning ("each other")

When the subject is plural, a reflexive pronoun can often mean "each other" instead of "themselves": two or more people doing the action to one another.

Eles cumprimentam-se sempre que se encontram na rua.

They greet each other whenever they meet on the street.

Nós vemo-nos todos os fins-de-semana.

We see each other every weekend.

As duas irmãs adoram-se.

The two sisters adore each other.

Os miúdos conhecem-se da escola.

The kids know each other from school.

Context usually disambiguates whether the meaning is reflexive ("themselves") or reciprocal ("each other"). Where it genuinely is ambiguous, you can add an explicit marker:

um ao outro / uma à outra for reciprocal ("one to the other")
a si próprio / a si mesmo for reflexive emphasis ("himself/themselves")

Eles ajudam-se um ao outro.

They help each other. (explicitly reciprocal)

Ele falou consigo próprio durante horas.

He talked to himself for hours. (explicitly reflexive)

Os dois amigos consolaram-se mutuamente.

The two friends consoled each other. (mutuamente = reciprocally)

Use 3 — Intrinsically reflexive verbs (no "self" in English)

This is the category that surprises English speakers. Portuguese has a large class of verbs that simply always take a reflexive pronoun, with no translation equivalent in English. The reflexive is part of the verb's lexical shape, not a semantic operation on a non-reflexive base.

The most common examples to learn at A2:

Verb (infinitive)	Meaning	Preposition
chamar-se	to be called / one's name is	— (just a name)
lembrar-se	to remember	de
esquecer-se	to forget	de
queixar-se	to complain	de
rir-se	to laugh	de (of / at)
levantar-se	to get up	— / de
sentar-se	to sit down	em / a
deitar-se	to lie down / go to bed	— / em
vestir-se	to get dressed	— / de (as)
despir-se	to get undressed	—
despedir-se	to say goodbye	de
dar-se	to get along (with)	com
sentir-se	to feel (a way)	—
zangar-se	to get angry	com
apaixonar-se	to fall in love	por
preocupar-se	to worry	com
encontrar-se	to meet / to be located	com / em
tornar-se	to become	—
atrever-se	to dare	a
mudar-se	to move house	para

Notice a pattern: many of these verbs describe internal states (lembrar-se, esquecer-se, sentir-se, preocupar-se, apaixonar-se) or changes of posture or situation (levantar-se, deitar-se, sentar-se, mudar-se, tornar-se). The reflexive marks the action as something that happens to the subject rather than something the subject does to an external object. This is deep grammar — the "self" meaning has bleached away over centuries, and what remains is the marking of a particular type of event.

Como é que te chamas?

What's your name? (literally: how do you call yourself?)

Lembras-te daquele restaurante em Sintra?

Do you remember that restaurant in Sintra?

Esqueci-me das chaves em casa.

I forgot the keys at home. / I left the keys at home by mistake.

Não te queixes — tu é que escolheste.

Don't complain — you're the one who chose.

Eles riram-se da minha camisola.

They laughed at my sweater.

Levanto-me sempre às sete da manhã.

I always get up at seven in the morning.

A Rita apaixonou-se por um colega do trabalho.

Rita fell in love with a colleague from work.

Ele despediu-se de nós com um abraço.

He said goodbye to us with a hug.

An important pair: lembrar(-se) / esquecer(-se)

Lembrar and esquecer are both usually reflexive in European Portuguese, and they govern the preposition de. This is one of the most common A2 stumbling points for English speakers, because English remember and forget are plain transitive verbs.

Lembro-me bem da tua casa em Alfama.

I remember your house in Alfama well. (reflexive + de)

Esqueceste-te de comprar pão?

Did you forget to buy bread? (reflexive + de)

Nunca me vou esquecer desse dia.

I'll never forget that day.

The non-reflexive forms lembrar and esquecer also exist but have slightly different meanings: lembrar alguém de alguma coisa is "to remind someone of something"; esquecer alguma coisa without a pronoun is possible but feels more Brazilian. In everyday EP, assume reflexive + de.

Lembrei-a da reunião.

I reminded her of the meeting. ('lembrar alguém de' without reflexive on the speaker — transitive use)

Use 4 — The impersonal and passive se

The clitic se has two additional, very common uses that look reflexive but aren't really. Both are worth recognising at A2, even if you'll study them more formally later.

Passive se

Se can form a kind of passive, particularly in writing, signs, and notices, where the subject is impersonal or the speaker doesn't want to name an agent.

Aqui fala-se português.

Portuguese is spoken here. (classic shop-front sign)

Vendem-se apartamentos.

Apartments for sale. (estate agents' signs)

Aluga-se casa para férias.

House for rent for holidays.

Notice that the verb agrees with the item being sold, rented, or spoken. Vendem-se apartamentos (plural) but Vende-se carro (singular).

Impersonal se

Se with a 3sg verb can also mean "one / people in general" — an impersonal subject.

Não se pode fumar aqui.

One can't smoke here. / Smoking is not allowed here.

Como é que se diz 'chair' em português?

How do you say 'chair' in Portuguese? / How does one say...

Trabalha-se muito nesta empresa.

People work a lot at this company. / One works a lot at this company.

These uses of se are formally distinct from the reflexive pronoun (they don't really "reflect" an action back on the subject), but they share the same form and can feel reflexive-like to a learner. Treat them as a set of common constructions to recognise.

Agreement with the verb

The reflexive pronoun and the verb ending must match in person. This sounds obvious but is a frequent source of confusion for learners who mentally bolt "se" onto any verb.

✅ Eu lembro-me da tua morada.

I remember your address. (1sg subject → 1sg reflexive me)

❌ Eu lembro-se da tua morada.

Incorrect — with 1sg subject 'eu', the reflexive must be 'me', not 'se'.

✅ Tu sentas-te aqui.

You sit here. (2sg subject → 2sg reflexive te, and the verb gets 2sg ending -as)

❌ Tu senta-se aqui.

Incorrect — 'tu' requires 'te' and a 2sg verb ending.

✅ Nós levantamo-nos cedo.

We get up early. (1pl subject → 1pl reflexive nos; note the -s of levantamos drops before -nos)

❌ Nós levantamos-se cedo.

Incorrect — 'nós' requires 'nos'.

The dropped -s in levantamo-nos (instead of *levantamos-nos) is an orthographic rule of European Portuguese — see Reflexive Pronoun Placement for details.

Reflexive or plain transitive? A diagnostic

For verbs that exist in both plain and reflexive versions (lavar / lavar-se, vestir / vestir-se, chamar / chamar-se), the question is whether the subject is also the object. If yes, reflexive. If no, plain transitive.

Lavo o carro aos sábados. (transitive — subject and object are different)

I wash the car on Saturdays.

Lavo-me todas as manhãs. (reflexive — subject and object are the same)

I wash myself every morning.

Lavo as mãos antes de comer. (transitive — object is 'the hands')

I wash my hands before eating.

Visto as minhas crianças antes do pequeno-almoço.

I dress my kids before breakfast. (transitive)

Visto-me em dois minutos.

I get dressed in two minutes. (reflexive)

A useful note: for body-care verbs in Portuguese, the reflexive version is used for the subject's own body as a whole (lavo-me, visto-me, barbeio-me), but if you specify a body part, the verb is typically transitive and the body part takes a definite article:

Lavei as mãos.

I washed my hands. (not 'lavei-me as mãos'; the body part is the direct object)

Lavei o cabelo hoje de manhã.

I washed my hair this morning.

Ele partiu o braço no jogo.

He broke his arm in the game. (not reflexive)

Contrast this with French (se laver les mains) or Spanish (lavarse las manos), which both use the reflexive even with body parts. Portuguese generally does not, in the literal sense — though it can if the action is shown as something happening to the subject rather than something the subject chooses to do.

Reflexive verbs with prepositions

Many reflexive verbs govern a specific preposition — usually de, com, a, por, em, para. These are lexical facts to memorise alongside the verb.

Verb	Preposition	Example
lembrar-se	de	Lembro-me de ti.
esquecer-se	de	Esqueci-me das chaves.
queixar-se	de	Queixam-se do barulho.
rir-se	de	Riem-se das minhas piadas.
despedir-se	de	Despedi-me da Ana.
dar-se	com	Dou-me bem com ela.
zangar-se	com	Zanguei-me com o meu chefe.
preocupar-se	com	Preocupo-me contigo.
casar-se	com	Casou-se com um professor.
apaixonar-se	por	Apaixonei-me por ele.
interessar-se	por	Interessa-se por arte.
atrever-se	a	Não me atrevo a dizer nada.
decidir-se	a	Decidi-me a falar com ela.
mudar-se	para	Mudámo-nos para o Porto.
sentar-se	em / a	Senta-te à mesa.

Preocupo-me muito com a minha mãe.

I worry a lot about my mother.

Atreves-te a dizer-lhe isso na cara?

Do you dare to say that to his/her face?

Mudámo-nos para uma casa nova em junho.

We moved to a new house in June.

A note on ficar-se vs ficar

Some EP verbs exist in two related forms, one reflexive and one not, with slightly different meanings. Ficar means "to stay, remain"; ficar-se por means "to stop at, content oneself with". Learners often confuse these.

Fiquei em casa ontem.

I stayed home yesterday. (non-reflexive)

Ficámo-nos por duas bolas de gelado.

We stopped at two scoops of ice cream. (reflexive — sense of 'limiting oneself to')

This kind of minimal pair is worth noting because the reflexive pronoun genuinely changes the meaning of the verb. It's not decoration.

Register note on vos

The reflexive vos (and the subject vós) is archaic in spoken European Portuguese outside of fixed religious and ceremonial contexts. In contemporary EP, the 2pl subject is vocês and its reflexive is se (with 3pl verb). Vos does survive as the clitic form corresponding to vocês in some uses — notably as an indirect object — but the reflexive vos with a vós subject is no longer part of everyday speech.

Modern EP: Vocês sentam-se ali.

You all sit over there. (subject vocês + reflexive se)

Archaic / liturgical EP: Vós sentai-vos.

You (pl) sit down. (subject vós + reflexive vos — found in prayers, hymns, older literature)

Modern standard EP: Vocês lembram-se? (with 3pl verb)

Do you all remember? (the standard modern form)

You should learn vos for recognition — it appears throughout classical literature, religious texts, and set phrases — but produce se with 3pl verbs for vocês in ordinary conversation.

Quick reference — a day in reflexives

Reflexives are how you describe a daily routine in Portuguese. Here is a running A2 example:

Acordo às sete. Levanto-me devagar, lavo-me, visto-me e preparo-me para o dia.

I wake up at seven. I get up slowly, wash, get dressed, and get ready for the day.

À noite, deito-me cedo, porque senão não me levanto a horas no dia seguinte.

At night, I go to bed early, because otherwise I don't get up on time the next day.

Divirto-me sempre quando me encontro com os meus amigos.

I always have fun when I meet up with my friends.

Preocupo-me um pouco quando a minha mãe não me liga.

I worry a bit when my mother doesn't call me.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Omitting the reflexive on an intrinsically reflexive verb

English speakers, because English has no reflexive on remember, forget, complain, laugh, get up, frequently drop the reflexive in Portuguese.

❌ Eu lembro da tua casa em Alfama.

Incorrect — in EP, 'lembrar' in the sense of 'to remember' must be reflexive + de: 'lembro-me de'.

✅ Lembro-me da tua casa em Alfama.

I remember your house in Alfama.

❌ Eu não esqueci as chaves.

Incorrect in EP for 'I didn't forget the keys' in the sense of 'leave them behind' — use 'esquecer-se de'.

✅ Não me esqueci das chaves. / Não me esqueci de trazer as chaves.

I didn't forget the keys. / I didn't forget to bring the keys.

❌ Ele queixou do barulho.

Incorrect — 'queixar-se' is inherently reflexive.

✅ Ele queixou-se do barulho.

He complained about the noise.

Mistake 2: Using se with a non-3rd-person subject

Learners who only remember se try to use it as a universal reflexive marker. But se is only for the 3rd person.

❌ Eu chamo-se João.

Incorrect — for 'eu', the reflexive is 'me', not 'se'.

✅ Eu chamo-me João.

My name is João.

❌ Nós levantamos-se às seis.

Incorrect — for 'nós', the reflexive is 'nos'.

✅ Nós levantamo-nos às seis.

We get up at six.

Mistake 3: Forgetting the preposition that the reflexive verb requires

Many reflexive verbs take an obligatory preposition — de, com, a, por. Omitting it is a common error.

❌ Lembro-me a minha infância.

Incorrect — 'lembrar-se' takes 'de', not 'a'.

✅ Lembro-me da minha infância.

I remember my childhood.

❌ Ele apaixonou-se com ela.

Incorrect — 'apaixonar-se' takes 'por'.

✅ Ele apaixonou-se por ela.

He fell in love with her.

Mistake 4: Adding a reflexive to a body-part action with the body part specified

Where the body part is mentioned, Portuguese typically uses a plain transitive verb with a definite article rather than the reflexive with the body part as an extra noun.

❌ Lavei-me as mãos antes de comer.

Incorrect — when the body part is the object, use plain transitive.

✅ Lavei as mãos antes de comer.

I washed my hands before eating.

❌ Escovei-me os dentes.

Incorrect — 'escovar os dentes' is transitive in EP.

✅ Escovei os dentes.

I brushed my teeth.

Mistake 5: Treating reciprocal as singular-subject reflexive

A reciprocal reading requires a plural or group subject. You can't say "Eu conheço-me ao João" meaning "I know João and he knows me" — that's singular.

❌ Eu e o João conheço-me da escola.

Incorrect — the subject is plural ('eu e o João'), so the verb must be 1pl and the reflexive 'nos'.

✅ Eu e o João conhecemo-nos da escola.

João and I know each other from school.

Key Takeaways

Portuguese reflexive pronouns are me, te, se, nos, vos, se — and se covers both 3sg and 3pl.
They mark three kinds of meaning: true reflexive (subject acts on self), reciprocal (plural subject, "each other"), and intrinsically reflexive verbs (fixed lexical reflexive with no "self" meaning in English).
A large class of core A2 verbs — chamar-se, lembrar-se, esquecer-se, queixar-se, rir-se, levantar-se, sentar-se, deitar-se, vestir-se, despedir-se, preocupar-se, apaixonar-se, mudar-se — take the reflexive obligatorily, and many of them govern a specific preposition (de, com, a, por, para).
The reflexive form must match the person of the subject. Mixing eu with se or nós with se is ungrammatical.
Se also functions as a passive marker (vende-se, aluga-se) and an impersonal subject ("one"). These are closely related uses worth recognising.
Vos and subject vós are archaic in spoken EP — use vocês
- se for 2pl.
For where the pronoun goes around the verb — lavo-me, não me lavo, lavar-me-ei — see the companion page on Reflexive Pronoun Placement.