Mesoclise with Different Pronouns | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

Mesoclise is one pattern; clitic pronouns are many. Inserting te into a future or conditional verb is cosmetically simple (dar-te-ei, dar-te-ia), but the moment you swap in a direct-object o or a combined lho, small adjustments kick in — sometimes spelling changes, sometimes an accent appears or shifts, sometimes the stem loses a consonant. This page catalogues the full behaviour of each clitic class in mesoclitic position, so that you can read advanced European Portuguese without being puzzled and write it without spelling errors.

The key fact, before we dive in: the adjustments that happen inside mesoclise are the same adjustments that happen when any clitic attaches to an infinitive elsewhere in the language. The infinitive comer + o becomes comê-lo; the mesoclitic comer + o + ei becomes comê-lo-ei. Everything you already know about how o/a/os/as attach to infinitives and how combined forms like mo, to, lho assemble carries over. Mesoclise just adds the future or conditional ending at the end.

1. Reflexive and "single-form" clitics: me, te, se, nos, vos

These are the simplest case. The clitic inserts cleanly between stem and ending, and the verb form does not change.

Clitic	Verb (infinitive)	Future	Conditional
me	dar	dar-me-ei (rare; usually reflexive)	dar-me-ia
te	dar	dar-te-ei	dar-te-ia
se	fazer	far-se-á	far-se-ia
nos	encontrar	encontrar-nos-emos	encontrar-nos-íamos
vos	escrever	escrever-vos-ei	escrever-vos-ia

Arrepender-me-ei da decisão que tomei.

I will regret the decision I made.

Encontrar-nos-emos à porta do hotel às nove.

We will meet at the hotel door at nine.

Escrever-vos-ia mais vezes, mas o tempo escapa-me.

I would write to you (pl.) more often, but time slips away from me.

Far-se-ia silêncio se o maestro entrasse na sala.

Silence would fall if the conductor entered the room.

No spelling adjustments. The clitic is unchanged; the stem is unchanged; the ending is unchanged.

2. Indirect-object clitics: lhe, lhes

Also clean. Lhe (to him/her/you-formal) and lhes (to them/you-plural-formal) insert without causing any change to the stem or ending.

Subject	dar + lhe (future)	dar + lhe (conditional)
eu	dar-lhe-ei	dar-lhe-ia
tu	dar-lhe-ás	dar-lhe-ias
ele / ela / você	dar-lhe-á	dar-lhe-ia
nós	dar-lhe-emos	dar-lhe-íamos
eles / elas / vocês	dar-lhe-ão	dar-lhe-iam

Dar-lhe-ei a resposta amanhã, senhor presidente.

I will give you the answer tomorrow, Mr. President.

Dar-lhes-emos os documentos na próxima reunião.

We will give them the documents at the next meeting.

Escrever-lhe-ia uma carta, se tivesse o seu endereço.

I would write you a letter, if I had your address.

Os meus colegas agradecer-lhe-ão pessoalmente.

My colleagues will thank you in person.

Because lhe and lhes already carry a formal tone, they pair very naturally with mesoclise. These are the forms that will dominate in your reading of legal, diplomatic, and formal correspondence.

3. Direct-object clitics: o, a, os, as — the one tricky class

This is where the interesting spelling and accent adjustments happen. When the clitic o, a, os, as attaches to a verb form that ends in -r, -s, or -z, those consonants drop and an -l- is prefixed to the clitic. The clitic becomes -lo, -la, -los, -las. This is the same rule you already know from plain infinitives:

comer
- o → comê-lo (not comero)
fazer
- a → fazê-la (not fazera)
partir
- os → parti-los (not partiros)

Two things happen simultaneously:

The -r of the stem drops.
The stem vowel that was in front of the dropped -r takes an accent to preserve its original stressed quality: -ar- → -á-, -er- → -ê-, -ir- → -i- (no accent in -ir- because the i was already the stressed vowel and needs no mark). The accent is always on the stem, never on the clitic.

In mesoclise, this cascade happens between the stem and the future/conditional ending.

The -r drop in mesoclise

Infinitive class	Verb	o/a (infinitive)	o/a (mesoclitic future 1sg)
-ar	dar	dá-lo	dá-lo-ei
-ar	falar	falá-lo	falá-lo-ei
-er	comer	comê-lo	comê-lo-ei
-er	fazer (irregular: far-)	fazê-lo	fá-lo-ei
-er	dizer (irregular: dir-)	dizê-lo	di-lo-ei
-er	trazer (irregular: trar-)	trazê-lo	trá-lo-ei
-ir	partir	parti-lo	parti-lo-ei
-ir	abrir	abri-lo	abri-lo-ei

Two things to notice. First, the accent on the stem (dá-, falá-, comê-, fá-, di-, trá-) is the same accent that appears when -lo attaches to the infinitive elsewhere. Second, for the three verbs with contracted future stems, the mesoclitic form uses the contracted stem — fá-lo-ei (not fazê-lo-ei), di-lo-ei (not dizê-lo-ei), trá-lo-ei (not trazê-lo-ei). The reason is that the future and conditional are built from the contracted stems far-, dir-, trar-, and when the -r of those stems drops before -lo, the remaining vowel takes the acute.

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Think of the direct-object mesoclitic form as "infinitive + lo + future/conditional ending", where the infinitive is already in the -lo form it takes elsewhere. Comer + o = comê-lo, so add the ending: comê-lo-ei, comê-lo-ás, comê-lo-á, comê-lo-emos, comê-lo-ão. No new rule.

Full paradigm: comer + o ("I will eat it")

Subject	Future	Conditional
eu	comê-lo-ei	comê-lo-ia
tu	comê-lo-ás	comê-lo-ias
ele / ela / você	comê-lo-á	comê-lo-ia
nós	comê-lo-emos	comê-lo-íamos
eles / elas / vocês	comê-lo-ão	comê-lo-iam

Comê-lo-ia com muito gosto, se não estivesse de dieta.

I would eat it with great pleasure, if I weren't on a diet.

Comê-lo-emos ao almoço.

We will eat it for lunch.

Full paradigm: fazer + o ("I will do it")

Subject	Future	Conditional
eu	fá-lo-ei	fá-lo-ia
tu	fá-lo-ás	fá-lo-ias
ele / ela / você	fá-lo-á	fá-lo-ia
nós	fá-lo-emos	fá-lo-íamos
eles / elas / vocês	fá-lo-ão	fá-lo-iam

Fá-lo-ei assim que tiver tempo.

I will do it as soon as I have time.

Fá-lo-íamos de outra maneira, se tivéssemos sido ouvidos.

We would do it differently, if we had been heard.

Os engenheiros fá-lo-ão com precisão.

The engineers will do it with precision.

Full paradigm: dizer + o ("I will say it")

Subject	Future	Conditional
eu	di-lo-ei	di-lo-ia
tu	di-lo-ás	di-lo-ias
ele / ela / você	di-lo-á	di-lo-ia
nós	di-lo-emos	di-lo-íamos
eles / elas / vocês	di-lo-ão	di-lo-iam

Di-lo-ei uma só vez, por isso presta atenção.

I will say it only once, so pay attention.

Di-lo-ia se achasse que valia a pena.

I would say it if I thought it was worth it.

Note: di-lo- has no accent on the i because i is already the stressed vowel of the contracted stem dir-; there is nothing to distinguish by marking. (Compare fá-lo- and trá-lo-, where the a takes an acute to stay stressed, or comê-lo-, where the e takes a circumflex.)

Full paradigm: trazer + os ("we will bring them")

Subject	Future	Conditional
eu	trá-los-ei	trá-los-ia
tu	trá-los-ás	trá-los-ias
ele / ela / você	trá-los-á	trá-los-ia
nós	trá-los-emos	trá-los-íamos
eles / elas / vocês	trá-los-ão	trá-los-iam

Trá-los-ei comigo quando vier.

I will bring them with me when I come.

Trá-los-íamos se houvesse espaço no carro.

We would bring them if there were space in the car.

A minor wrinkle: 3pl verb forms ending in -m

After a verb form ending in a nasal -m (like -am, -em), the direct-object clitic takes the form -no, -na, -nos, -nas rather than -o, -a, -os, -as. This is the rule you may have learned with present-indicative 3pl forms (eles falam-no, not eles falam-o). However, this rule does not apply inside mesoclise, because the stem in mesoclise is the infinitive, which ends in -r, not a nasal. The -r drops before -lo, and the form is fá-lo-ão, comê-lo-ão, parti-lo-ão — always with -lo-, never with -no-.

There is, however, a 3pl mesoclitic form to pay attention to: -lo-ão (3pl future) and -lo-iam (3pl conditional). Do not confuse the final -ão of the ending with a nasal ending of the stem.

Os alunos fá-lo-ão até sexta-feira.

The students will do it by Friday.

As empresas vendê-lo-ão em todo o país.

The companies will sell it throughout the country.

4. Combined (portmanteau) clitics: mo, to, lho, no-lo, vo-lo

When a sentence has both an indirect and a direct object pronoun, they combine into a single portmanteau form. The combinations are regular and memorable:

Indirect	o	a	os	as
me	mo	ma	mos	mas
te	to	ta	tos	tas
lhe	lho	lha	lhos	lhas
nos	no-lo	no-la	no-los	no-las
vos	vo-lo	vo-la	vo-los	vo-las
lhes	lho	lha	lhos	lhas

(Note that lhe + o and lhes + o both yield lho. Number is neutralised in the portmanteau. Context tells you whether it is "to him/her/you-formal" or "to them/you-plural-formal.")

These combined forms occupy a single slot in mesoclise, exactly like a single clitic. They trigger the same -r drop and accent adjustments that o/a/os/as trigger, because they end in an o or a just like the plain direct-object forms.

With mo ("it to me")

Subject	dar + mo (future)	dar + mo (conditional)
eu	— (semantically odd)	— (semantically odd)
tu	dá-mo-ás	dá-mo-ias
ele / ela / você	dá-mo-á	dá-mo-ia
nós	dá-mo-emos	dá-mo-íamos
eles / elas / vocês	dá-mo-ão	dá-mo-iam

A note on the 1sg: the 1sg row is left blank because one cannot normally give something to oneself — I will give it to me is not a natural thing to say. The other five persons are fully grammatical.

Dá-mo-ás amanhã, prometes?

Will you give it to me tomorrow, do you promise?

Dá-mo-ia sem hesitar.

He/she would give it to me without hesitation.

Os meus pais dá-mo-ão no meu aniversário.

My parents will give it to me for my birthday.

With lho ("it to him/her/them")

This is one of the highest-frequency combined forms in formal Portuguese, because lhe and lhes are the polite indirect-object pronouns.

Subject	dar + lho (future)	dar + lho (conditional)
eu	dá-lho-ei	dá-lho-ia
tu	dá-lho-ás	dá-lho-ias
ele / ela / você	dá-lho-á	dá-lho-ia
nós	dá-lho-emos	dá-lho-íamos
eles / elas / vocês	dá-lho-ão	dá-lho-iam

Dá-lho-ei pessoalmente, assim que o vir.

I will give it to him personally, as soon as I see him.

Entregá-lho-emos amanhã sem falta.

We will deliver it to him tomorrow without fail.

Vendê-lho-íamos por um preço justo.

We would sell it to him at a fair price.

Dir-lho-ei quando nos encontrarmos.

I will tell it to him when we meet. (dir- irregular stem + lho)

With no-lo and vo-lo ("it to us / it to you-plural")

The nos and vos combinations keep their hyphens: no-lo, vo-lo, written with an internal hyphen. Inside mesoclise, this produces a verb with three hyphens total: two for mesoclise, one inside the portmanteau clitic.

Dar-no-lo-ão no final do ano.

They will give it to us at the end of the year.

Entregá-no-lo-iam de imediato, se pudessem.

They would deliver it to us immediately, if they could.

Comunicar-vo-lo-emos na próxima semana.

We will communicate it to you (pl.) next week.

Dar-vo-lo-ia de bom grado.

I would gladly give it to you (pl.).

These are rare forms even in formal writing — they are the extreme end of the mesoclitic spectrum — but they are fully grammatical and appear occasionally in legal and administrative texts. Recognising them is more important than producing them.

5. Reflexive combined with direct object

When a reflexive verb takes a direct object clitic as well, the structure can become extended. However, in practice Portuguese tends not to stack a reflexive pronoun and a direct-object pronoun inside mesoclise, because the combined forms would be cumbersome. Usually the sentence is restructured — often with an ir + infinitive paraphrase.

Vou lembrar-me de ti sempre.

I will always remember you. (restructured; reflexive + object NP)

Lembrar-me-ei de ti. (only reflexive clitic in mesoclise)

I will remember you. (object is a full PP de ti, not a clitic)

Quick-reference table: mesoclise by clitic class

Clitic	Spelling change?	Example (future 1sg of dar)	Example (conditional 1sg of comer)
me, te, se, nos, vos	no	dar-te-ei	comer-me-ia
lhe, lhes	no	dar-lhe-ei	comer-lhe-ia
o, a, os, as	yes: -r drops, stem vowel takes accent	dá-lo-ei	comê-lo-ia
mo, to, lho, ma, ta, lha, etc.	yes: same as o/a	dá-mo-ás / dá-lho-ei	dá-lho-ia
no-lo, vo-lo, no-la, vo-la	yes: same as o/a, plus internal hyphen	dar-no-lo-ão	entregá-no-lo-ia

Common Mistakes

❌ Dar-o-ei o livro.

Incorrect — direct-object o triggers -r drop and stem accent; the form is dá-lo-ei, and in any case this is semantically odd (o livro is already explicit).

✅ Dá-lo-ei amanhã.

I will give it tomorrow.

When the direct object is expressed by a clitic, the -r of the stem drops and -lo replaces -o. You never write dar-o-ei — that is not a possible form.

❌ Fazê-lo-ei.

Incorrect form for mesoclise of fazer — the future/conditional stem is the contracted fa-, so the correct form is fá-lo-ei, not fazê-lo-ei.

✅ Fá-lo-ei.

I will do it.

✅ Fazê-lo (not mesoclise, just enclitic to the infinitive).

To do it.

Be careful: fazê-lo is the correct plain-infinitive form (to do it), but fazê-lo-ei mixes the plain infinitive with the future ending and is not standard. For mesoclise, use the contracted stem fá-: fá-lo-ei, fá-lo-á, fá-lo-emos.

❌ Dizê-lo-ei a verdade.

Incorrect — dizer uses the contracted stem di- in mesoclise, not dizê-; and dizer takes an indirect object (dir-lhe-ei a verdade) or a direct object of content (di-lo-ei).

✅ Di-lo-ei quando chegar o momento.

I will say it when the moment comes.

✅ Dir-lhe-ei a verdade.

I will tell him the truth.

Dizer with a clitic direct object ("say it") takes di-lo-ei — contracted stem di-, clitic -lo-, ending -ei. With an indirect object ("tell him"), it takes dir-lhe-ei — contracted stem dir-, clitic -lhe-, ending -ei. Different clitics, different spelling results, same underlying pattern.

❌ Entregar-ão-no amanhã.

Incorrect — the clitic goes between stem and ending, not after the ending; and the -r of the stem drops before -lo/-no with stem accent.

✅ Entregá-lo-ão amanhã.

They will deliver it tomorrow.

Do not attach the clitic after the ending (entregar-ão-no is ungrammatical). The 3pl -ão ending and a -lo clitic cohabit without difficulty inside mesoclise, because the -r drop happens before the clitic, not before the ending.

❌ Dar-lhe-o-ei o livro.

Incorrect — you cannot have two clitics around the ending; they must combine into a single portmanteau form.

✅ Dá-lho-ei.

I will give it to him.

Lhe + o always combines into the single clitic lho, and that single clitic occupies the mesoclitic slot. You cannot have -lhe-o- with both pronouns on either side of the ending.

❌ Comer-lo-ei.

Incorrect — -r of the stem must drop before -lo; the correct form is comê-lo-ei with a circumflex on the stem vowel.

✅ Comê-lo-ei.

I will eat it.

Comer + o always becomes comê-lo (not comer-lo). In mesoclise, the same: comê-lo-ei, comê-lo-ás, comê-lo-á, comê-lo-emos, comê-lo-ão.

❌ Ver-lo-ei amanhã.

Incorrect — whenever the stem ends in -r before -lo/-la, the -r must drop and the stem vowel takes an accent; ver → vê-lo.

✅ Vê-lo-ei amanhã.

I will see it tomorrow.

The -r of ver drops before -lo, and the stem e takes a circumflex (vê-), exactly as with comer → comê-lo. Be alert: whenever the stem ends in -r, -s, -z, the consonant drops and the vowel takes an accent.

Key takeaways

Reflexive and single-form clitics (me, te, se, nos, vos) slot in cleanly: no spelling adjustments.
Indirect-object clitics (lhe, lhes) slot in cleanly: no spelling adjustments.
Direct-object clitics (o, a, os, as) trigger the familiar cascade: the stem's final -r drops, the stem vowel takes an accent (-á-, -ê-, -í-), and the clitic becomes -lo, -la, -los, -las. This is the same rule that applies to infinitives everywhere in Portuguese.
Combined portmanteau clitics (mo, to, lho, no-lo, vo-lo) behave like direct-object clitics for stem purposes: dá-lho-ei, comê-mo-ás, entregá-no-lo-emos.
The three verbs with contracted future/conditional stems — fazer → fá-, dizer → di-, trazer → trá- — show the contracted stem in mesoclise as well: fá-lo-ei, di-lo-ei, trá-lo-ei.
Mesoclise with complex clitics (especially no-lo, vo-lo) is rare but grammatical — it appears only in very formal written registers. Recognition matters more than production.
See Mesoclise Overview for the general rule, Future Forms and Conditional Forms for the paradigms with simpler clitics, and Modern Usage and Register for the living habitats of these constructions.