English has two ways to talk about people in general without naming anyone: the formal "one eats well here" and the conversational "you eat well here" (where you means nobody in particular). European Portuguese has a single dedicated tool for both: the impersonal se. You attach se to the verb, leave the verb in the singular, and the sentence floats free of any specific subject — come-se bem neste restaurante. Mastering this construction is a big step toward sounding literate in Portuguese, because se appears everywhere from restaurant reviews to newspaper editorials to the small print on signs.
This page covers the impersonal se: what it is, how it differs from the closely related passive se, and the handful of set expressions every learner should recognize on sight.
The construction
The pattern is simple: verb (3rd person singular) + se. In European Portuguese, the clitic se normally follows the verb and is attached with a hyphen (come-se, vive-se, diz-se). In subordinate clauses or after a negative, se moves in front (não se come, que se diga).
Come-se muito bem neste restaurante.
One eats very well at this restaurant.
Aqui trabalha-se até tarde.
Here people work until late.
Não se fuma dentro do edifício.
No smoking inside the building. (literally: one does not smoke)
Notice that none of these sentences has a subject you could point to. There is no eu, no tu, no ele — the sentence is about anyone and everyone. The verb stays in the singular because there is nothing for it to agree with.
Four main uses
1. Generic assertion — how things generally are
This is the most common use. You make a statement about how things tend to be in some place or situation, without attributing the action to anyone specific.
Em Lisboa come-se peixe fresco quase todos os dias.
In Lisbon people eat fresh fish almost every day.
Neste hotel dorme-se muito bem — o quarto é silencioso.
You sleep really well at this hotel — the room is quiet.
Na Madeira fala-se português com um sotaque diferente.
On Madeira people speak Portuguese with a different accent.
2. Rules, norms, and prohibitions
Signs, instructions, and rule-statements use impersonal se constantly. It is the impersonal equivalent of "no X-ing" in English.
Não se fuma aqui.
No smoking here.
Não se entra depois das onze.
No entry after eleven.
Aqui paga-se à entrada.
Here you pay on entry.
Na biblioteca não se fala alto.
In the library one doesn't speak loudly.
You will see exactly these constructions on signs across Portugal. They are slightly more formal than a bald imperative (não fumar) but less blunt than é proibido fumar ("smoking is forbidden").
3. Advice and recommendation
When you want to give general advice without pointing fingers, impersonal se is the neutral choice.
Devia-se ler mais e ver menos televisão.
One should read more and watch less television.
Em casos destes age-se com calma.
In cases like this, one acts calmly.
Antes de decidir, pensa-se bem.
Before deciding, one thinks it over carefully.
4. Description of a past general practice
When talking about how things used to be done — the imperfect is the natural tense — impersonal se works perfectly.
Antigamente vivia-se assim: sem telemóveis, sem internet, sem pressa.
In the old days people lived like this: no mobile phones, no internet, no rush.
Nos anos cinquenta casava-se muito cedo.
In the 1950s people got married very young.
Dantes, aos domingos, ia-se à missa e depois almoçava-se em família.
Back in the day, on Sundays one went to mass and then had lunch with the family.
Set expressions with impersonal se
A handful of phrases appear in almost every Portuguese text. Recognize them on sight and you will read news headlines, Wikipedia articles, and academic prose more fluently.
| Expression | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|
| diz-se que… | it is said that / they say | neutral, very common |
| sabe-se que… | it is known that | journalistic, slightly formal |
| ouve-se dizer que… | one hears it said that / rumour has it | colloquial to neutral |
| pensa-se que… | it is thought that | journalistic, academic |
| acredita-se que… | it is believed that | journalistic, academic |
| supõe-se que… | it is supposed that | formal |
| vê-se que… | one can see that / it's clear that | neutral, conversational |
| trata-se de… | it's a matter of / it is about | neutral to formal |
| vive-se bem / mal | life is good / hard (in a place) | neutral |
Diz-se que o novo restaurante do Chiado é excelente.
They say the new restaurant in Chiado is excellent.
Sabe-se que o autor viveu em Paris durante a guerra.
It is known that the author lived in Paris during the war.
Trata-se de um assunto muito delicado.
It is a very delicate matter.
Ouve-se dizer que vão mudar a lei.
Rumour has it they're going to change the law.
Impersonal se vs passive se — the crucial distinction
Portuguese has two constructions with se that look almost identical on the surface. Getting the difference right is what separates a learner who uses se as a memorized phrase from one who generates it productively.
| Passive se | Impersonal se | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | There IS a subject (the patient) | No subject at all |
| Verb number | Agrees with the patient (sg/pl) | Always singular |
| Typical verb | Transitive with a patient in focus | Intransitive, or transitive with no patient-subject |
| Example | Vendem-se casas. | Aqui vive-se bem. |
| English gloss | Houses are sold / are for sale. | One lives well here. |
Let the contrast speak with matched pairs:
Vende-se esta casa.
This house is for sale. (passive se — 'esta casa' is the subject, verb is singular because subject is singular)
Vendem-se estas casas.
These houses are for sale. (passive se — subject is plural, so verb is plural)
Aqui vende-se bem.
Things sell well here. / Business is good here. (impersonal se — no subject, verb always singular)
The first two are passive se: the houses themselves are the grammatical subject, and the verb tracks their number. The third is impersonal se: there is no subject at all, the sentence is just about the general state of affairs.
The tricky case: transitive verbs with no patient-subject
Here is where things get subtle. Look at this sentence:
Nesta escola fala-se inglês.
English is spoken at this school. / At this school one speaks English.
Is inglês the subject (passive se, which would make inglês plural → falam-se inglês? no, because inglês is singular) or an object (impersonal se, with singular verb regardless)? Modern European Portuguese grammarians increasingly treat constructions like this as impersonal, with inglês as a direct object, not a subject. The evidence: when you substitute a plural noun, many speakers leave the verb singular:
Nesta escola fala-se várias línguas.
Several languages are spoken at this school. (impersonal reading, singular verb — increasingly common)
Nesta escola falam-se várias línguas.
Several languages are spoken at this school. (classical passive reading, plural verb)
Both are heard; the plural-agreement version is the prescriptive norm taught in schools, while the singular version is gaining ground in speech. For a learner, the safe path is to make the verb agree when the patient is clearly the subject (vendem-se casas — the casas are for sale, subject = casas) and to leave the verb singular when the patient is a quirky, generic, or abstract object (fala-se inglês).
Colloquial alternative: a gente
In casual speech, European Portuguese speakers often replace impersonal se with a gente — literally "the people," but functioning as a first-person plural "we" or as a generic "one/you." The verb goes in the third person singular.
A gente come bem neste restaurante.
You eat well at this restaurant. / We eat well here. (casual)
A gente não fuma aqui.
We don't smoke here. / You don't smoke here. (casual)
A gente via-se pouco naquela altura.
We didn't see much of each other back then. (casual)
Compare the register:
Come-se bem neste restaurante.
One eats well at this restaurant. (neutral to literate)
A gente come bem neste restaurante.
You eat well at this restaurant. (casual, conversational)
Same meaning, different register. Impersonal se sounds more literate; a gente is what you hear among friends. Use se when writing; use either in speech.
Register and contexts
Impersonal se is literate and slightly formal. It is the register of:
- Signs and notices: Não se entra. Paga-se à entrada.
- Newspaper prose: Sabe-se que o ministro já terá falado com o primeiro-ministro.
- Academic writing: Pensa-se que a erosão costeira se intensificou na última década.
- Generalizations and proverbs: Diz-se que quem muito dorme pouco aprende.
In purely casual contexts, speakers often switch to a gente (a gente come aqui) or to a generic tu (comes bem aqui, said to someone who has never been there — a kind of generic "you"). But impersonal se is never wrong; it just sits slightly above the most relaxed register.
Tense flexibility
Impersonal se works in every tense. The verb conjugates normally — just always in the third person singular.
Come-se bem aqui.
One eats well here. (present)
Comeu-se bem naquela altura.
People ate well back then. (preterite)
Comia-se sempre em família.
One always ate as a family. (imperfect)
Comer-se-á melhor no futuro?
Will people eat better in the future? (future — note the interposed se)
Comer-se-ia melhor se houvesse mais tempo.
One would eat better if there were more time. (conditional — interposed se)
Que se coma em paz!
Let one eat in peace! (present subjunctive in an exhortation)
The future and conditional with se famously split the verb in two — comer-se-á, comer-se-ia — placing the clitic inside the verb stem. This is the mesoclisis pattern and is strongly characteristic of European Portuguese.
Common mistakes
❌ Comem-se bem neste restaurante.
Incorrect — impersonal se is always singular. 'Comem-se' would require a plural patient-subject, which the sentence doesn't have.
✅ Come-se bem neste restaurante.
One eats well at this restaurant.
Pluralizing the verb in a genuinely impersonal sentence is the classic error. There is no subject to make plural, so the verb stays singular.
❌ Vende-se casas no centro.
Incorrect — with a plural patient-subject (casas), the passive se requires plural agreement.
✅ Vendem-se casas no centro.
Houses are for sale downtown.
The mirror error: failing to make the verb plural when the patient clearly IS the subject (a classic passive se). The test: can the patient be fronted as a topic? Estas casas vendem-se bem (these houses sell well) — yes, casas is subject. If you can do that, it's passive se and the verb agrees.
❌ Aqui fuma não se.
Incorrect — after a negative, se moves BEFORE the verb, not away from it.
✅ Aqui não se fuma.
No smoking here.
Clitic placement: negation triggers proclisis (se before the verb). This is a general Portuguese rule, not specific to impersonal se.
❌ Ele disse que se come bem ali.
Borderline — in subordinate clauses, se normally moves before the verb too: 'que ali se come bem' or 'que se come bem ali' are both acceptable in EP.
✅ Ele disse que ali se come bem.
He said that one eats well there.
In subordinate clauses introduced by que, se, quando, onde, como, clitic se tends to move proclitically. Both orders exist, but proclisis is the safe default after such conjunctions.
❌ Se come bem aqui.
Incorrect at the start of an independent clause — EP does not allow proclisis sentence-initially. Start with the verb.
✅ Come-se bem aqui.
One eats well here.
This is the single most audible EP-vs-BP distinction with se: Brazilian Portuguese accepts se come bem aqui freely, European Portuguese requires come-se in sentence-initial position.
Key takeaways
- Impersonal se makes a sentence subjectless — it is the equivalent of English one does X or impersonal you do X.
- The verb is always singular, because there is no subject for it to agree with.
- Passive se is different: it has a real patient-subject and the verb agrees with it (vendem-se casas).
- The boundary between the two blurs with transitive verbs whose object is non-referential (fala-se inglês); both singular and plural agreement appear in practice, with singular gaining ground.
- Impersonal se is slightly literate and formal — signs, news, academic prose. In casual speech it often gives way to a gente with a third-person-singular verb.
- Learn the set expressions by heart: diz-se que, sabe-se que, trata-se de, ouve-se dizer que — they appear in almost every Portuguese text.
- Clitic placement follows the general EP rules: enclisis by default, proclisis after negation, certain adverbs, and most subordinating conjunctions; mesoclisis (comer-se-á) in the future and conditional.
Related Topics
- Ser + Past Participle (Analytic Passive)B1 — The Portuguese analytic passive — ser + past participle + (por + agent). The most explicit passive construction, with mandatory participle agreement and the por contractions (pelo, pela, pelos, pelas).
- Active to Passive: Step-by-Step TransformationB1 — How to turn any active Portuguese sentence into its passive counterpart — a clean four-step recipe that works across every tense.
- Expressing the Agent with PorB2 — How European Portuguese marks the doer in a passive sentence — the preposition 'por', its obligatory contractions, and when to leave the agent out altogether.
- Ficar + Past Participle: The Resultative PassiveB2 — How 'ficar + past participle' expresses a resulting state after a change — the distinct third voice alongside ser (event) and estar (state) that European Portuguese uses productively.
- Portuguese Verb System OverviewA1 — An introduction to the Portuguese verb system: conjugation, moods, tenses, and aspects