Eu escrevo o meu próprio nome no caderno.

I write my own name in the notebook.

Breakdown of Eu escrevo o meu próprio nome no caderno.

• eu: I
• meu: my
• em: in
• escrever: to write
• o caderno: the notebook
• o nome: the name
• próprio: own

Questions & Answers about Eu escrevo o meu próprio nome no caderno.

Why is the definite article o used before the possessive meu? Couldn’t we just say Eu escrevo meu próprio nome no caderno?

In European Portuguese it’s standard to place the definite article (o/a) before possessive adjectives: o meu, a minha, o teu, etc. Omitting the article (​Escrevo meu próprio nome no caderno) sounds more like Brazilian usage or very informal speech. In Portugal you normally keep the article.

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Is the subject pronoun Eu necessary here? Could I just say Escrevo o meu próprio nome no caderno?

Portuguese is a “pro-drop” language, so the verb ending -o in escrevo already signals first person singular. You can safely omit Eu unless you want to emphasize who is doing the action or for clarity.

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What’s the function of próprio in this sentence? Doesn’t nome already imply it’s your own name?

Próprio adds emphasis: it literally means own. By saying o meu próprio nome you stress that it’s your very own name (not someone else’s). If you drop próprio (Escrevo o meu nome…), people understand it’s your name, but you lose that extra emphasis.

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I’ve seen nome próprio in grammar books. Is that the same as próprio nome?

No.

• Nome próprio (noun + adjective) is a fixed term meaning proper noun (e.g. Ana, Portugal).
• O meu próprio nome (possessive + próprio + noun) means my own name.
  Word order changes the meaning completely.

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Why is em + o contracted to no in no caderno?

In Portuguese prepositions often merge with definite articles:

• em + o → no
• em + a → na
  So escrevo em o caderno becomes escrevo no caderno.

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Could I say no meu caderno instead of just no caderno?

Yes.

• no caderno assumes context (the notebook in question is clear).
• no meu caderno explicitly means in my notebook.
  Use no meu caderno when you want to stress that it’s your notebook.

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How do I say “I am writing my own name in the notebook right now”? Is it estou escrevendo?

European Portuguese usually uses estar a + infinitive for ongoing actions. You’d say:
Estou a escrever o meu próprio nome no caderno.
The gerund form (estou escrevendo) is more typical of Brazilian Portuguese.

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Why can’t I use a reflexive pronoun here, like escrevo-me?

The verb escrever is transitive and takes a direct object (what is written). You need o meu próprio nome as that object. Reflexive pronouns (e.g. me, te) are used when the action reflects back on the subject (e.g. corto-me = “I cut myself”), which doesn’t apply to writing your name.