Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Eu respondi‑lhe que “lhe” é um pronome, e todos riram. - I answered her that “lhe” is a pronoun, and everyone laughed.

It usually replaces a ele, a ela, ao senhor, à senhora, a você, etc.
So eu respondi‑lhe ≈ eu respondi a ele / a ela (“I answered him / her” or more naturally in English: “I told him / her”).
It does not distinguish gender; context tells you if it’s “him” or “her”.

Why is lhe attached to the verb with a hyphen (respondi‑lhe) instead of written separately?

In European Portuguese, unstressed object pronouns normally attach to the verb with a hyphen in neutral affirmative sentences. This is called enclisis.

Pattern in European Portuguese: [verb]‑[pronoun] → respondi‑lhe, dei‑lhe, mostrei‑lhe.
You write the pronoun together with the verb, connected by a hyphen.
Writing respondi lhe (without hyphen) is incorrect.

Could I say Eu lhe respondi instead of Eu respondi‑lhe in Portugal?

In European Portuguese, Eu lhe respondi (pronoun before the verb in this context) sounds wrong or at least very unnatural.

The normal form is Eu respondi‑lhe.
Pronoun before the verb (proclisis, e.g. lhe respondi) only appears when certain “attracting” words are present (like não, que, se, etc.):
- Não lhe respondi.
- Quando lhe respondi, todos riram.
The pattern subject + lhe + verb (Eu lhe respondi) is typical of Brazilian Portuguese, not European Portuguese.

Why is it respondi‑lhe and not something like respondi ele or respondi-o?

Because the verb responder works differently in Portuguese than to answer in English.

In Portuguese, you responder a alguém (“answer to someone”):
- Respondi a ele. → indirect object with a
- Respondi‑lhe. → same thing, but with clitic pronoun lhe
Respondi ele is ungrammatical in standard Portuguese.
Respondi-o would mean “I answered it / him” only if “he / it” is the thing answered (a question, an email, etc.), but that’s not how responder is usually used; you more often say:
- Respondi à pergunta. / Respondi ao e‑mail.
  not respondi‑a or respondi‑o in everyday speech.

What is the function of que in respondi‑lhe que lhe é um pronome?

Here que is a complementizer – roughly “that” in English.

Structure: responder (a alguém) que… → “to answer (someone) that…”
It introduces the whole clause lhe é um pronome as the content of what was answered.
English equivalent: “I answered him that lhe is a pronoun …”, or more natural: “I told him that lhe is a pronoun …”.

Why is it é um pronome (present tense) and not era um pronome (past tense) in the reported clause?

É is used because being “a pronoun” is a timeless fact, not something that was only true in the past.

In indirect/reported speech, Portuguese often keeps the present tense when the statement is still true at the time of speaking:
- Respondi‑lhe que Lisboa é a capital de Portugal.
  (“I told him Lisbon is the capital of Portugal.” — still true)
You might use era if you were talking about something that was true then but is no longer true now, which doesn’t fit “lhe is a pronoun”.

Why is Eu written at all? Could I just say Respondi‑lhe que…?

Yes, you can absolutely omit Eu: Respondi‑lhe que lhe é um pronome, e todos riram.

In Portuguese, the verb ending (‑i in respondi) already tells you the subject is “I”, so Eu is optional.
Including Eu can add a bit of emphasis or clarity, especially in longer contexts, but grammatically it’s not required.

Why is there a comma before e in …, e todos riram? In English we usually don’t put a comma before “and”.

Portuguese comma rules are not identical to English ones, and a comma before e is more acceptable.

Here we have two independent clauses:
- Eu respondi‑lhe que lhe é um pronome
- todos riram
Linking them with , e to mark a clearer pause or slight change of focus is quite natural in Portuguese.
In English, you’d usually write: “… and everyone laughed.” without the comma, but in Portuguese “… , e todos riram.” is fine (though “… e todos riram.” without the comma would also be acceptable).

Does todos riram mean “everyone laughed” or “they all laughed”? How does todos work here without a noun?

Todos riram can mean either “everyone laughed” or “they all laughed”, depending on context.

Todos is a pronoun here, standing for some previously known group.
If you want to be more explicit you can say:
- Todos eles riram. – “They all laughed.”
- Toda a gente riu. – “Everybody laughed.”
Without extra words, todos riram simply refers to all the relevant people in the situation that has already been mentioned or is obvious.

What’s the difference between riram and riram‑se? Could I say e todos se riram?

Both rir and rir‑se are used in European Portuguese, often with very similar meanings.

Todos riram. – perfectly natural: “Everyone laughed.”
Todos se riram. – also possible; in many contexts it doesn’t change the meaning much.
There are some subtler patterns of use:
- rir tends to be a bit more neutral and common in everyday narration.
- rir‑se de can emphasize laughing at someone/something:
  - Todos se riram dele. – “They all laughed at him.”
In your sentence, e todos riram is the most straightforward choice.

In respondi‑lhe que “lhe” é um pronome, why do we see lhe twice with different roles?

The two lhe’s have different functions:

respondi‑lhe – lhe is an indirect object pronoun: “I answered him/her”.
que “lhe” é um pronome – here lhe is being mentioned as a word, not used as a pronoun in the sentence’s grammar. You’re talking about the word lhe itself.

In writing, you normally show this by putting the word being mentioned in quotation marks or italics, as in que “lhe” é um pronome or que lhe é um pronome.

Can lhe ever mean “to them”, or is it only singular? What would the plural be?

Lhe is singular only; it refers to one person (or one entity) in the third person.

For the plural, you use lhes:
- Respondi‑lhes que lhe é um pronome. – “I told them that lhe is a pronoun.”
So:
- lhe → “to him / to her / to you (formal, singular)”
- lhes → “to them / to you (formal, plural)”