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Portuguese (Portugal)

When you want to emphasize that someone performed an action independently or to highlight their specific identity—like claiming personal credit for a tough workout—you use an emphatic pronoun. In English, we use words like "myself," "herself," or "themselves."

In Portuguese, there are two interchangeable words for this: **próprio** and **mesmo**.

### Próprio

The word **próprio** follows the noun or pronoun it emphasizes. 

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Unlike English "-self" words, **próprio** must agree in gender and number with the person or thing it emphasizes. This gives us four forms: **próprio**, **própria**, **próprios**, and **próprias**. 

For a masculine singular subject, use **próprio**:

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For a masculine or mixed-gender plural subject, use **próprios**:

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You can also use it to emphasize a noun directly:

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### Mesmo

The word **mesmo** functions exactly like **próprio**.

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Just like **próprio**, **mesmo** must agree in gender and number with the subject, giving us **mesmo**, **mesma**, **mesmos**, and **mesmas**.

For a feminine singular subject, use **mesma**:

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For a masculine or mixed-gender plural group, use **mesmos**:

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For a masculine singular subject, use **mesmo**:

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If you are emphasizing a group entirely composed of women, use the feminine plural **mesmas**:

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Emphatic pronouns (próprio, mesmo)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

prep

preposition

pron

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstratives and the verb to be (isto é, o, a)

Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)

Yes/no questions and question words (quem, o que)

Plural pronouns, articles, and verbs (somos, são, os, as)

Origin and possession (de, do, da)

Introductions (chamar-se)

Indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)

The verb to be for locations (estar)

Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)

Preposition for locations (em, no, na)

Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)

The verb to have (tenho, tem)

Regular -ar verbs (falar, trabalhar)

Regular -er verbs (comer, beber)

Regular -ir verbs (abrir, partir)

My, your, and our (o meu, a nossa)

His, hers, and theirs (dele, dela)

Adjective agreement and placement

Days of the week (segunda-feira)

Months of the year (janeiro)

Counting by tens to 100 (trinta, quarenta...)

Telling time (é uma, são...)

Asking about time (quando, a que horas)

The verb to go (ir)

Prepositions of direction (a, para)

Preposition a contractions (ao, à, aos, às)

Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)

Demonstratives (este, esse, aquele)

Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)

Asking which and how many (qual, quanto)

Plurals ending in -ão (-ões, -ãos, -ães)

Plurals ending in consonants (-ns, -is, -es)

The verb to like (gostar de)

The verb to need (precisar de)

The verb to want (querer)

The verb can or may (poder)

Expressing obligation (ter de)

Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)

Quantifiers (muito, pouco)

Comparatives (mais... do que, menos... do que)

Equality comparisons (tão... como)

The preposition com (comigo, contigo)

Coordinating conjunctions (e, mas, ou, porque)

The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Double negation (nunca, nada, ninguém)

Present continuous (estar a)

Near future (ir)

Past tense of regular -ar verbs

Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs

Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)

Direct object pronouns (me, te, o, a, nos, os, as)

Pronoun placement with negatives and questions

Greetings and courtesy (bom dia, obrigado)

Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)

Asking the way (à direita, sempre em frente)

Colours (vermelho, amarelo, cor-de-rosa)

Money and shopping (custar, a moeda)

Getting around (o motorista, a paragem de autocarro)

Weather and seasons (faz calor, o inverno)

Omitting the subject pronoun

Where things are: ficar (Onde fica...?)

Richer questions: que + noun and é que

Numbers above 100 (cento e vinte, mil)

First-person sound changes (durmo, prefiro)

Advice and ability: dever and saber

Asking why: porquê and porque

When one thing happens: quando-clauses

Here and there: aqui, aí, ali (cá e lá)

Formal and plural possessives: o seu, o vosso

Irregular presents: ver, vir, dar

Present irregulars

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Stem-changing reflexives

Attached object pronouns (-lo, -la, -los, -las)

Nasal attached pronouns (-no, -na, -nos, -nas)

Pronoun placement with adverbs

Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

Past tense of ter, estar, poder, and saber

Past tense of querer and vir

Past tense of ver, dar, and ler

Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)

Time elapsed in the past (há)

Question	Answer
-self (emphatic)	próprio
to warm up	aquecer
I myself always warm up before the workout.	Eu próprio aqueço sempre antes do treino.
the injury	a lesão
We ourselves avoid injuries when we warm up.	Nós próprios evitamos lesões quando aquecemos.
the barbell	a barra
the posture	a postura
The teacher himself lifts the barbell with better posture.	O próprio professor levanta a barra com melhor postura.
-self (emphatic)	mesmo
the dumbbell	o haltere
She herself lifts the barbell and the heavy dumbbell.	Ela mesma levanta a barra e o haltere pesado.
the resistance	a resistência
You yourselves can push the dumbbells with greater resistance.	Vocês mesmos podem empurrar os halteres com maior resistência.
You yourself can cause an injury if the posture is bad.	Tu mesmo podes provocar uma lesão se a postura for má.
the squat	o agachamento
the repetition	a repetição
They themselves do the squats and count the repetitions.	Eles próprios fazem os agachamentos e contam as repetições.
the push-up	a flexão
We ourselves do the push-ups and the squats.	Nós mesmas fazemos as flexões e os agachamentos.
You yourself must increase the resistance in the last repetitions.	Tu própria deves aumentar a resistência nas últimas repetições.
to challenge	desafiar
I myself challenge the boy to lift the bigger dumbbell.	Eu próprio desafio o rapaz a levantar o haltere maior.
They themselves challenge their friends to do more push-ups.	Eles mesmos desafiam os amigos a fazer mais flexões.
really, truly	realmente
The cake is really good.	O bolo está realmente bom.
It really was a difficult day.	Realmente, foi um dia difícil.

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