Astrological Predictions and Mesoclisis
European Portuguese has a unique and highly elegant feature called mesoclisis. When a verb is in the future indicative tense, object pronouns are placed directly inside the middle of the verb.
You will encounter this structure frequently in formal writing, journalism, literature, and highly stylized contexts—like reading your daily horoscope!
To form it, split the future tense verb into its infinitive and its future ending, then sandwich the pronoun between two hyphens:
Infinitive + -pronoun- + future ending
For example, escreverei (I will write) becomes escrever-te-ei (I will write to you). Surpreenderá (it will surprise) becomes surpreender-te-á.
| I will write you the horoscope tomorrow. | Escrever-te-ei o horóscopo amanhã. |
| Destiny will surprise you, or astrology is wrong. | O destino surpreender-te-á, ou a astrologia está errada. |
Working with Irregular Verbs
Remember that three common verbs have shortened irregular bases in the future tense: dizer (dir-), fazer (far-), and trazer (trar-).
For these verbs, simply attach the pronoun and ending to this special base instead of the full infinitive.
| The horoscope will tell you the truth, won't it? | O horóscopo dir-te-á a verdade, não é? |
| The prediction will bring us good news. | A previsão trar-nos-á boas notícias. |
Using Other Pronouns
Mesoclisis works seamlessly with all object pronouns, such as lhe (to him/her/you formal) and nos (to us). Just plug the pronoun into the middle as usual.
| The astrologer will give him advice when he reads the zodiac sign. | O astrólogo dar-lhe-á um conselho quando ler o signo. |
| The celestial bodies will show us the cosmic path. | Os astros mostrar-nos-ão o caminho cósmico. |
The Exception: "Magnet" Words
Mesoclisis only happens when there is no word forcing the pronoun to the front of the verb (a rule known as proclisis). If the clause contains a negative word like não, it acts as a magnet. The pronoun jumps before the verb, and mesoclisis is canceled.
| Money will not attract you, but intuition will bring you prosperity. | O dinheiro não te atrairá, mas a intuição trar-te-á prosperidade. |