Inherent Pronominal Verbs
Some verbs in Portuguese always travel with a buddy: a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos). Even though they are conjugated with reflexive pronouns, the action is not necessarily reflexive (you aren't doing it "to yourself"). These are called inherent pronominal verbs.
Furthermore, these verbs are strict about their regimes—they usually demand a specific preposition to connect to the object of the sentence. You must learn the verb, its pronoun, and its preposition as a single package deal. Let's dive in!
Verbs requiring com
When you want to say you "marvel at" or "come across" something, you will use the preposition com:
- maravilhar-se com (to marvel at)
- deparar-se com (to come across)
Verbs requiring a
When expressing that you "dare to" do something, use the preposition a:
- atrever-se a (to dare to)
Verbs requiring de
Many common inherent pronominal verbs require the preposition de:
- esquecer-se de (to forget)
- lembrar-se de (to remember)
- queixar-se de (to complain about)
- arrepender-se de (to regret)
Remember that de will contract with definite articles (o, a, os, as) to become do, da, dos, or das.
Putting it together
Watch how we can use multiple pronominal verbs and their respective prepositions in a single thought: