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Portuguese (Portugal)

### Expressing Judgments: Object Complements

When you want to evaluate a person's character, assess a situation, or express a formal judgment, Portuguese uses a structure known as the **object complement** (*predicativo do complemento direto*). This is extremely common with verbs of opinion, such as **considerar** (to consider) and **achar** (to find/think).

The syntax follows a straightforward pattern: **Verb + Direct Object + Adjective**. The adjective (the complement) describes the direct object, rather than the subject performing the action.

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Just like any other adjective, the object complement must agree with the noun it modifies in gender and number. However, many adjectives used for character assessment—like **irresponsável** (irresponsible), **incompetente** (incompetent), and **admirável** (admirable)—end in *-e* or *-l*. These adjectives are invariable, meaning they use the exact same form for both masculine and feminine nouns.

For adjectives that end in *-o*, such as **desonesto** (dishonest) or **corrupto** (corrupt), remember to match the gender of the object you are describing:

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### Using Pronouns

If you already know who or what you are talking about, you can replace the direct object with a pronoun (such as **-o** or **-a**). The adjective complement simply attaches right after the pronoun.

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### Formal and Legal Contexts

This same grammatical structure is frequently used in legal settings, formal declarations, and professional environments. In these contexts, you will often see it paired with verbs like **julgar** (to judge) and **declarar** (to declare).

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### Assessing Character and Habits

You will frequently use this syntax to discuss a person's personality or **caráter** (character).

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Finally, you can combine this structure with expressions like **dar por si a** (to catch oneself doing something) to describe a judgment that forms naturally or surprisingly in your mind.

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Object complements

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
to consider	considerar
the conduct	a conduta
irresponsible	irresponsável
The judge considered the conduct irresponsible.	O juiz considerou a conduta irresponsável.
incompetent	incompetente
I consider him incompetent, because he does not know how to work.	Eu considero-o incompetente, porque ele não sabe trabalhar.
The court judged the defendant guilty.	O tribunal julgou o réu culpado.
the expert	o perito
dishonest	desonesto
The expert considered the man dishonest.	O perito considerou o homem desonesto.
corrupt	corrupto
We find the minister corrupt.	Nós achamos o ministro corrupto.
I caught myself considering the expert incompetent.	Dei por mim a considerar o perito incompetente.
indispensable	indispensável
The doctor should consider the treatment indispensable.	O médico devia considerar o tratamento indispensável.
The boss declared the employee irresponsible.	O chefe declarou o funcionário irresponsável.
You must consider the dictionary indispensable for the exam.	Tu deves considerar o dicionário indispensável para o exame.
The jury caught itself considering the conduct corrupt.	O júri deu por si a considerar a conduta corrupta.
They find the tool indispensable.	Eles acham a ferramenta indispensável.
admirable	admirável
I do not find the author admirable.	Eu não acho o autor admirável.
I do not think that he is guilty, but I consider him irresponsible.	Eu não acho que ele seja culpado, mas considero-o irresponsável.
the character (personality)	o caráter
I consider his character dishonest.	Considero o caráter dele desonesto.
We find your character admirable.	Achamos o teu caráter admirável.