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Portuguese (Portugal)

### Reflexive Verbs and Daily Routines

In Portuguese, we use reflexive verbs to talk about actions we perform on ourselves. You will use them constantly when talking about your daily routine and personal care. You can spot them in the dictionary because they have the pronoun **-se** attached to the infinitive.

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To conjugate these verbs, you use a reflexive pronoun that matches the subject of the sentence.

| | |
|---|---|
| eu | **me** (myself) |
| tu | **te** (yourself) |
| ele / ela / você | **se** (himself / herself / yourself) |
| nós | **nos** (ourselves) |
| eles / elas / vocês | **se** (themselves / yourselves) |

In standard European Portuguese, these pronouns normally attach to the end of the conjugated verb with a hyphen.

Let's look at **levantar-se** (to get up). Pay special attention to the **nós** form: whenever you attach **-nos** to a verb ending in *-s*, you must drop the final **-s** of the verb (so *levantamos* becomes *levantamo-nos*).

| | |
|---|---|
| eu | levanto-me |
| tu | levantas-te |
| ele / ela / você | levanta-se |
| nós | levantamo-nos |
| eles / elas / vocês | levantam-se |

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### Everyday Routine Verbs

Here are several more common reflexive verbs for your morning routine:

- **Vestir-se** (to get dressed)
- **Pentear-se** (to comb one's hair)
- **Sentar-se** (to sit down)
- **Despachar-se** (to hurry up)

Notice that **pentear-se** adds an "i" to its stem in several forms (*eu penteio-me*).

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### Personal Care Vocabulary

Here are a few useful nouns, plus how to talk about taking care of yourself. Notice that when talking about body parts, Portuguese usually uses the definite article (the face) rather than a possessive pronoun (my face).

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### Changing Pronoun Placement

While the pronoun usually attaches to the end of the verb, there are two important situations where its position changes.

**1. "Magnet" words**
Certain words, like **quando** (when) or negative words, act as magnets. When they are in the same clause as the verb, they pull the reflexive pronoun *before* the verb, without a hyphen.

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*(Note: The magnet only works within its own clause. If the reflexive verb is in a separate main clause, the pronoun stays safely at the end, as in the next example.)*

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**2. With Infinitives**
If the reflexive verb remains in its dictionary (infinitive) form because it follows a helper verb, you typically attach the pronoun to the end of the infinitive.

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However, if there is a preposition like **de** right before the infinitive, the pronoun often slips between the preposition and the verb.

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Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

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

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)

Already and not yet (já, ainda não)

Question	Answer
to get up	levantar-se
I get up early every day.	Eu levanto-me cedo todos os dias.
to get dressed	vestir-se
You get dressed fast.	Tu vestes-te rápido.
the face	a cara
the towel	a toalha
He wipes his face with the towel.	Ele limpa a cara com a toalha.
to comb one's hair	pentear-se
the mirror	o espelho
I comb my hair in front of the mirror.	Eu penteio-me em frente do espelho.
the clothes	a roupa
She buys beautiful clothes.	Ela compra roupa bonita.
to sit down	sentar-se
We sit down on the sofa.	Nós sentamo-nos no sofá.
to hurry up	despachar-se
You hurry up in the morning.	Tu despachas-te de manhã.
They hurry up because they are late.	Eles despacham-se porque estão atrasados.
When it is cold, we get dressed quickly.	Quando faz frio, nós vestimo-nos rápido.
You sit down at the table for breakfast.	Vocês sentam-se à mesa para o pequeno-almoço.
When he gets up, he looks at the mirror.	Quando ele se levanta, olha para o espelho.
I clean my face with water and a towel.	Eu limpo a cara com água e uma toalha.
My brother gets up at eight o'clock.	O meu irmão levanta-se às oito horas.
You comb your hair in the bathroom.	Vocês penteiam-se na casa de banho.
We have to hurry up today.	Nós temos de nos despachar hoje.
You must get up early.	Tu deves levantar-te cedo.
They wear clean clothes.	Eles usam roupa limpa.
the shampoo	o champô
to dry oneself	secar-se
I use the shampoo and dry myself with the towel.	Eu uso o champô e seco-me com a toalha.
to put on makeup	maquilhar-se
She sits on the chair and puts on makeup.	Ela senta-se na cadeira e maquilha-se.
You dry yourself and comb your hair in the bathroom.	Tu secas-te e penteias-te na casa de banho.
We get up early and get dressed.	Nós levantamo-nos cedo e vestimo-nos.
Don't you want to buy the shampoo?	Tu não queres comprar o champô?
The woman puts on makeup in the bathroom.	A mulher maquilha-se na casa de banho.
to go to bed, to lie down	deitar-se
I go to bed at ten at night.	Eu deito-me às dez da noite.
You go to bed very late.	Tu deitas-te muito tarde.
to have fun, to enjoy oneself	divertir-se
We have fun at the party.	Nós divertimo-nos na festa.
They have fun with their friends.	Eles divertem-se com os amigos.
to go quiet, to shut up	calar-se
The boy goes quiet in class.	O menino cala-se na aula.
I go quiet when the teacher speaks.	Eu calo-me quando o professor fala.

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