Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O médico proibiu-o de fumar.

O médico proibiu-o de fumar.

The doctor forbade him to smoke.

Breakdown of O médico proibiu-o de fumar.

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Questions & Answers about O médico proibiu-o de fumar.

Why is it proibiu-o instead of proibiu-lhe?

The verb proibir (to forbid) is commonly used in the structure proibir alguém de fazer algo (to forbid someone from doing something). In this structure, the person being forbidden is the direct object, which is why we use o for him rather than the indirect object pronoun lhe.

Why isn't the attached pronoun changed to -lo or -no?

Object pronouns change to -lo only if the verb ends in -r, -s, or -z, and they change to -no if the verb ends in a nasal sound like -m or -ão. Because proibiu ends in a standard vowel sound, the pronoun simply remains -o.

Why does the pronoun attach to the end of the verb (proibiu-o) instead of going before it?

In European Portuguese, object pronouns normally attach to the end of the verb in affirmative sentences using a hyphen. You would only put the pronoun before the verb if there was a magnet word (like não, já, or a question word) pulling it to the front.

Why do we need the word de before fumar?