Portuguese Year 4: Pronouns: personal, possessive and demonstrative
Portuguese, Year 4 (Portugal): Words that stand in for a noun: eu, me, meu, este. Learn to spot them and to tell their kinds apart.
A word that takes the place of a noun
A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun. A personal pronoun says who speaks or who is spoken about. The stressed form is the one said with force (eu, tu, ele, ela, nós, eles; after a preposition, mim and ti: «para mim», “for me”). The unstressed form is short and leans on the verb (me, te, o, a, lhe, nos, os, as: «Vi-o», “I saw it”). The possessive says whose it is (meu, teu, nosso). The demonstrative points (este, esse, aquele, isto, aquilo).
They save words
Without pronouns we would say everything twice: «A Ana perdeu o livro. A Ana procurou o livro.» (Ana lost the book. Ana looked for the book.) With pronouns it sounds better: «A Ana perdeu o livro. Ela procurou-o.» (Ana lost the book. She looked for it.) Pronouns avoid repetition. And here is a clue to recognise them: if a word stands in for a noun, it is a pronoun.
Find the pronouns in a small text
Read: «A Rita pintou um barco. Ela mostrou-o ao Tomás: “Este é meu; aquele é teu.”» (Rita painted a boat. She showed it to Tomás: “This one is mine; that one is yours.”) Step 1: «Ela» stands for «A Rita»: personal pronoun, stressed form. Step 2: «-o» in «mostrou-o» stands for «um barco»: personal pronoun, unstressed form. Step 3: «Este» and «aquele» point at boats: demonstrative pronouns. Step 4: «meu» and «teu» say whose they are: possessive pronouns.
The same word, two classes
Careful: the same word can belong to different classes. In «o barco», the «o» comes before the noun: it is an article, a kind of determiner. In «Vi-o», the «o» stands for the noun: it is a pronoun. The same with «este»: in «este barco» it goes with the noun (determiner); in «Este é meu» it replaces it (pronoun). To avoid mistakes, ask: “Is this word standing in for a noun, or coming before it?”
You use them all day long
You use pronouns without noticing. On the phone: «Eu chego já.» (I'll be there soon.) At the table: «Passa-me isso, por favor!» (Pass me that, please!) In a shop: «Quero aquele.» (I want that one.) On a present: «Este presente é teu.» (This present is yours.) When you read, pronouns tell you who is being talked about: «ela» and «eles» point to people who have already appeared.
Test what you learned
What is a pronoun?
- a) A word that says what a noun is like
- b) A word that stands in for a noun
- c) A word that says what someone does
- d) A word that joins two other words
Correct answer: b) A word that stands in for a noun — Yes: in «A Ana perdeu o livro. Ela procurou-o.», «ela» and «o» stand in for nouns.
In «Aquele é meu.» (That one is mine.), what class is each word?
- a) aquele: personal pronoun; meu: possessive pronoun
- b) aquele: demonstrative pronoun; meu: personal pronoun
- c) aquele: demonstrative pronoun; meu: possessive pronoun
- d) aquele: possessive pronoun; meu: demonstrative pronoun
Correct answer: c) aquele: demonstrative pronoun; meu: possessive pronoun — Yes: «aquele» points at something far away and «meu» says whose it is. Both stand in for a noun.
In which sentence does «esse» stand in for a noun (it is a pronoun)?
- a) Esse é meu.
- b) Esse cão é meu.
- c) Comi esse bolo.
Correct answer: a) Esse é meu. — Yes: «esse» stands alone, in place of a noun (“that one is mine”). It is a demonstrative pronoun.
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