Object pronouns and where they go

The “direct object” is the person or thing that receives the action: “I saw her”, “I'll take it”. The “indirect object” is the person who receives something or is told something: “Send me a message”, “Tell him”.

Me, te and nos work for both. For the third person, careful Portuguese has o, a, os, as (him, her, it, them) and lhe, lhes (to him, to her, to them). These also mean “you” when you talk to someone as o senhor or a senhora.

In everyday speech o, a, os and as are rare. When it's clear what you mean, Brazilians simply leave the object out: Gostei da camisa. Vou levar. (I like the shirt. I'll take it.) For people, they often use ele, ela, eles, elas after the verb: Eu vi ele ontem. This is normal in conversation, even among educated speakers, but it is avoided in writing.

Te is used with você in speech (Te ligo à noite), although grammar books pair it with tu. Me, te and nos are used all the time.

In speech, “to him” and “to her” are usually para ele and para ela, said pra ele, pra ela: Vou mandar uma mensagem pra ela. Lhe belongs to formal language, and when Brazilians use it, it usually means “to you” (o senhor, a senhora): Posso lhe ajudar? is heard, though the standard form is Posso ajudá-lo?

In Brazilian speech the pronoun goes before the main verb, even at the start of a sentence: Me liga amanhã (Call me tomorrow), Te vejo depois (See you later). After não it also comes before the verb: Não me lembro (I don't remember).

With two verbs, it usually goes between them, before the infinitive or the gerund: Vou te ligar (I'll call you), Ela está me esperando (She's waiting for me).

Formal written Portuguese and European Portuguese don't start a sentence with an object pronoun. They put it after the verb with a hyphen: Chamo-me Ana, Disse-lhe a verdade. In Portugal this is also how people speak: Liga-me amanhã. Words such as não, que, já, nunca and quem pull the pronoun before the verb: Não o conheço, Acho que o vi.

After an infinitive, o, a, os, as become lo, la, los, las, the -r of the infinitive drops and the vowel takes an accent when it needs one: levar → levá-la, fazer → fazê-lo, abrir → abri-lo. After a verb ending in a nasal sound they become no, na: Viram-na (They saw her).