Portuguese/Contents/Personal Pronouns of Subject

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The Portuguese language contains pronouns for I, you (formerly thou), he, she, we, you and they. There is no "it" because Portuguese has no neuter gender, and instead an ungendered thing will be considered either masculine or feminine, depending on the gender of the word (keep in mind that gender in this case doesn't actually mean "men" or "women", it's just the name used for the noun classes of Portuguese. For example, the word for table: mesa, is feminine, but it's not actually seen as a female or as "girly", it's just a naming convention).

The pronouns

Official forms:

• eu - I
• tu - you (singular, very informal). Used mainly in Portugal. Comparable to the old english "thou".
• ele - he or it (For people and objects of the male gender)
• ela - she or it (For people and objects of the female gender)
• nós - we
• vós - you (singular and plural, extremely formal). Obsolete outside of highly intellectual and formal texts, and some areas of Portugal.
• eles - they (For male people and objects). Also used as the defaut "neuter" gender pronoun when there are both feminine and masculine nouns in a group.
• elas - they (For female people and objects)

Pronouns of "treatment":

Always conjugated in the third person singular, these are employed to refer to someone in a more formal fashion, or to speak to someone with a specific title (can also be used as honorifics). A list of common ones:

• Você - you (singular, informal/formal), (old portuguese Vossa Mercê). Has replaced the use of tu in some dialects, used as formal second person singular in others.
• Vocês - you (plural). Has replaced almost entirely the use of the pronoun vós.
• O senhor - he/sir (male, singular, formal). Used to refer to strangers or as a show of respect.
• A senhora - she/madam (female, singular, formal). See above (o senhor).
• Os senhores - they (males, formal). See above (o senhor).
• As senhoras - they (females, formal). See above (o senhor).
• Vossa senhoria- he/she or sir/madam (invariable, extremely formal). Used to refer to someone that is seen as being "above" you, but that doesn't have any specific title.
• Vossa majestade- his/your highness (invariable, extremely formal). Used for queens and kings.
• Vossa santitade- your holiness (invariable, extlemely formal). Used to refer to heads of religious organizations (mainly the pope).
• Meritíssimo- "one who has a lot of merit" (invariable, extremely formal). Used for judges.

'Colloquial forms:' (Used mainly in Brazil, not accepted in formal written language)

• A gente - we (singular, informal). Replaces nos in informal settings. Conjugated in the third person.
• ocê- you (singular, informal). Dialectal variation of você.
• cê- you (singular, informal). Dialectal variation of você.
• nóis- we (plural, informal). Dialectal variation of nós

As you can see, there is sometimes more than one pronoun in Portuguese for the equivalent English word. The reason for this is to show both the gender and the level of formality that you wish to use to address the other person.

I & we

To say "I", you simply say eu. To say "we", you say nós (in Brazil you might say a gente or nois in an informal setting). These words don't reflect gender alone but the words that accompany them (such as adjectives) still take into account the gender of the speaker/group.

You

When you say "you" in Portuguese to an individual, you must show the level of formality that is appropriate to that person. By saying tu, you are addressing that person informally, in the way you'd talk with a friend. When you use você, you are speaking in a more formal way. Again, these words don't carry any gender themselves but those that follow them agree with the gender of whoever is being spoken to.

When talking to a group of people, vocês is commonly used. At one point, vós was used as a formal plural "you", but it is now obsolete, although still heard in the north of Portugal. Only people who use an extremely erudite way of speaking use this pronoun.

In some dialects, mainly in Brazil, tu is considered too odd for general use and você is almost always used instead for informal situations.

He, she, & they

As in the English language, Portuguese has individual words for "he" (ele) and "she" (ela). But unlike in English, Portuguese also has male and female words for "they". Eles is used for males, but can also be used when dealing with both a male and a female (or a large group involving both genders). However, elas is used only for female groups.

Other forms of he, she, & they

When dealing with a formal situation or to an unknown person, "he", "she", and "they" can take on formal states. O senhor would replace ele, and a senhora would replace ela. For "they", os senhores replaces eles and as senhoras replaces elas. These forms would usually be used with older people, parents and teachers.