Verbs: Usage of different 'Persons'

As has already been mentioned, the English language no longer differentiates between singular and plural forms of the second person (‘you…’).  Portuguese is similar, in that the second person plural form is very rarely used nowadays.  Instead of this, the third person plural is usually used – so to say that ‘you (plural) do something’ is effectively the same as saying ‘they do something’.  You might occasionally find the old second person plural form in literature, so is worth knowing about, but it is rare to hear it in spoken Portuguese.

The second person singular form (you) in Portuguese is only used informally – ie, with people you know very well, family members, children, or those considerably younger than yourself.  To express a verb in the second person singular form formally, you actually use the third person singular form of the verb.  When you think about it, this makes sense, because as you have already seen, the polite Portuguese word for ‘you’ is the equivalent of saying ‘the lady’ or ‘the gentleman’ – so you are actually using the third person anyway (for example, to say ‘you work’ politely, you are effectively saying ‘the lady/gentleman works’ – so the verb ‘to work’ is expressed in the third person singular form ‘works’).

When using the first person singular or plural forms or the second person singular (informal) form, it is always obvious from the verb who is performing the action, so it is usually unnecessary to use the equivalent of the pronouns ‘I’, ‘we’, or ‘you’.  So to say ‘I work’, you can just say one word in Portuguese:  ‘trabalho’.  Likewise, to say ‘we work’, you just need one word:  ‘trabalhamos’.  However, if you want to emphasise who is doing the work, you do use the pronoun.  For example, to say “I work, but you don't work” in Portuguese (with the emphasis on 'I' and 'you'), it is necessary to use the Portuguese equivalents of the pronouns 'I' and 'you' (‘eu’ and ‘tu’ or ‘você’). 

At times the other conjugations can be used without pronouns as well, if it is obvious from the context who is being spoken about.  If you prefer, it will not sound wrong if you use pronouns all of the time, like we do in English – you just need to be aware that it is not always necessary, so that you can understand what others say.

Comments

Tu Written by Cristina on 2006-03-20 07:21:36 IP: 80.3.128.8 In Brazil tu, the second person singular form (you), is hardly ever used, depending on the region you are. Especially in the southern they use it informally, but in some places, like São Paulo, it is very rare to hear people using tu.

Tu Written by Administrator on 2009-05-11 08:48:30 IP: 80.3.128.8 Yes, tu is considered very old fashioned in Brazil, and as noted in the section on Introductions, você is used instead. However, this site is intended to teach European Portuguese, and tu (along with its related verb forms) is always used for addressing people informally in Portugal.

Use of formal and informal "you" Written by Jason on 2006-04-12 08:09:28 IP: 80.3.128.8 Hey     I am a very active speaker of European Portuguese, but I have no idea about Brazilian :$ I know they use você all the time, but in European Portuguese, it is like this:    - Informal = Tu + 2nd person verb conjugation  - Formal = 3rd person verb conjugation    For example:    - Informal = (Tu) comes sempre as laranjas?  - Formal = Come sempre as laranjas?    The trend is to use no article, and the third person when talking formally When you really feel you have to use an article to distinguish, you can use você or o senhor... it's hard to explain this difference, but I just say it...    Hope it helps :D    Jason

Comparing Portuguese and Spanish Written by Sean Lacap on 2007-01-16 08:34:27 IP: 66.11.70.70 Hi!    In South America, the 2nd person plural for Spanish is "ustedes" for both formal and informal conversation, but in Spain, they use "vosotros" for informal and "ustedes" for formal.     Concerning Portuguese in the nation of Portugal, do they use the word "vos" commonly, or "voces"? Is there an equivalent to "ustedes" in Portugal as well?    Muito obrigado!

2nd person plural Written by Administrator on 2007-01-16 08:47:39 IP: 80.3.128.6 In European Portuguese, the only informal 2nd person plural subject pronoun is 'vós'. This is hardly ever used nowadays in Portugal, and never in Brazil (except in the Bible). Vocês is widely used in Brazil, but not so much in Portugal. In Portugal, it is more common to say 'os senhores' or 'as senhoras', or to use the names of the people or group involved, followed by the third person plural verb form. Often the pronoun is omitted completely, and just the third person plural verb is used.

Tu/Você Written by Fernando Vidigal on 2007-06-30 12:42:26 IP: 88.210.112.114 -If you know a person very well, or if that person is your friend, you use "tu".  -If you don't know that person very well, or for some reason you are not at ease with that person, you use "você".  -Using "tu" with someone you don't know would be rude, unless for example you are talking to a very young person like a child, or if you are talking to someone of your age(young) AND in a somewhat relaxed context like a school.    "Do you know where...?":    "Tu sabes onde...?"  or even in a more usual and fast way to speak:  "Sabes onde...?"    "Você sabe onde...?"  or even in a more usual and fast way to speak:  "Sabe onde...?"  Or if you want to talk even more polite and showing even more respect you use ("O senhor", for male) or ("A senhora", for female) instead of "você".    This is if you are talking to just one person, male or female.

Comparing Portuguese and Spanish Written by Fernando Vidigal on 2007-06-30 12:40:33 IP: 88.210.112.114 That is a bad idea and I can assure you that…that doesn't work and you will achieve nothing. Because they are different languages, like French is different from English or Russian.    For some strange reason, MANY Americans in Portugal thank people by saying "gracias"!, I only know that "gracias" is “thank you” in Spanish and that it means "obrigado" in Portuguese because of the Hollywood movies!  What surprises me the most is that some British people think the same way, and they are in Europe too, they should know better.

Vós and vocês pronouns Written by Vasco Reis on 2007-10-14 13:16:13 IP: 81.84.109.78 I am a native European Portuguese speaker and I can assure you that vós is considered extremely old-fashioned and in some areas (at least in the North, where I reside) it is associated with either old people, books and etcetera or oaves (people who don't speak "normal" Portuguese [as in 'registos/níveis de língua'] but use regional dialects and/or wrong phrasal constructions).  Relatively to você, many people dislike being called so (they consider it rude, inappropriate), preferring the omission of the subject, like "Prefere bananas ou maçãs?" instead of "Você prefere...?". In fact, in my first year of school , since I was a boy, I wasn't used to address anyone formally, and the teacher nearly dragged me out of the room for using 'você' and said something like "Use você when talking to your aunt..." with alot of contempt.

Mozambique Written by Laura on 2008-04-08 13:35:15 IP: 194.205.255.98 I've been learning Portuguese in Mozambique and never hear 'tu' only 'voce', my fiance is mozambican and we always speak to each other using 'voce'. I'm a little nervous about speaking to Portugeuse people, don't want to offend anyone!

Addressing people Written by Vasco Reis on 2008-08-18 16:56:39 IP: 81.84.108.73 Hi, Laura, I just want to state that my intention wasn't to get anyone nervous about talking to people. I just wanted to make clear that vós is perfectly neglectable. Você, on the other hand, may be considered rude, so when addressing someone you know well enough, use 'tu'. When you are speaking to someone else, if it's a child, use 'tu' as well, if it's an adult or senior person, simply omit the pronoun ('Podia indicar-me o caminho?' instead of 'Você podia...') or use 'o senhor/ a senhora'.

Dusty Pete Written by Dusty Pete on 2009-04-21 20:50:01 IP: 86.12.61.58 I am currently having private lessons with a lovely middle class lady from Lisbon who insists that one would gain more respect as a non-native speaker by using 'vos', particularly in very formal situations such as meeting bank managers, councellors, architects, job interviews, etc., so she's insisting that I take note. On the other hand some native Algarvian friends say the only time they ever hear 'vos' is from "...snooty people down from Lisbon"!!     I will be moving to the Algarve in a few years time & consider that the better the grip of the language I have, all the better. So in the meantime I'm quite happy to continue to learn how to use 'vos'. After all, it's no extra work really!

Clarification on 'you' forms Written by Marian on 2009-11-05 09:40:32 IP: 86.166.207.69 I am learning Portuguese using the Michel Thomas method, which is fab. However, I would like some reassurance on which 'you' form to use, and when.    My understanding would be the default is: o senhor / a senhora.  If with friends/family/invited to do so then the 'tu' could be used.  With 'mates' voce would be acceptable if that is in use.    The confusion is a lot of phrase books suggest voce, but that would seem rather informal to me. Thoughts please, especially from any european Portuguese. Thanks.

You Written by Administrator on 2009-11-05 10:06:21 IP: 81.103.153.54 As noted in the comments above, você is not used informally in Portugal, but it is in Brazil. So with your mates you would use 'tu'.

Obrigada Written by Marian on 2009-11-16 14:31:00 IP: 86.156.224.240 Thank you very much for your help - and for this wonderful website, which is a very helpful reference point.    All the best  Marian

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