European Portuguese — Pronouns & Possessives

Built from your questions  ·  PT-PT (Portugal)  ·  Spanish comparisons flagged in red

Where Portuguese Comes From — the family tree (fun background, not a lesson)

Portuguese is a Romance language — one of the languages that grew out of the Latin spoken across the Roman Empire (Vulgar Latin, meaning "common/everyday," not rude). As the Empire faded, the Latin in each region drifted on its own path for centuries until it became a separate language. Here's how the family splits — and where Portuguese actually sits, which surprises people.

The 6 Pronouns — memorize these first

Every sentence is built on these. Learn them cold before anything else — the whole language hangs off this little grid.

How Verbs Work — the one pattern

A Portuguese verb changes its ending depending on who's doing it. You drop the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir) to get the stem, then bolt on the ending for each pronoun. Here's the biggest group, -ar, using falar (to speak):

eu          falo      → I speak
tu          falas     → you speak
ele / ela   fala      → he / she speaks
nós         falamos   → we speak
vocês       falam     → you all speak
eles / elas falam     → they speak

The three regular families follow the same logic — just slightly different vowels. Here are all three side by side in the "I / you / he" forms you'll use most:

Easy Future — "going to" (skip the real future tense)

The formula is: conjugate ir (to go) + the plain infinitive verb. That's it.

eu          vou     → I go / I'm going
tu          vais    → you go
ele / ela   vai     → he / she goes
nós         vamos   → we go
vocês       vão     → you all go
eles / elas vão     → they go

Vou falar.          → I'm going to speak.
Vou comer.          → I'm going to eat.
Vais gostar disto.  → You're going to like this.
Ela vai chegar tarde. → She's going to arrive late.
Vamos ver.          → We're going to see. / Let's see.
Eles vão jogar.     → They're going to play.

Subject Pronouns — ele / ela

Who is doing the action. These map cleanly onto Spanish.

Object Pronouns — te / lhe / o·a

Who receives the action. Don't confuse these with ele/ela — this is the "him/her/you" that hangs off the verb.

Vejo-te.      → I see you.
Amo-te.       → I love you.
Dou-te o livro. → I give you the book.

Eu o vi.   → I saw him.
Eu a vi.   → I saw her.

Dei-lhe o livro.     → I gave him/her the book.
Comprei-lhes flores. → I bought them flowers.

te vs. ti — both mean "you"

Same word, two slots. The trigger is whether a preposition sits in front of it.

Pronunciation — the "lh" sound

lhe ≈ "lyih"

The lh is a single sound — not "l" + "h." Closest matches:

• Spanish ll in llave
• Italian gli
• English lli in million / billion

So: lh (milli-on) + e (short "ih/eh") → "lyih."

gostar — "to like"

Eu gosto de música.  → I like music.
Gosto do café.       → I like the coffee.
Gosto de ti.         → I like you.

amar — "to love"

amar is a direct-object verb — the thing you love hooks straight on, no preposition.

Amo-te.        → I love you.   (≈ Spanish "te amo")
Amo o João.    → I love João.
Amo música.    → I love music.

Why does "love" skip the de but "like" needs it?

It's not about meaning — it's just how each verb is built. You memorize each verb with its preposition (or lack of one), the same way you memorize gender. Some verbs come with de permanently attached; others are "naked."

meu vs. minha — "my"

Both mean "my." You pick the form that matches the gender of the thing owned — never based on who's speaking.

o coração   → meu coração   (my heart)
o carro     → meu carro     (my car)

a casa      → minha casa    (my house)
a ideia     → minha ideia   (my idea)

teu / tua vs. seu / sua — "your"

Two layers of choice here: (1) match the gender of the thing owned, and (2) pick the set based on how formal you're being with the person.

o teu carro   → your car   (friend)
a tua casa    → your house (friend)
o seu carro   → your car   (formal)
a sua casa    → your house (formal)

dele / dela — "his / her / their"

Because seu/sua is ambiguous, real European Portuguese says "the car of him" / "of her." This form is unambiguous and is what you'll hear most.

ser vs. estar — "to be"

Both mean "to be." ser is for permanent / defining things; estar is for temporary / current-state things. Same split as Spanish ser/estar — if you know that, this is free.

Eu sou americano.   → I am American.   (identity)
Ela é médica.       → She is a doctor. (profession)
É importante.       → It is important. (defining trait)

Estou cansado.      → I am tired.        (right now)
Estou em Lisboa.    → I am in Lisbon.    (location)
A comida está boa.  → The food is good.  (right now)

ter — "to have"

The second workhorse verb. Beyond possession, Portuguese uses ter where English uses "to be" — for age, hunger, and more. Learning this unlocks dozens of everyday phrases.

Present tense: tenho, tens, tem, temos, têm.

Tenho um carro.      → I have a car.
Tenho 30 anos.       → I am 30 (lit. "I have 30 years").
Tenho fome.          → I am hungry (lit. "I have hunger").
Tenho de ir.         → I have to go.

Survival Verbs — the ones you'll actually use

If you learn the "I" and "you" forms of just these, you can build most day-one sentences. Everything is present tense, eu / tu.

Addressing People — tu / você / o senhor

This connects the te/ti and teu/seu choices you already learned into one system. Portugal handles "you" differently from Brazil and from Spanish — worth getting right early because it signals respect.

PT-PT vs. Brazilian — what makes yours "European"

Most learning material online is Brazilian. Since you specifically want European Portuguese, these are the differences that matter most so you don't accidentally learn the wrong one.

Sounds That Trip You Up

European Portuguese "eats" vowels — it sounds much more clipped and consonant-heavy than Spanish or Brazilian. A few sound rules cover most of the surprise. This is the 20% of pronunciation that fixes 80% of "why doesn't it sound like it's spelled."

The Vowels — the biggest difference from Spanish

In Spanish, vowels are pure and steady — a-e-i-o-u always sound the same. Portuguese vowels shift and reduce, and an unstressed one can nearly vanish. The single most useful thing to teach the kids: a final -o is "oo," not the Spanish "oh."

The letter X — the sneaky one

X is the trickiest letter in Portuguese because it has four possible sounds and there's no perfect rule — you mostly learn them word by word. Most often it's "sh."

Phrase Glue — tiny words that punch above their weight

These little connectors and set phrases appear in nearly every conversation. Memorizing this short list makes you sound fluent far faster than more vocabulary would.

Sounding Natural — how people actually talk

"How are you?" — nobody really says Como estás

Como estás? isn't wrong, but it can sound a bit stiff/textbook. What you'll actually hear:

The little words that make you sound local

Everyday reactions & fillers

Casual greetings & goodbyes

Counting 0–100

The only "hard" part is 0–15 and the teens — those are memorized words. After 20 it's pure Lego: tens + e + units. Learn the anchors and you've got all 100.

0–15 (memorize these)

16–19 (the European-spelling ones)

The tens (your anchors)

Everything in between — one pattern

tens + e ("and") + units, written as three separate words, no hyphens. Learn it once with the twenties and it works identically for every decade:

21 vinte e um       35 trinta e cinco
22 vinte e dois     47 quarenta e sete
23 vinte e três     68 sessenta e oito
   … and so on …    99 noventa e nove

Telling Time — using hora

hora means "hour" / "time" (it's feminine — a hora). It powers both "what time is it" and the super-useful "it's time to…" pattern.

The "it's time to…" pattern

Está na hora de + verb = "It's time to…" (na = em + a, "in/at the"). Just swap the verb:

Está na hora de dormir.   → Time to sleep / bedtime.
Está na hora de comer.    → Time to eat.
Está na hora de ir.       → Time to go.
Está na hora de acordar.  → Time to wake up.

Asking & giving the clock time

Days & Months

The days of the week are the quirkiest thing in European Portuguese — they're numbered, not named. Monday is literally "second-fair," because Sunday is counted as the first day.

Days of the week

Months

Family Phrases — for you & the kids

Parent → child

Child → parent

School & studying

The morning-routine and after-school lines — the part of family life that repeats every single day.

Around the house & screen time — the Vou pattern

These are all Vou + verb ("I'm going to…"), the easy future you learned earlier — perfect for a kid announcing what they're about to do. Great real-world practice of one pattern.

Question Words — the openers

Master these eight and you can ask almost anything. They're the front door to real conversation.

Colors — as cores

Colors are adjectives, so they agree with the noun (the gender rule again). A few are invariable.

Food & Meals — a comida

The meals of the day (PT-PT)

Common foods & drinks

The Body & "It Hurts"

For scrapes, tummy aches, and "where does it hurt?" — inevitable with kids.

At the Restaurant

Dining out, start to finish. The magic word is Queria… ("I'd like…") — it's the polite, soft way to order anything, and far more natural than a blunt "I want."

Getting seated & the menu

Ordering — the Queria pattern

Just say Queria + the thing. Add se faz favor to finish politely.

Queria um jarro de sangria.      → I'd like a pitcher of sangria.
Queria frango, se faz favor.    → I'd like chicken, please.
Para mim, o bife.              → For me, the steak.
Queria água, por favor.        → I'd like water, please.

Meats & mains

Special requests & problems

Paying up

Feelings & Weather

How do you feel?

Feelings mostly use estar (temporary state) — remember the ser/estar split. Adjectives agree with the speaker's gender (boy/girl).

Estou feliz.       → I'm happy.
Estás bem?        → Are you okay?
Estou cansado.    → I'm tired. (boy — girl: cansada)
Como te sentes?   → How are you feeling?

Weather — o tempo

Weather uses two special verbs: está (it is) and faz (lit. "it makes"). And personal cold/heat uses estar com.

Past Tense — a gentle starter

For regular -ar verbs (like falar), the "I" and "you/he" past endings are -ei and -aste / -ou:

eu        falei     → I spoke
tu        falaste   → you spoke
ele/ela   falou     → he/she spoke
nós       falámos   → we spoke
eles      falaram   → they spoke

The verbs you'll actually hear most in the past are irregular — learn these few as ready-made:

Typing the Accent Symbols

You don't need to hunt for these. Here's how to type ç ã õ á é í ó ú â ê ô à on each platform.

Cheat Sheet

European Portuguese Reference · compiled from your questions · PT-PT · agreement rule: the word matches the noun, not the speaker