Anaphora & cataphora

Mastering anaphora and cataphora transforms your Portuguese from a series of choppy sentences into flowing, professional discourse that reads like a supreme court decision or bestselling novel. Whether you're writing a thesis that needs to track multiple research subjects, crafting business reports that juggle competing proposals, or simply telling a story without boring repetition, these reference patterns are what separate advanced speakers from intermediates. They're the invisible threads that weave paragraphs into cohesive arguments and conversations into coherent narratives.

Understanding Reference Direction

References work like linguistic pointers, creating connections across sentences and paragraphs:

1. ANAPHORIC REFERENCE (Backward-Pointing)

Anaphora refers back to something already mentioned (the antecedent):

Types of Anaphoric Devices:

Academic Texts

• "Analisamos três hipóteses. A primeira sugere correlação direta. Esta se baseia em dados de 2020. Tal interpretação, contudo, apresenta limitações" (We analyzed three hypotheses. The first suggests direct correlation. This is based on 2020 data. Such interpretation, however, presents limitations)

• "O que propomos é o seguinte: uma revisão completa da metodologia" (What we propose is the following: a complete methodology review)

• "Piaget revolucionou a pedagogia. O psicólogo suíço demonstrou que..." (Piaget revolutionized pedagogy. The Swiss psychologist demonstrated that...)

Business Communication

• "A empresa apresentou os resultados. Estes superaram as expectativas. A organização planeja expandir. Ø Contratará 100 funcionários" (The company presented results. These exceeded expectations. The organization plans to expand. (It) Will hire 100 employees)

• "Quanto ao projeto Alpha, este será suspenso. No que concerne ao Beta, aquele continua" (As for project Alpha, this will be suspended. Concerning Beta, that continues)

• "Há dois pontos cruciais: primeiro, o custo; segundo, o prazo" (There are two crucial points: first, the cost; second, the deadline)

News Articles

• "O presidente anunciou medidas. Ø Falou por duas horas. O chefe do executivo parecia confiante. Ele prometeu mudanças" (The president announced measures. (He) Spoke for two hours. The chief executive seemed confident. He promised changes)

The Este/Esse Collapse

In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, "esse" is taking over all demonstrative functions:

• Traditional: "Este livro aqui, esse aí, aquele lá"

• Modern spoken: "Esse livro aqui, esse aí, esse lá"

• Writing still maintains distinction

The "O Mesmo" Controversy

"O mesmo" as pronoun is considered poor style but remains common:

• Criticized: "João chegou. O mesmo estava atrasado"

• Preferred: "João chegou. Ele estava atrasado"

• Still used in legal/bureaucratic texts