Basic placement: proclisis in simple sentences

Pronoun placement helps you understand Brazilian conversation and careful writing. Te amo is a common conversational pattern; amo-te can also be used in Brazil. Learn the negative and question constructions with não, ninguém, quando and other frequent words, while keeping the clause and register in view.

Two positions, one clear favourite

An object or reflexive pronoun can sit before the verb or after it:

Brazilian conversation generally favours próclise, and you will also encounter it in writing. This is a useful pattern, not a rule that placing every pronoun before every verb is always safe. Ênclise remains valid in Brazil too; the construction, verb form and register matter.

Words and contexts associated with próclise

Everyday, before the verb

• "Te vejo amanhã!" (See you tomorrow!)

• "Ela me esperou na porta." (She waited for me at the door.)

• "A gente se encontra às oito." (We are meeting at eight.)

After a magnet word

• "Não te ouvi bem." (I did not hear you properly.)

• "Nunca me senti tão feliz." (I have never felt so happy.)

• "Alguém te ligou hoje." (Someone called you today.)

• "Só te peço uma coisa." (I only ask you one thing.)

Two verbs, pronoun in the middle

Próclise in these simple finite clauses

The following unpaused finite constructions require the standard placement shown. This is not a universal ban on ênclise after any word on a list:

• ❌ "Não ajuda-me" → ✅ "Não me ajuda"

• ❌ "Quando vejo-te" → ✅ "Quando te vejo"

• ❌ "Ninguém contou-me" → ✅ "Ninguém me contou"

Commands go both ways

An independent affirmative command without an attracting context uses ênclise in traditional careful style: Sente-se. Colloquial Brazil also uses Se senta or omits the pronoun. A negative command uses próclise in the standard example: Não se preocupe, not Não preocupe-se.

Ênclise makes the verb change shape

Attaching the pronoun sometimes changes the spelling: vemos + nos becomes vemo-nos, and ver + o becomes vê-lo. Próclise leaves the verb and pronoun separate in these examples.

Historical grammars document a shift from predominantly proclitic Classical Portuguese, often called a língua das caravelas, toward predominantly enclitic European Portuguese. Seventeenth-century Brazilian letters show Classical patterns alongside innovations. Modern placement reflects different changes in both varieties. Sources: Revista Linguística (UFRJ) · Fórum Linguístico (UFSC).