In short

Portuguese has subject pronouns - eu, tu, ele… - but it usually leaves them out, because the verb ending already tells you who is acting: Falo português means “I speak Portuguese” with no word for “I”. Master that habit first (it is the single biggest shift for an English speaker), then the second job of this lesson: European Portuguese has several ways to say “you”, and choosing the right one is a matter of politeness, not grammar. Tu for people you are close to, the respectful o senhor / a senhora, and a very European move - addressing someone in the third person by name or title - all live here.

The rule

The subject pronouns

Here is the full set, with the verb-person each one commands (you will conjugate the verbs themselves from Lesson 6 on - for now, notice only which “slot” each pronoun fills):

• eu - I (1st sg); tu - you, informal (2nd sg)
• você and o senhor / a senhora - you, neutral and formal (3rd sg, like ele / ela)
• ele / ela - he / she / it (3rd sg)
• nós - we (1st pl); a gente - we, colloquial (3rd sg)
• vocês and os senhores / as senhoras - you all (3rd pl)
• eles / elas - they (3rd pl)

Every pronoun for “you” except tu takes a third-person verb - the same form as ele / ela. That is central: você fala, o senhor fala and ele fala all use the identical verb.

The null subject (drop the pronoun)

Because the verb ending is different for each person, Portuguese normally omits the subject pronoun. This is called the sujeito nulo. Say:

• Falo inglês. (I speak English.) - not Eu falo.
• És muito simpático. (You are very nice.) - not Tu és.
• Moramos em Lisboa. (We live in Lisbon.) - not Nós moramos.

Put the pronoun back only when you actually need it:

• for contrast: Eu trabalho, mas ele estuda (I work, but he studies);
• for emphasis: Fui eu (It was me);
• for clarity, when the verb form alone is ambiguous - above all the 3rd person, where você, ele and ela share one ending: Ela é médica vs Ele é médico.

English forces a subject onto every verb; Portuguese treats a bare pronoun-plus-verb (eu falo, eu como, eu vou) as heavy and slightly foreign.

Ways to say “you” (formas de tratamento)

This is where European Portuguese differs most from the textbook “you = você” shortcut:

• tu - informal singular, for friends, family, children, classmates, anyone you are on close terms with. It takes the 2nd-person singular verb (the -s ending): tu falas, tu tens. In Portugal tu is alive and normal, not slangy.
• você - a neutral-to-polite singular “you” that takes the 3rd-person verb (você fala). Handle it with care in EP: to some ears it can sound distant or even curt, so Portuguese speakers often avoid the word and let the verb plus a name or title carry the address.
• o senhor / a senhora - the respectful, formal “you”, also with a 3rd-person verb: O senhor tem troco? (Do you have change, sir?).
• third-person address by name or title - a hallmark of EP courtesy: instead of any pronoun, you name the person and use a 3rd-person verb. A Ana quer um café? (Does Ana - meaning you, Ana - want a coffee?), O doutor precisa de ajuda?.

In the plural, the choice narrows: vocês covers informal and neutral “you all” (3rd-person plural verb), and os senhores / as senhoras is the formal plural.

nós, a gente, and the vanished vós

“We” is nós (nós falamos, or just falamos). In everyday speech Portuguese also says a gente for “we” - but a gente takes a 3rd-person singular verb, like a collective noun: a gente vai means “we are going”. The old 2nd-person plural vós survives only in the north of Portugal, in prayer and in set phrases; for “you all” use vocês.

Forms & patterns

The pronouns and the verb-person they govern:

Choosing how to address someone (European norm):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Eu falo, eu como, eu vou -> Falo, como, vou - drop the pronoun; the verb ending already carries “I”, and repeating eu sounds foreign.
• Using você the way Brazilian Portuguese does, as the default “you” -> in EP prefer tu with people you are close to, and o senhor / a senhora or third-person address otherwise; a bare você can sound cold.
• tu fala -> tu falas - tu demands the 2nd-person singular verb (the -s ending); pairing tu with a 3rd-person verb is a Brazilianism, not EP standard.
• o senhor tens -> o senhor tem - você and o senhor / a senhora take the 3rd-person verb, never the tu form.
• a gente somos -> a gente é (or a gente está) - a gente means “we” but agrees in the 3rd-person singular.
• Ele está a chover -> Está a chover - there is no “it” subject for weather or time; just drop it (É tarde, “It is late”).

Tips

• Make dropping the subject your default. Add a pronoun only for contrast (eu… mas ele…), for emphasis (fui eu), or to separate você / ele / ela, which share one verb form.
• In Portugal, tu is the ordinary informal “you” - use it freely with friends, family and children; it is not disrespectful or childish.
• The safest polite move in EP is to address people in the 3rd person by name or title (A Ana quer…?, O doutor precisa…?) rather than reaching for você.
• Learn a gente early - it is everywhere in speech for “we” - but keep its verb singular: a gente vai, a gente tem.
• In Brazil: você is the everyday informal “you” (with a 3rd-person verb) and tu has largely faded or, where used, often takes a 3rd-person verb too; a gente very commonly replaces nós. So Brazilian leans on você / a gente exactly where European Portuguese leans on tu / nós and third-person address.