In short

Once you know who does something (the subject, Lesson 3), you need a short way to say whom or to whom it is done, so you are not forced to repeat the noun: not Vejo o Pedro. Conheço o Pedro há anos, but Vejo o Pedro. Conheço-o há anos - “I see Pedro. I have known him for years.” Portuguese does this with object pronouns, and it keeps two separate sets of them:

• unstressed (formas átonas, also called clitics) - little words that lean on the verb: me, te, o, a, lhe, nos, vos, os, as, lhes;
• stressed (formas tónicas) - stand-alone words that appear after a preposition: mim, ti, si, ele/ela, nós, vós, eles/elas.

This lesson teaches you which form to reach for. Where the clitic sits next to the verb (attached after it, conheço-o, or pulled in front, não o conheço) is a whole skill of its own - that is the next lesson, #30 - and the -lo/-no shapes that o/a take after certain endings are Lesson 31. Here, just learn the forms and the direct-vs-indirect split.

The rule

Direct object clitics - the thing acted on

The direct object (complemento direto) is what the verb hits with no preposition in between: you see something, buy something, know someone. Replace it with:

me, te, o/a, nos, vos, os/as

Only the third person carries gender and number: o (him / it, masc.), a (her / it, fem.), os / as (them). They agree with the noun they replace:

• Vejo o Pedro. -> Vejo-o. (I see him.)
• Comprei as flores. -> Comprei-as. (I bought them.)

After a verb form ending in -r, -s or -z, o/a/os/as change to -lo/-la/-los/-las (comprá-las, fá-lo). That is Lesson 31 - for now just recognise it.

Indirect object clitics - the person you give/say/send to

The indirect object (complemento indireto) is reached through the preposition a (“to / for”): you give a book to someone, say something to someone. Replace it with:

me, te, lhe, nos, vos, lhes

Here the third person is lhe (to him / to her / to you-formal) and lhes (to them) - and unlike the direct set, lhe/lhes do not show gender:

• Dou o livro ao João. -> Dou-lhe o livro. (I give him the book.)
• Escrevi aos meus pais. -> Escrevi-lhes. (I wrote to them.)

Notice the useful overlap: me, te, nos, vos are the same whether direct or indirect. Only the third person forces you to choose - o/a/os/as (direct) versus lhe/lhes (indirect).

Stressed forms - after a preposition

After any preposition (a, de, para, por, com, em, sem, entre…) you cannot use a clitic. You use the stressed set:

mim, ti, si, ele/ela, nós, vós, eles/elas

• Este café é para mim. (This coffee is for me.)
• Não vou sem ti. (I’m not going without you.)
• Falaram de nós. (They talked about us.)

si is the stressed form for the polite você / o senhor and for a reflexive “himself/herself/yourself”. In EP si is the normal polite form (Isto é para si.); where it could be ambiguous, speakers use the explicit com o senhor, para a senhora.

The preposition com (“with”) fuses with five of these into one word - learn them as fixed:

com + mim = comigo, com + ti = contigo, com + si = consigo, com + nós = connosco, com + vós = convosco.

For the rest, com stays separate: com ele, com ela, com eles, com elas.

Doubling for emphasis or clarity

Because lhe can mean “to him” or “to her”, and because you may want to stress who, EP often doubles the object - a stressed phrase alongside (or instead of) the clitic:

• Deu-lhe o livro a ela. (He gave the book to her - the a ela disambiguates.)
• A mim, ninguém me avisou. (Me, nobody warned - fronted for emphasis.)

Forms & patterns

Direct and indirect clitics side by side (only the 3rd person differs):

Stressed forms used after prepositions, and the com-fusions:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Vejo ele -> Vejo-o - in European Portuguese a direct object is a clitic (o/a), not the subject pronoun ele/ela; “vejo ele” is Brazilian colloquial and sounds wrong in EP.
• Dou-o um livro (meaning “I give him a book”) -> Dou-lhe um livro - the person you give to is the indirect object, so lhe, not o.
• Escrevi-lhe meaning “I wrote to them” -> Escrevi-lhes - lhe is singular; the plural “to them” is lhes.
• Comprei-o for “I bought them (as flores)” -> Comprei-as - the direct clitic must agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces.
• Este café é para eu -> Este café é para mim - after a preposition use the stressed object form mim/ti, never the subject eu/tu.
• Vem com mim -> Vem comigo - com fuses with these pronouns: comigo, contigo, consigo, connosco, convosco.
• Falou com nós -> Falou connosco - same rule; note EP spells it with a double n (Brazilian: conosco).

Tips

• Two quick questions pick the pronoun. Does the verb reach this object through the preposition “a”? If yes -> indirect (lhe/lhes). If it hits it directly -> direct (o/a/os/as). And is there a preposition right before the pronoun? If yes -> stressed (mim, ti, si…).
• The direct set carries gender (o/a, os/as); the indirect set only number (lhe/lhes). That single contrast is 90% of the work at A2.
• Learn the four fused forms as vocabulary: comigo, contigo, consigo, connosco (and formal-ish convosco). Learners who translate “with me” word for word produce com mim every time.
• Reach for a doubled a ele / a ela whenever lhe would be ambiguous: Dei-lhe o recado a ela leaves no doubt it was to her.
• To be polite to o senhor / a senhora, the direct object is still o/a (conhecê-lo, ajudá-la) and the indirect is lhe - the same third-person forms.
• In Brazil the clitics behave very differently in practice: subject pronouns turn up as objects (vi ele), te mixes with você, and the clitic usually sits before the verb. Keep the European forms and, for placement, wait for the next lesson.