reflexive verbs: present

Reflexive Verbs in Brazilian Portuguese

In Portuguese, reflexive verbs are accompanied by reflexive object pronouns that refer back to the subject of the sentence. The most common reflexive pronouns are me (for eu), se (for ele, ela, você, eles, elas, vocês), and nos (for nós).

Unlike in English, reflexive verbs in Portuguese encompass several different meaning patterns beyond just literal reflexive actions. Let's break down the main ways they are used:

1. True Reflexive Actions

This is the most literal use, where the subjects do an action to themselves.

• Eles se vestem muito bem. (They dress themselves very well.)
• Ela tem que se aplicar duas injeções por dia. (She has to give herself two injections a day.)

2. Reciprocal Meaning

When the subject is plural, reflexive pronouns can indicate that subjects are performing an action upon one another.

• Não entendo por que vocês dois se gostam tanto. (I don't understand why you two like each other so much.)

3. Change of State (Intransitive Verbs)

Many verbs that are reflexive in Portuguese correspond to simple intransitive verbs in English that indicate a change of state or a natural process.

• A doença se espalha rapidamente pelo corpo. (The disease spreads quickly through the body.)
• O sol se põe por volta das seis horas. (The sun sets around six o'clock.)

4. Change of Emotional State or Physical Position

Reflexive pronouns are often used with verbs denoting a change in emotion or physical position, such as sentar-se (to sit down) or levantar-se (to get up).

Important Note for Brazilian Portuguese: In informal, spoken Brazilian Portuguese, people frequently drop the reflexive pronoun for physical positions (e.g., saying just ele sentou or eu levantei). For emotional changes, it is very common to use the verb ficar followed by an adjective or past participle instead of a reflexive verb (e.g., ficar feliz or ficar irritado).

5. Inherent Reflexive Verbs

Finally, there is a class of verbs that are simply reflexive by convention. They don't fit into a specific logical pattern; they just always require a reflexive pronoun.

• arrepender-se (to regret)
• recusar-se (to refuse)