Uses of “se” in Brazilian Portuguese

Level B2

Uses of “se” in Brazilian Portuguese

In Brazilian Portuguese, “se” can show that someone acts on themselves or on one another, form part of a verb, or change how a sentence presents its subject. English does not use one word in all these ways, so look at the verb’s meaning and the sentence around it. The examples also show how formal constructions compare with common conversational alternatives.

Reflexive actions: someone acts on themselves

sujeito se verbo de ação sobre si.

Reciprocal actions: people act on one another

participantes se verbo no plural um ao outro.

Common pronominal verbs: “arrepender-se” and “queixar-se”

Using “arrepender-se” and “queixar-se” in context

In arrepender-se and queixar-se, the pronoun belongs to the verb’s usual construction; it does not mean literally acting on yourself. Both introduce the reason with de: arrepender-se de and queixar-se de. English regret and complain do not require a corresponding reflexive pronoun. The examples use se with third-person subjects; with other subjects, the pronoun changes, as in “me arrependo” and “nos queixamos.”

sujeito no singular se arrepende de motivo do arrependimento / sujeito no singular se queixa de motivo da queixa.

Markers used with passive and indeterminate subjects

Passive “se”: the verb agrees with what receives the action

verbo transitivo concordando com o sujeito-se sujeito que recebe a ação.

Indeterminate-subject “se”: an unspecified person or people

verbo na terceira pessoa do singular-se complemento com preposição ou circunstância.

Standard forms and conversational alternatives

In the standard passive construction with se, the verb agrees with the grammatical subject receiving the action: “Vendem-se casas aqui” has plural vendem because casas is plural. With indeterminate-subject se, the verb stays in the third-person singular: in “Precisa-se de profissionais experientes,” the phrase introduced by de is a complement, not the subject. Singular “vende-se casas” is common in everyday Brazilian usage, but standard edited writing requires “vendem-se casas.”

The body marks the passive se examples and “Precisa-se” examples formal; these are characteristic of notices and impersonal writing. “Trabalha-se muito nesta empresa” is unmarked here, although it can also sound impersonal or formal. The alternatives marked informal illustrate conversational choices, but “casas são vendidas” is a standard passive with ser that also occurs in formal writing. “A gente precisa de ajuda” explicitly includes the speaker’s group, while “eles vendem” may refer to particular sellers or leave their identity vague; neither automatically preserves the original sentence’s reference.

When “se” changes the meaning of a verb

“Ele se lembrou do compromisso” means he remembered the appointment; lembrar-se introduces what is remembered with de. “Ele lembrou a irmã do compromisso” means he reminded his sister: the sister is the direct object, and de introduces the reminder’s content. The whole construction determines the meaning: lembrar without se can also mean remember, so omission alone does not necessarily produce the meaning remind. Esquecer can take a direct object, as in “Ela esqueceu o endereço”; esquecer-se de can express the same meaning with a pronoun and preposition. Learn each verb together with its complements.

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