How to Say "You" in Brazilian Portuguese

In Brazilian Portuguese, addressing someone as "you" depends on the level of formality and the grammatical role of the pronoun in the sentence.

1. The General "You": Você and Vocês

The standard, everyday words for "you" are você (singular) and vocês (plural). Although they mean "you," they historically come from the formal expression vossa mercê ("your mercy"). Because of this, they always use third-person verb conjugations (he/she/they forms).

• Você é americano? (Are you American?)
• Vocês estão com fome? (Are you guys hungry?)

Unlike English, where "you" changes its position based on strict object pronoun rules, você and vocês often act like regular nouns in the object position when receiving the action of a verb:

• Considero você meu melhor amigo. (I consider you my best friend.)
• Pretendo visitar vocês ano que vem. (I intend to visit you next year.)

2. The Polite "You": O Senhor and A Senhora

When speaking to older strangers, superiors, or customers, Brazilians use formal titles instead of você. You should use o senhor for men and a senhora for women (or their plurals os senhores and as senhoras in highly formal settings). These also require third-person verbs.

• A senhora está na fila? (Are you in line, ma'am?)
• Posso falar com o senhor? (Can I speak with you, sir?)
• Qual o nome do senhor? (What is your name, sir?)
• A senhora aceita um café? (Would you like a coffee, ma'am?)

3. Omitting the Pronoun

In spoken Portuguese, if the intonation or context makes it obvious who you are talking to, speakers frequently drop the pronoun "you" completely.

• Quer sentar? (Do you want to sit down?)
• Querem me acompanhar, por favor? (Do you want to follow me, please?)

4. Spoken Object Pronouns: Te vs. Você

In everyday speech, Brazilians frequently use the second-person object pronoun te instead of você when "you" is the direct or indirect object. Te is placed right before the verb.

• Eu te amo. / Eu amo você. (I love you.)
• Te empresto o dinheiro. / Empresto o dinheiro para você. (I'll lend you the money.)

5. Written and Formal Object Pronouns

In formal writing, the standard third-person object pronouns are used to mean "you." Direct objects use o, a, os, as, while indirect objects use lhe, lhes. These match the formality of o senhor / a senhora.

• Posso ajudá-la? (Can I help you?)
• Em que lhe posso ser útil? (How can I be useful to you?)
• É com enorme prazer que os convidamos ao lançamento do novo livro. (It is with great pleasure that we invite you to the launch of the new book.)
• Vimos apresentar-lhes proposta de reforma do estatuto social. (We are here to present to you a proposal for the reform of the bylaws.)

However, in spoken language, Brazilians often just use the full titles as objects rather than these short clitic pronouns:

• Já vou atender o senhor. (I will help you right away, sir.)
• Estaremos enviando à senhora o contrato em duas vias. (We will be sending you the contract in duplicate, ma'am.)