Daily Routine & Reflexive Verbs
Daily Routine & Reflexive Verbs
Describing a typical day introduces Portuguese's reflexive verbs — actions you do to yourself, marked with se — which show up far more often than their English equivalents suggest.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Reflexive verbs need a matching pronoun
levanto-me, lavo-me, visto-me
I get up, I wash up, I get dressed
Many everyday routine verbs are reflexive in Portuguese even where English doesn't treat them that way: levantar-se (to get oneself up), lavar-se (to wash oneself), vestir-se (to get oneself dressed). Each needs a reflexive pronoun — me, te, se, nos, vos, se — matching the subject: levanto-me (I get up), levantas-te (you get up), levanta-se (he/she gets up).
The pronoun usually attaches after the verb, with a hyphen
Chamo-me David.
My name is David (literally: I call myself David).
In European Portuguese, the reflexive pronoun typically attaches directly to the end of the verb with a hyphen in a plain statement — chamo-me, levanto-me — rather than sitting in front of it the way object pronouns often do in other Romance languages. This is one of the more distinctive features of European (as opposed to Brazilian) Portuguese word order.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- I get up
- English
- I wash up
- English
- I get dressed
- English
- I have breakfast
- English
- I go to work
- English
- I have lunch
- English
- I return home
- English
- I have dinner
- English
- I watch TV
- English
- I go to bed
- English
- I sleep