Próclise, ênclise e os clíticos contraídos
Object pronouns in European Portuguese (me, te, se, nos, vos, lhe, lhes, o, a, os, as) usually attach AFTER the verb with a hyphen — that's ênclise: chamo-me Ana, viu-me ontem. But certain triggers — negation, conjunctions, some adverbs, que, question words — pull the pronoun BEFORE the verb without a hyphen: that's próclise: não me viu, que te disse?, já te disse. Plus three special twists: when lhe + o/a meet they fuse (lho, lha, lhos, lhas); after a verb form ending in -r/-s/-z, o/a become lo/la and the ending drops (comer + o = comê-lo); after -m/-ão/-õe, o/a become no/na (dão + o = dão-no).
Default — ênclise (after the verb, with hyphen)
Without any trigger, the pronoun follows the verb and is joined by a hyphen. Chamo-me Pedro = my name is Pedro. Viu-me na rua = he saw me on the street. Dá-me o livro = give me the book. Levantei-me cedo = I got up early. Disse-lhe a verdade = I told him the truth. This is the EP textbook default and the single biggest spoken difference from Brazilian Portuguese, where the pronoun naturally goes before the verb (BR me chamo, me viu). In EP, beginning a sentence with a clitic (Me chamo Pedro.) sounds wrong — the verb has to come first.
Próclise — the pull-forward triggers
Several elements force the pronoun BEFORE the verb (no hyphen): (1) Negation: não, nunca, nada, ninguém, nem — não me viu, nunca te disse, ninguém me ajudou. (2) Subordinating conjunctions: que, se, porque, quando, embora, como, enquanto — disse que te conhecia, se me visses, porque me chamou. (3) Relative pronouns: que, quem, onde, cujo — a pessoa que me viu, o lugar onde nos conhecemos. (4) Interrogative and exclamative words: quem, o que, quando, como, porque, quanto — quem te disse?, como se chama?, que pena me dás!. (5) Certain adverbs of frequency, doubt, or focus: já, ainda, sempre, também, só, talvez, bem, mal — já te disse, também me lembro, talvez se zangue. (6) Indefinite pronouns/quantifiers as subject: alguém, tudo, todos, muitos, poucos — alguém me chamou, todos se levantaram.
Mesóclise — the rare middle position
Portuguese has a third placement that survives only in formal/literary register: when the verb is in the futuro do indicativo or condicional AND no proclisis trigger is present, the pronoun nestles INSIDE the verb form. Dir-te-ei a verdade = I will tell you the truth (literally dirtelei, with te wedged into direi). Far-lhe-ia esse favor = I would do him that favor. The futuro/condicional ending splits and the pronoun sits in the middle, with hyphens on both sides. With any proclisis trigger, mesóclise vanishes and the pronoun jumps to the front: não te direi, se lhe faria — never não dir-te-ei. In speech, even in PT, mesóclise is replaced by paraphrases: vou dizer-te, havia de te fazer. Recognize it in literature, contracts, and formal writing; you'll rarely produce it.
Contractions: lhe + o = lho
When indirect-object me/te/lhe/nos/vos/lhes meets direct-object o/a/os/as in the same clause, they FUSE. The pattern: the -e/-os of the indirect object drops, and the direct object glues on. me + o = mo, me + a = ma, me + os = mos, me + as = mas. te + o = to, te + a = ta, te + os = tos, te + as = tas. lhe + o = lho, lhe + a = lha, lhe + os = lhos, lhe + as = lhas. nos + o = no-lo, nos + a = no-la (with hyphen — careful, this is different from the no/na below). vos + o = vo-lo. lhes + o = lho (same as singular — context disambiguates). Dá-mo! = give it to me! Eu disse-lho = I told it to him. Ela ofereceu-mas = she offered them (f.) to me. These contractions are everyday EP and absolutely standard in writing; in spoken EP they're common too, though longer paraphrases (deu-me isso) are heard. BR avoids them almost entirely — speakers say me dá, eu disse isso a ele.
-lo / -la after verb endings -r, -s, -z
When the direct objects o, a, os, as attach to a verb form ending in -r, -s, or -z, the verb ending DROPS and the pronoun gains an l-: comer + o = comê-lo (the r disappears, accent added), fazer + o = fazê-lo, dizer + a = dizê-la, vamos + os = vamo-los, fiz + o = fi-lo. The accent rule: -ar verbs take á (amá-lo), -er verbs take ê (comê-lo), -ir verbs keep the i without accent (ouvi-lo, abri-la). This rule is mandatory and active — you'll meet it constantly: quero comprá-lo, vou dizê-las, temos de fazê-lo. After modal + infinitive, the pronoun usually attaches to the infinitive: posso fazê-lo. With proclisis trigger, the pronoun jumps front and the verb stays whole: não o posso fazer ≈ não posso fazê-lo.
-no / -na after -m, -ão, -õe
When o/a/os/as attach to a verb form ending in a NASAL — -m (3rd-person plural in most tenses), -ão, or -õe — the pronoun gains an n- to keep the nasal flowing: dão + o = dão-no, comem + a = comem-na, põe + os = põe-nos, viram + as = viram-nas. The verb ending stays. Compare: eles dão + o livro → eles dão-no. This is purely phonetic — the n- form prevents an awkward vowel collision. It applies only to o/a/os/as as direct object — never to me/te/lhe/etc. Triggers and contractions still work normally: não no dão, deram-no a ela = they gave it to her.
Brazilian register — proclisis as default
BR speech places the pronoun BEFORE the verb regardless of trigger: me chamo Pedro, me viu ontem, te disse a verdade. Even sentence-initial proclisis is normal in BR (Me chama! = call me!) — strictly ungrammatical in EP writing. BR also drops lhe for indirect objects and uses preposition + pronoun instead: dei o livro PARA ELE rather than dei-lhe o livro. The contractions mo/to/lho are essentially absent from spoken BR; speakers paraphrase. Mesóclise is unknown in everyday BR. For EP learners: master ênclise as default, the proclisis trigger list, and the spelling rules -lo/-la and -no/-na — these three pillars handle 95% of clitic placement in writing and careful speech.
