Portuguese conjugation explanation

Personal vs. Impersonal Infinitive

<p>Portuguese (and Galician) is unique among Romance languages because it allows the infinitive to be conjugated to indicate exactly who is performing the action. This is known as the

<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/12/" target="_blank">Personal Infinitive</a>

<p>Learners often find it difficult to know when to add the personal endings versus when to use the standard impersonal form. The choice depends on the <strong>subject</strong> of the clause.</p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">When to use the Impersonal Infinitive</div>

<p>Use the standard, unconjugated infinitive (ending in -ar, -er, -ir) in two main situations:</p>

<ul>

<li>

<div><strong>1. General statements (No specific subject):</strong></div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">É difícil <span class="green_emphasis">falar</span> chinês. (<span style="font-style: italic;">It is hard to speak Chinese.</span>)</div>

</li>

<li>

<div><strong>2. Same Subject:</strong> When the subject of the infinitive is the <strong>same</strong> as the subject of the main verb.</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="brown_emphasis">Eu</span> preciso <span class="green_emphasis">ir</span> embora. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I need to leave.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="brown_emphasis">Eles</span> saíram para <span class="green_emphasis">comprar</span> pão. (<span style="font-style: italic;">They went out to buy bread.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(The subject "Eles" is performing both actions: going out and buying.)</div>

</li>

</ul>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">When to use the Personal Infinitive</div>

<p>You must conjugate the infinitive when the subject of the dependent clause is <strong>different</strong> from the main clause, or when the subject is explicitly stated next to the infinitive to avoid ambiguity.</p>

<ul>

<li>

<div><strong>Different Subjects:</strong></div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">O professor pediu para <span class="brown_emphasis">nós</span> <span class="green_emphasis">estudarmos</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">The teacher asked us to study.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(Switch: Teacher asks &#8594; We study)</div>

</li>

<li>

<div><strong>Explicit Subject:</strong></div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">É importante <span class="brown_emphasis">tu</span> <span class="green_emphasis">entenderes</span> o problema. (<span style="font-style: italic;">It is important for you to understand the problem.</span>)</div>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Eles passaram sem <span class="brown_emphasis">nós</span> <span class="green_emphasis">vermos</span>. (<span style="font-style: italic;">They passed by without us seeing.</span>)</div>

</li>

</ul>

<p>The endings for the Personal Infinitive are added to the infinitive stem. Here is the conjugation for

<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext verb_link" href="/study/conjugations/por/entender/" title="Click to see conjugations for entender" target="_blank">entender</a>

<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">

<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label tense_box no_dark_mode " href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/12/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Infinitivo Pessoal</a>

<div class="study_conjugations_conjugation conjugations_table two_columns">

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

eu

</span>entender

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

tu

</span>entenderes

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

ele

</span>entender

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

nós

</span>entendermos

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

vós

</span>entenderdes

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

eles

</span>entenderem

</span>

</div>

</div>

</div>

</div>

<p><strong>Note:</strong> The S/1 and S/3 forms usually look identical to the impersonal infinitive, but the P/1 (<em>-mos</em>), S/2 (<em>-es</em>), and P/3 (<em>-em</em>) forms are distinct.</p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Personal Infinitive vs. Future Subjunctive</div>

<p>For regular verbs, the Personal Infinitive looks exactly like the

<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/10/" target="_blank">Future Subjunctive</a>

<p>To learn how to distinguish them, see the explanation on

<a class="conjugation_explanation_link_intext" href="/conjugationExplanation/portuguese_personal_infinitive_vs_fut_subj/" target="_blank">Personal Infinitive vs. Future Subjunctive</a>