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B1  ·  The pronouns

When the pronoun moves to the front

Five kinds of word pull it forward, and they are in every other sentence.

The basic position in Portugal is at the back. But five kinds of word drag the pronoun forward, and they turn up so often that the front position may well be the one you write most.

First, the negation: não me chamo Ana, nunca o vi, ninguém lhe disse nada.

Second, the question words: quem te disse isso?, onde a encontraste?

Third, the little words que, se, quando, porque — anything that opens a subordinate clause: disse que me telefonava. And fourth, a few adverbs: , também, talvez, .

Die Form

my name ischamo-me
my name is notnão me chamo
who told you that?quem te disse?
he said he would ring medisse que me telefonava
I have already told youjá te disse
he told me tootambém me disse

Die Regeln im Einzelnen

  1. After a negation it stands in front.

    Não me lembro do nome.I do not remember the name.

  2. After a question word it stands in front.

    Quem te disse isso?Who told you that?

  3. In a subordinate clause it stands in front.

    Disse que me telefonava hoje.He said he would ring me today.

  4. After já, também, só and talvez it stands in front.

    Já te disse duas vezes.I have already told you twice.

Woran man es erkennt

  • não
  • nunca
  • quem
  • que
  • também

Beispielsätze

Não te ouvi, desculpa.I did not hear you, sorry.

Onde a encontraste?Where did you meet her?

Espero que me escrevas.I hope you will write to me.

Também lhe disse a mesma coisa.I told him the same thing.

Die typisch deutsche Falle

Aufgepasst

The negation pulls the pronoun forward, and there is no choice about it. Não chamo-me Ana is not clumsy, it is wrong — and it is the sentence in which the mistake happens most, because chamo-me was learnt as a single block on the first day. It is not a block: it is two words that happen to be joined when nothing is standing in front of them.

Falsch:Não chamo-me Ana.
Richtig:Não me chamo Ana.

Negation, question and subordinate clause pull it forward.

Jetzt selbst

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