The Portuguese Personal Infinitive (Infinitivo Pessoal)
In virtually all European languages (Spanish, French, Italian, English), an infinitive is strictly invariant. Portuguese possesses a world-famous grammatical superpower: the Personal Infinitive (Infinitivo Pessoal), an infinitive that conjugates to declare who is performing the action.
⚡ The Universal Personal Infinitive Endings
Formula: Entire Infinitive + Personal Suffix (Works on virtually every regular & irregular verb!)
| Pronoun | Suffix | falar (to speak) | comer (to eat) | ter (to have) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eu | — (none) | falar | comer | ter |
| tu | -es | falares | comeres | teres |
| ele / ela / você | — (none) | falar | comer | ter |
| nós | -mos | falarmos | comermos | termos |
| vós | -des | falardes | comerdes | terdes |
| eles / elas / vocês | -em | falarem | comerem | terem |
1. Why Portuguese Speakers Love It: Clarity & Conciseness
In other languages, if two clauses have different subjects, you are forced to build a heavy subjunctive subordinate clause with that (que). In Portuguese, the personal infinitive eliminates the conjunction and avoids the subjunctive entirely:
ES: "Traje comida para que comamos todos."
FR: "J'ai apporté à manger pour que nous mangions."
PT: "Trouxe comida para comermos todos."
(No "que", no subjunctive, just preposition + conjugated infinitive!)
2. The Core Preposition Triggers
The personal infinitive is triggered almost exclusively after prepositions when there is an explicit or implicit subject change:
- para / a fim de (purpose): "Liguei para saberes da novidade." (I called so you would know the news.)
- ao (at the moment of): "Ao chegarem ao hotel, eles descansaram." (Upon arriving at the hotel, they rested.)
- antes de / depois de (time): "Lavem as mãos antes de comerem." (Wash your hands before you eat.)
- por / por causa de (cause): "Obrigado por estardes aqui." (Thank you for being here.)
- sem (without): "Eles saíram sem nós vermos." (They left without us seeing.)
- apesar de (despite): "Apesar de termos pressa, fomos cautelosos." (Despite being in a hurry, we were cautious.)
3. Impersonal Phrases: É melhor / É importante
When giving advice or stating necessity to specific people, you can attach the personal infinitive directly:
- "É melhor partirmos agora." (It is better for us to leave now.)
- "É importante você saberes a verdade." (It's important that you know the truth.)
- "Seria bom eles virem amanhã." (It would be good for them to come tomorrow.)