depois de + Personal Infinitive

After Doing with Personal Infinitive

Level 3

The pattern depois de + infinitivo pessoal allows you to link two actions in sequence while clearly identifying who is performing the second action, without needing a full 'que' clause.

How It Works

In Portuguese, the infinitivo pessoal is a unique feature that allows an infinitive verb to be conjugated. When used with the prepositional phrase depois de (after), it creates a concise subordinate clause.

1. Conjugation:
The personal infinitive is 100% regular. You take the dictionary form and add these endings:

  • Eu: (no ending)
  • Tu: -es
  • Ele/Ela/Você: (no ending)
  • Nós: -mos
  • Vós: -des
  • Eles/Elas/Vocês: -em

2. When to use it:
While you can use the impersonal infinitive if the subject is the same as the main clause (e.g., 'Eu saí depois de comer'), you must use the personal infinitive if the subjects are different (e.g., 'Eu saí depois de eles comerem').

3. Comparison with 'Depois que':
You can also say 'depois que' followed by a finite verb, but depois de + personal infinitive is often considered more elegant and is extremely common in European Portuguese and formal Brazilian Portuguese.

Examples (4)

  1. Depois de vocês chegarem, abriremos o vinho.

    After you (plural) arrive, we will open the wine.

    Word by Word: After of you arrive-PL, we will open the wine.

    Here, 'chegarem' matches the subject 'vocês'. The personal infinitive is used because the subject of the first action (you) is different from the second (we).

  2. Eles foram embora depois de nós lhes darmos o presente.

    They left after we gave them the gift.

    Word by Word: They went away after of we to them give-WE the gift.

    The verb 'darmos' is conjugated for 'nós'. Even though the main verb is in the past, the personal infinitive form remains the same.

  3. Depois de tu saíres, eu vou limpar a casa.

    After you leave, I am going to clean the house.

    Word by Word: After of you leave-TU, I go to clean the house.

    The ending '-es' is added to 'sair' to agree with 'tu'.

  4. Podemos falar depois de eu terminar este relatório?

    Can we talk after I finish this report?

    Word by Word: Can we talk after of I finish this report?

    Since the 'eu' form has no visible ending, the pronoun 'eu' is included to clarify who is finishing the report.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the impersonal (unconjugated) infinitive when the subjects are different.

    Depois de eles sair, a festa começou.
    Depois de eles saírem, a festa começou.

    When the subject of the infinitive ('eles') is different from the main subject ('a festa'), the verb must be inflected to 'saírem'.

  • Confusing the personal infinitive with the future subjunctive for irregular verbs.

    Depois de nós formos amigos...
    Depois de nós sermos amigos...

    The personal infinitive is always regular. For the verb 'ser', the personal infinitive is 'sermos', whereas 'formos' is the future subjunctive.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

depois de + Personal InfinitiveLevel 3After Doing with Personal Infinitive

Learn This First

To learn 'depois de + infinitivo pessoal', you need to know how to conjugate the personal infinitive and understand that the preposition 'de' is required after 'depois' when followed by a verb. This pattern is specifically used when the subject of the 'after' clause is different from the main clause or needs to be explicitly clarified.

Words in This Pattern

depois dedepois