levantar-se/vestir-se/deitar-se

Daily Routine Reflexives

Level 1

In Portuguese, daily routine actions like getting up, dressing, or lying down are reflexive. This means you must use a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos) to show you are doing the action to yourself.

How It Works

Reflexive verbs are essential for describing your day. Common ones include:

  • Levantar-se: To get up
  • Vestir-se: To get dressed (Note: Eu me visto - stem change)
  • Deitar-se: To go to bed

Stem Changes:
The verb vestir-se changes the 'e' to 'i' in the first person singular: Eu me visto / Visto-me.

Pronoun Placement:

  • Brazilian Portuguese (BP): Proclisis is the default standard (Eu me levanto). No hyphen is used.
  • European Portuguese (EP): Uses enclisis (Levanto-me) with a mandatory hyphen. Crucially, you cannot start a sentence with a pronoun in EP.

Attractors (Proclisis):
In both dialects, certain words pull the pronoun to the front:

  • Negation: Não me levanto.
  • Adverbs: Sempre me deito cedo.
  • Relative Pronouns: A hora que me levanto.
  • Question Words: Onde se deita?

The 'Nós' Rule:
When using nós with enclisis, drop the final -s of the verb: Levantamos + nos = Levantamo-nos. Note that for eles/elas/vocês, the verb ending remains unchanged (levantam-se).

Examples (6)

  1. Eu me visto agora.

    I get dressed now.

    Word by Word: I me dress now.

    The verb vestir-se has a stem change (e to i) in the first person singular: 'visto'.

  2. Levanto-me às sete horas.

    I get up at seven o'clock.

    Word by Word: Lift-me at the seven hours.

    In European Portuguese, you cannot start a sentence with a pronoun; you must use enclisis (levanto-me) with a mandatory hyphen.

  3. Eu me levanto às sete horas.

    I get up at seven o'clock.

    Word by Word: I me lift at the seven hours.

    In Brazilian Portuguese, proclisis (me levanto) is the default standard and does not use a hyphen.

  4. Sempre me deito cedo.

    I always go to bed early.

    Word by Word: Always me lie down early.

    Adverbs like 'sempre' act as attractors, pulling the pronoun before the verb even in European Portuguese.

  5. Nós levantamo-nos cedo.

    We get up early.

    Word by Word: We lift-us early.

    When using nós with enclisis, the final '-s' of the verb is dropped before adding the pronoun '-nos'.

  6. Eles não se deitam tarde.

    They don't go to bed late.

    Word by Word: They not themselves lie down late.

    The negative word não forces the pronoun to appear before the verb.

Common Mistakes

  • Starting a sentence with a pronoun in European Portuguese.

    Me levanto às oito.
    Levanto-me às oito.

    In European Portuguese, you must use enclisis if the verb starts the sentence. Starting with 'Me' is common in Brazil but considered incorrect in Portugal.

  • Conjugating 'vestir-se' as 'vesto' instead of 'visto'.

    Eu me vesto.
    Eu me visto.

    The verb vestir-se is irregular in the first person singular; the 'e' changes to 'i'.

  • Using reflexive pronouns with 'acordar' (to wake up).

    Eu me acordo cedo.
    Eu acordo cedo.

    Unlike Spanish, the verb 'acordar' is not reflexive in standard Portuguese.

How It Connects

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levantar-se/vestir-se/deitar-seLevel 1Daily Routine Reflexives

Learn This First

To learn daily routine reflexive verbs, you first need to understand how to conjugate regular -ar and -ir verbs in the present tense, as well as how to use reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos) which change depending on the subject.

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levantarvestirdeitar