Tratamento: você, o senhor / a senhora

Tratamento: você, o senhor / a senhora means “In Brazil você is the neutral "you"; o senhor / a senhora is the polite form”. Brazilian Portuguese has simplified the second person: você covers almost everything — friends, colleagues, strangers — and it takes third-person verb forms (você fala, você tem), not the tu forms found in textbooks and in European Portuguese. Formation: você + verbo na 3ª pessoa do singular · formal: o senhor / a senhora + 3ª pessoa

In Brazil você is the neutral "you"; o senhor / a senhora is the polite form

A1

Formation

você + verbo na 3ª pessoa do singular · formal: o senhor / a senhora + 3ª pessoa

Explanation

Brazilian Portuguese has simplified the second person: você covers almost everything — friends, colleagues, strangers — and it takes third-person verb forms (você fala, você tem), not the tu forms found in textbooks and in European Portuguese. For respect (elderly people, customers, formal service situations) use o senhor / a senhora, again with third-person verbs. The pronoun tu does survive in some regions (Rio Grande do Sul, the Northeast, Pará, Rio), but in everyday speech it is usually paired with the third-person verb anyway: tu fala rather than the textbook tu falas.

Examples

Você fala português muito bem.
You speak Portuguese very well.
O senhor aceita um cafezinho?
Would you like a little coffee, sir?

Note

In Portugal, você can sound cold or even rude to a stranger. This lesson describes Brazilian usage.

FAQ

Tratamento: você, o senhor / a senhora — what does it mean and how is it used?

In Brazil você is the neutral "you"; o senhor / a senhora is the polite form. Brazilian Portuguese has simplified the second person: você covers almost everything — friends, colleagues, strangers — and it takes third-person verb forms (você fala, você tem), not the tu forms found in textbooks and in European Portuguese. For respect (elderly people, customers, formal service situations) use o senhor / a senhora, again with third-person verbs. The pronoun tu does survive in some regions (Rio Grande do Sul, the Northeast, Pará, Rio), but in everyday speech it is usually paired with the third-person verb anyway: tu fala rather than the textbook tu falas.

Tratamento: você, o senhor / a senhora — how do you form it?

você + verbo na 3ª pessoa do singular · formal: o senhor / a senhora + 3ª pessoa

Tratamento: você, o senhor / a senhora — any usage notes?

In Portugal, você can sound cold or even rude to a stranger. This lesson describes Brazilian usage.

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