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The Personal Infinitive

infinitivo pessoal (unique!)

Portuguese has a personal (inflected) infinitive

The infinitive takes personal endings — unique to Portuguese.

📊 Personal infinitive (falar)
Pronoun Form
eu falar
tu falares
ele falar
nós falarmos
eles falarem
💬 Examples
para eu falar / para tu falares
for me to speak / for you to speak
📝 Infinitive + personal endings
É melhor partirmos.
It's better for us to leave.
📝 partir → partirmos (we)
It clarifies who does the action

Useful when the subject differs from the main clause.

💬 Examples
É importante eles estudarem.
It's important for them to study.
📝 estudarem = (for) them to study
Antes de saíres, fecha a porta.
Before you leave, close the door.
📝 saíres = (for) you to leave
Common after prepositions (para, antes de, ao)

And impersonal expressions.

💬 Examples
Ao chegarmos, comemos.
Upon (our) arriving, we ate.
📝 ao + personal infinitive
Obrigado por virem.
Thank you (all) for coming.
📝 por + personal infinitive (eles/vocês)