Portuguese Personal Infinitive: How to Use Fazer, Fazermos & Fazerem
Brazilian Portuguese grammar
Why Brazilians Say Para Eu Fazer, Para Nós Fazermos and Para Eles Fazerem
Portuguese can give an infinitive its own subject—and sometimes its own person-and-number ending. That is why you hear structures such as antes de eu sair, para nós conversarmos, and depois de eles chegarem. The form is distinctive, useful, and much easier once you stop treating it as another tense to memorize.
Quick answer
The Portuguese personal infinitive—also called the inflected infinitive (infinitivo pessoal/flexionado)—is an infinitive that can identify its own subject and, in some persons, show visible agreement: fazer, fazermos, fazerem.
Its most useful job is to let Portuguese build an infinitive clause while keeping the agent clear: É importante vocês estudarem, Antes de nós sairmos, Fiz isso para ela entender.
The infinitive itself does not locate an event in past, present, or future time. Context does that. Personal endings mainly help identify who performs the infinitive action.
A special Portuguese structure
What Is the Personal Infinitive?
The dictionary form of a Portuguese verb is an infinitive: falar, comer, abrir, fazer, ter, vir. Normally, an infinitive does not display tense or a full finite conjugation. Portuguese, however, can give an infinitive a grammatical subject and can mark person and number on it.
Infinitive without visible agreement
Quero viajar.
I want to travel.
The subject of viajar is understood from eu quero. There is no reason to add a personal ending.
Infinitive with its own subject
Quero terminar isso antes de vocês chegarem.
I want to finish this before you arrive.
The infinitive clause has its own subject, vocês, and the plural form chegarem makes that relationship visible.
A key complication is that personal and impersonal infinitives can look identical in the singular. In para eu fazer, the form fazer has no visible extra ending, but the clause still has an explicit subject: eu. The contrast becomes visually obvious in plural forms such as fazermos and fazerem.
The morphology
How to Form the Portuguese Personal Infinitive
The full paradigm adds personal endings directly to the infinitive. For learners focused on broad Brazilian Portuguese, the most useful visible contrast is singular zero-ending forms versus -mos and -em in the plural.
| Subject | Falar | Comer | Abrir |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falar | comer | abrir |
| tu | falares | comeres | abrires |
| você / ele / ela / a gente | falar | comer | abrir |
| nós | falarmos | comermos | abrirmos |
| vós | falardes | comerdes | abrirdes |
| vocês / eles / elas | falarem | comerem | abrirem |
For everyday Brazilian Portuguese, vós is mainly a recognition form. Tu is active regionally, while você/vocês, a gente, and nós vary in frequency across Brazil.
Irregular verbs do not use their finite irregular stems here
fazer
fazermos / fazerem
Not *fizermos* when you mean the personal infinitive.
ter
termos / terem
Not *tivermos*.
vir
virmos / virem
Not *viermos*.
ver
vermos / verem
Not *virmos*.
ser
sermos / serem
The infinitive stem stays ser-.
pôr
pôr / pormos / porem
The standalone infinitive pôr keeps its circumflex in singular personal-infinitive forms such as para eu pôr and para ele pôr, but the plural forms are pormos and porem. Derived verbs such as compor and supor do not carry that circumflex: compormos, suporem.
The core idea
Use the Personal Infinitive to Make the Agent Clear
The easiest entry point is to notice when the infinitive clause has a subject of its own.
Different subject from the main clause
Eu preparei tudo para vocês chegarem tranquilos.
I prepared everything so you could arrive without worrying.
Main clause: eu. Infinitive clause: vocês.
Explicit subject inside an infinitive clause
É importante nós conversarmos.
It is important for us to talk.
É melhor a gente sair cedo.
It is better for us to leave early.
The infinitive lets Portuguese name the agent without building a finite que-clause.
Plural agreement makes the subject relationship visible
Depois de eles chegarem, a gente começa.
After they arrive, we’ll start.
Antes de nós sairmos, preciso falar com você.
Before we leave, I need to talk to you.
Think in clauses, not endings.
The personal infinitive is not simply “an infinitive with -mos or -em.” Singular forms may have no visible ending at all. Ask: Does this infinitive have an identifiable subject of its own?
High-value environments
Personal Infinitives After Prepositions
Personal infinitives frequently appear in clauses introduced by prepositions or prepositional expressions. These are useful sentence frames to learn as complete chunks.
| Frame | Example | Natural English |
|---|---|---|
| para + subject + infinitive | Fiz isso para vocês entenderem. | I did this so you would understand. |
| antes de | Antes de sairmos, fechamos tudo. | Before we left, we closed everything. |
| depois de | Depois de eles chegarem, jantamos. | After they arrived, we had dinner. |
| sem | Ela saiu sem nós percebermos. | She left without us noticing. |
| ao | Ao chegarmos, ligamos para você. | When/upon arriving, we called you. This frame is more characteristic of written or monitored Portuguese; everyday conversation often uses quando or assim que instead. |
| apesar de | Apesar de estarmos cansados, continuamos. | Although we were tired, we continued. |
These frames are powerful, but do not turn them into a mechanical rule that every infinitive after a preposition must be visibly inflected. Contemporary Brazilian Portuguese often favors an uninflected infinitive when it is tightly linked to a preceding verb, adjective, or noun: Eles foram proibidos de sair, Nós fomos obrigados a fazer o teste. Purpose clauses can also stay uninflected when the subject is already clear: Eles vieram para ajudar. In other environments, visible agreement is natural or strongly favored. Meaning, subject clarity, syntax, and register all matter.
A connection you already know
Personal Infinitive vs. Subjunctive
This is one of the most useful connections in Brazilian Portuguese. In many environments, Portuguese can express a similar relationship with either a finite que + subjunctive clause or an infinitive clause with an explicit subject.
Subjunctive clause
É importante que vocês estudem.
It is important that you study.
Vou falar devagar para que vocês entendam.
I’ll speak slowly so you understand.
Ela pediu que nós esperássemos.
She asked us to wait.
Infinitive alternative
É importante vocês estudarem.
Vou falar devagar para vocês entenderem.
Ela pediu para nós esperarmos.
The pairs are not always identical in style, frequency, or syntactic detail, but they show why the personal infinitive matters so much. It gives Portuguese another way to keep a subordinate action non-finite while still identifying its subject.
✓ para que vocês entendam
✓ para vocês entenderem
✗ *para que vocês entenderem*
Once you keep que, you need the finite subjunctive structure rather than the personal infinitive.
For the finite side of this contrast, see our Portuguese Subjunctive guide.
Where learners overgeneralize
What If Both Verbs Have the Same Subject?
A different subject is a strong reason to notice the personal infinitive, but it is not the only factor. Portuguese can sometimes use an inflected infinitive even when the subject is the same, especially when the speaker wants to make that agent more explicit or salient.
Uninflected: action foregrounded
Os alunos têm o hábito de estudar à noite.
The students have the habit of studying at night.
Inflected: agent more explicit
Os alunos têm o hábito de estudarem à noite.
This type of alternation exists, although particular constructions differ in how natural or preferred each option is.
That is why serious descriptions of the Portuguese infinitive often talk about tendencies rather than one absolute decision rule. For learners, the safest strategy is to master the clear high-value cases first: explicit independent subjects, especially plural ones, and common prepositional frames.
Equally important
When You Normally Do Not Inflect the Infinitive
Do not assume every sequence with a plural subject requires a plural infinitive. When an infinitive belongs closely to the preceding verb and shares its subject, Brazilian Portuguese normally keeps the infinitive uninflected.
| Natural pattern | Do not build | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Nós queremos estudar. | *queremos estudarmos* | estudar is the complement of queremos with the same understood subject. |
| Eles podem entrar. | *podem entrarem* | Modal + infinitive forms a close verbal sequence. |
| Nós precisamos conversar. | *precisamos conversarmos* | The infinitive is selected by the main verb and shares its subject. |
| Eles começaram a trabalhar. | *começaram a trabalharem* | The infinitive forms part of the verbal construction. |
A practical learner test
If English would naturally treat the verbs as one verbal idea—“want to study,” “can enter,” “need to talk,” “started working”—do not automatically add personal-infinitive endings just because the subject is plural.
A famous Brazilian grammar question
Para Eu Fazer or Para Mim Fazer?
In standard Portuguese, when the pronoun is the subject of the infinitive, use the subject form:
Isso é para eu fazer.
This is for me to do.
Ela deixou o livro para eu ler.
She left the book for me to read.
Compare a true object of the preposition:
Isso é para mim.
This is for me.
Forms such as pra mim fazer do occur in Brazilian vernacular speech and carry strong social and prescriptive marking. If your goal is a broadly accepted form that works in conversation, professional settings, writing, and proficiency contexts, para eu fazer is the safer productive model when eu performs the infinitive action.
The deceptive pair
Personal Infinitive vs. Future Subjunctive
Regular verbs can look identical in these two forms, which makes the distinction easy to miss:
Personal infinitive
É importante nós falarmos.
It is important for us to talk.
Antes de eles chegarem…
Before they arrive…
Future subjunctive
Quando nós falarmos…
When we talk…
Quando eles chegarem…
When they arrive…
Irregular verbs expose the difference clearly:
| Verb | Personal infinitive | Future subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| fazer | para nós fazermos | quando nós fizermos |
| ter | antes de termos tempo | quando tivermos tempo |
| vir | para eles virem | quando eles vierem |
| ver | para vocês verem | quando vocês virem |
| poder | para nós podermos | quando pudermos |
This is one reason learning the personal infinitive now strengthens the future subjunctive patterns you already know.
Eles veem means “they see” and is the present indicative of ver. Under the current spelling system it is written without a circumflex. Para eles verem uses the personal infinitive and has only one e after the v: verem.
One advanced pattern worth recognizing
Compound Personal Infinitive: Terem Chegado
The personal infinitive can also be compound. Use a personal-infinitive form of ter plus a past participle:
Depois de eles terem chegado, começamos a reunião.
After they had arrived, we started the meeting.
Apesar de termos estudado muito, a prova foi difícil.
Although we had studied a lot, the test was difficult.
Only ter carries the personal-infinitive agreement.
Say terem chegado, not *terem chegados*. In an active compound form built with ter, the past participle remains invariant: termos feito, terem visto, terem chegado.
Useful chunks
Personal-Infinitive Frames Worth Memorizing
para nós…
para nós fazermos
for us to do
para eles…
para eles entenderem
for them to understand
antes de…
antes de sairmos
before we leave
depois de…
depois de vocês chegarem
after you arrive
sem…
sem eles perceberem
without them noticing
é importante…
é importante vocês praticarem
it is important for you to practice
Avoid these
Common Mistakes English Speakers Make
Using the future-subjunctive stem in a personal infinitive
✗ para nós fizermos
✓ para nós fazermos
But: quando nós fizermos.
Forgetting plural agreement with an explicit plural subject
✗ para eles fazer in contexts requiring standard agreement
✓ para eles fazerem
Over-inflecting verbal sequences
✗ Nós queremos estudarmos.
✓ Nós queremos estudar.
Mixing que + subjunctive syntax with the personal infinitive
✗ para que eles entenderem
✓ para que eles entendam
✓ para eles entenderem
Using mim as the standard subject of the infinitive
For the standard productive model, use para eu fazer when “I” performs the action. Use para mim when mim is genuinely the object of the preposition: Isso é para mim.
Looking only at the ending
Para eu fazer is personal even though fazer looks exactly like the bare infinitive. The subject and clause structure matter as much as visible morphology.
Retrieval practice
Practice the Personal Infinitive
- Isso é para nós ______ amanhã. (fazer)
- Esperei vocês ______ antes de sair. (chegar)
- É importante eles ______ mais. (praticar)
- Antes de nós ______, preciso ligar para ela. (ir)
- Ela saiu sem vocês ______. (perceber)
- Eu quero ______ português todos os dias. (estudar)
- Vou explicar de novo para você ______. (entender)
- Quando nós ______ isso, vamos comemorar. (fazer) — personal infinitive or future subjunctive?
Show answers
1. fazermos
2. chegarem
3. praticarem
4. irmos
5. perceberem
6. estudar
7. entender
8. fizermos — this one is future subjunctive because quando introduces a pending future event.
FAQ
Portuguese Personal Infinitive: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the personal infinitive in Portuguese?
It is an infinitive that can have an identifiable subject and can show person-and-number agreement. Compare fazer, fazermos, and fazerem.
What are the personal-infinitive endings?
The full pattern is falar, falares, falar, falarmos, falardes, falarem. For broad Brazilian usage, the most useful visible endings are -mos with nós and -em with vocês/eles/elas.
Why is para eu fazer correct?
Because eu is the subject of the infinitive fazer. In standard Portuguese, subject pronouns—not object forms such as mim—fill that role.
Is para mim fazer used in Brazil?
Yes, it occurs in vernacular Brazilian speech, but it is socially and prescriptively marked. Para eu fazer is the safer broadly accepted model when the pronoun performs the infinitive action.
When should I use fazermos instead of fazer?
Use fazermos when an infinitive clause has nós as its subject and the personal infinitive is required or chosen: É importante nós fazermos isso, antes de fazermos isso.
What is the difference between fazermos and fizermos?
Fazermos is the personal infinitive of fazer. Fizermos is future subjunctive: para nós fazermos versus quando nós fizermos.
Can the personal infinitive replace the subjunctive?
In some constructions Portuguese offers closely related alternatives: É importante que vocês estudem / É importante vocês estudarem; para que vocês entendam / para vocês entenderem. They are different syntactic structures and are not interchangeable in every environment.
Should I say nós queremos estudar or nós queremos estudarmos?
Use nós queremos estudar. When the infinitive is the close complement of a verb such as querer and shares its subject, Portuguese normally keeps it uninflected.
How does the compound personal infinitive work?
Inflect the auxiliary ter and keep the past participle invariant: depois de eles terem chegado, apesar de termos estudado. Do not pluralize the participle after ter.
Is the personal infinitive common in Brazilian Portuguese?
Yes. It is an active part of Brazilian Portuguese, especially in infinitive clauses with explicit subjects and in structures introduced by prepositions. The exact choice between inflected and uninflected forms can vary by construction and context.
Turn structure into instinct
The Goal Is Not to Ask “Do I Add -mos?” Every Time You Speak.
Learn the high-frequency frames first—para eu fazer, para nós fazermos, antes de sairmos, para eles entenderem—and the grammar starts behaving like a pattern rather than a calculation.
