What are impersonal constructions in Brazilian Portuguese?

Impersonal constructions in Brazilian Portuguese are used to describe events and situations that do not have a specific subject.

There are two main types of impersonal constructions in Brazilian Portuguese: those that use the impersonal se and those that use impersonal verbs, such as estar (meaning to be) or haver (meaning to have):

• impersonal se

  Vive-se bem nesta cidade.

  Translation: People live well in this city.
• impersonal verb

  Está muito calor hoje.

  Translation: It’s very hot today.

Impersonal constructions are often used to describe weather conditions, time, natural phenomena, or general opinions and truths. Curious to know more about this? Let's go!

The impersonal se is used to indicate that the action is being performed by an unspecified or unknown person. This se is equivalent to the non-specific “one,” “you,” “we,” “they,” or “people” in English.

Typically, the impersonal se is used with:

• intransitive verbs → verbs without an object

  Come-se muito bem no restaurante deste hotel.

  Translation: People eat very well in the restaurant of this hotel.

• transitive indirect verbs → verbs with an object that is marked by a preposition

  Acredita-se em melhorias com o novo governo.

  Translation: We/they believe in improvements with the new government.

• linking verbs → verbs like ser (meaning to be), parecer (meaning to seem), and tornar-se (meaning to become) conjugated in the third person singular

  Tornou-se mais simples pagar as contas com o aplicativo do banco.

  Translation: It has become simpler to pay bills with the bank application.

Notice that the impersonal se can sometimes be translated into English by using the passive voice:

Impersonal verbs in Brazilian Portuguese are used to express a general action, situation, or state and do not require a subject. When used impersonally, these verbs are always in the third-person singular ele, ela (meaning he, she, it) form. Most commonly, these are translated into English using the structure “it + verb.”

In the example above, é (meaning it is) is impersonal because there is no subject linked to it. If you ask “Quem é?” (meaning who is?) about the sentence above, you'll notice that there's no one in particular doing the action related to the verb ser (meaning to be).

Some particular contexts require impersonal verbs. There are also some verbs in Brazilian Portuguese that are often used impersonally. We’ll go through some of the most common ones here, but you can find more in this list of common impersonal constructions in Brazilian Portuguese.

• Impersonal constructions with ‘ser’ + adjective

  In Brazilian Portuguese, it’s common to use the verb ser (meaning to be) with an adjective in impersonal constructions to express a general quality or characteristic of something, without referring to a specific subject. In these constructions, the verb ser (meaning to be) is always in the third person singular form: é.

  • É importante dormirmos cedo hoje.

    Translation: It’s important that we sleep early today.
  • É maravilhoso morar na praia.

    Translation: It’s wonderful to live on the beach.

  In the negative form, the word não (meaning not) is placed before the verb, as in:

  Não é fácil encontrar um bom restaurante nesta cidade.

  Translation: It’s not easy to find a good restaurant in this city.

  As you can see, this construction is similar in use to the English “it be” + adjective.

• Impersonal verbs for talking about the weather in Brazilian Portuguese

  In Brazilian Portuguese, we often talk about the weather using impersonal verbs. As usual for impersonal verbs, these verbs are always in the third person singular form and no subject is provided.

  • Aqui sempre chove muito no verão.

    Translation: Here it always rains a lot in the summer.
  • Ontem nevou na minha cidade.

    Translation: Yesterday it snowed in my city.

  The verbs estar (meaning to be) and fazer (meaning to do/make) are also commonly used impersonally when referring to weather conditions, and they often appear in Brazilian Portuguese common expressions to indicate temperature or natural phenomena.

  • Normally, fazer (meaning to do/make) is followed by a noun that represents a common weather condition, such as frio (meaning cold) or calor (meaning heat).

    adjective

    Fez calor ontem.

    Translation: It was hot yesterday.

  • Estar (meaning to be) can be followed by a noun, adjective, or a gerund verb related to weather.

    noungerund

    Está sol.

    Translation: It’s sunny.

    Olha! Está nevando!

    Translation: Look! It’s snowing!

    In addition to those verbs already mentioned, there are many other weather-specific verbs in Brazilian Portuguese. It's important to get to know some of them, since they are part of everyday conversation. Take a look at this chart of Brazilian Portuguese impersonal verbs for more useful verbs to talk about weather.

• Impersonal verbs for expressing time

  In Brazilian Portuguese, we also use the verbs ser, faltar, estar, and haver in impersonal constructions to indicate time of day, dates, or how long ago something happened. Let's look at each of them.

  • ser (meaning to be)

    The verb ser (meaning to be) appears in impersonal expressions to express the time and to give the date.

    • É meia noite.

      Translation: It’s midnight.
    • São três horas.

      Translation: It’s three o'clock.
    • É 25 de julho.

      Translation: It’s July 25th.

  • faltar (meaning to lack)

    In Brazilian Portuguese, the verb faltar (meaning to lack) is commonly used to say how much time is left until a specific event or deadline.

    Faltam dez minutos para o início do jogo.

    Translation: There are ten minutes left until the start of the game.

    In addition, it also works as an alternative to the verb ser to indicate the hours. Brazilians often say:

    Faltam quinze para as onze. = São quinze para as onze.

    Translation:

    Literally: lit. It’s missing fifteen to eleven. = It’s fifteen to eleven.

    They are interchangeable and both mean 10:45.

  • estar (meaning to be)

    Estar can also appear in expressions with time statements.

    • Está na hora do jantar.

      Translation: It’s time for dinner.
    • Está tarde, vamos dormir.

      Translation: It’s late, let's go to sleep.

    Notice that ser (meaning to be) normally refers to the time of the day, whereas estar (meaning to be) may be found in more specific expressions of time. Both verbs mean “to be” in English, so if you want to know more about the difference between ser and estar, take a look at this post!

  • haver (meaning to have) and fazer (meaning do/make)

    When the verbs haver (meaning to have) and fazer (meaning do/make) are used as impersonal verbs to express the duration between two moments in time.

    In the present tense, both verbs can be used to indicate the amount of time that has passed since a certain event occurred. There is no difference in meaning, though haver is more formal.

    Speaker A:

    Há quanto tempo você mora na Bahia?

    Translation: How long have you lived in Bahia?

    Speaker B:

    Moramos na Bahia há / faz dois anos.

    Translation: We have lived in Bahia for two years.

    Há can also be used as an equivalent to the English word “ago,” as in:

    Eu vi esse filme há duas semanas. Phrase

    Translation: I saw that movie two weeks ago.

• Existential sentences: Impersonal expressions of existence

  In Brazilian Portuguese, existential sentences, which expresses that something exists, are formed around impersonal verbs.

  • Haver (meaning to have) commonly indicates the existence or presence of something and functions the same way as the English expression “there is/are.”

    Há muitas lojas de móveis nesta rua.

    Translation: There are many furniture stores on this street.

    Notice this important difference between Brazilian Portuguese and English: Although lojas (meaning stores) is in plural form, in Brazilian Portuguese we never say ❌ Hão muitas lojas (with a plural verb, like “are”), because haver is an impersonal verb, and so it is always conjugated in third-person singular. Here’s another example:

    impersonal verb

    ✅ Havia muitas crianças na sala de aula.
    ❌ Haviam muitas crianças na sala de aula.

    Translation: There were many children in the classroom.

    Haver normally appears in written language, but it sounds very formal in spoken language.

  • The verb ter (meaning to have) can also be used to express existence in everyday language. Brazilians would say, more informally:

    Socorro! Tem uma barata na cozinha.

    Translation: Help! There's a cockroach in the kitchen.

    Haver and ter are interchangeable in meaning, but ter is more informal and often used in spoken language.

• How to use the expression ‘dar para’ in impersonal constructions?

  In standard usage, the verb dar is translated as “to give,” but this verb is often used as part of the impersonal phrase dar para meaning “to be possible.”

  Dá para ir à praia a pé da minha casa.

  Translation: It is possible to go to the beach on foot from my house.

  i.e. The beach is within walking distance.

  It’s also common to use dar para in the negative form, and it means “not to be possible” or in interrogative sentences to mean “is it possible?” or “can”:

  • Desculpe, não dá para almoçar com você hoje, pois tenho uma reunião.

    Translation: Sorry I can’t have lunch with you today as I have a meeting.
  • Quantos quilos dá para levar na bagagem de mão?

    Translation: How many kilos can you carry in your hand luggage?
  • O que dá para fazer se eu perder o trem?

    Translation: What can I do if I miss the train?

  The verb dar also appears in other impersonal expressions in Brazilian Portuguese.

Here’s what to take away from this post:

• Impersonal constructions describe an action that is performed by someone or something that is not specified.

• There are two ways to form an impersonal construction: using the impersonal pronoun se or using an impersonal verb.

• In Brazilian Portuguese, there are several common types of impersonal verbs, including:

  • Verbs that describe weather or natural phenomena, such as chover (meaning to rain) or nevar (meaning to snow). The verbs fazer (meaning to do/make) and estar (meaning to be) are commonly used to describe weather, as well.

  • Verbs expressing time: ser (meaning to be), estar (meaning to be), haver (meaning to have).

  • Verbs indicating existence: haver (meaning to have), ter (meaning to have).

  • Other impersonal verbs with particular meanings, such as dar para (meaning to be possible).

If you want to practice using impersonal constructions in Brazilian Portuguese, what you read in this post, check out these activities!