The Personal Infinitive in Portuguese: Fazer, Fazermos, and More
Portuguese can mark the subject on an infinitive: para nós fazermos isso means ‘for us to do that.’
Real Life Portuguese · 6 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
Portuguese has an infinitive form that can show who performs the action. For fazer, the forms include fazer (I/you/he/she), fazermos (we), and fazerem (they/you all). The third-person singular form does not add an ending, so context or an explicit pronoun identifies the subject.
Use a personal infinitive when the subject needs to be clear
This form often appears after a preposition or conjunction when a different subject needs to be named: para nós fazermos a reserva (for us to make the reservation). The personal infinitive can make a sentence clearer without adding a new finite verb clause.
É melhor vocês chegarem antes das oito.
It’s better for you all to arrive before eight.
A professora explicou a regra para nós entendermos o exercício.
The teacher explained the rule so we would understand the exercise.
Antes de eles saírem, vamos tirar uma foto.
Before they leave, let’s take a photo.
Keep a simple infinitive when the subject is already understood
When the subject is the same as the main verb or is already obvious, an uninflected infinitive is often enough: quero descansar (I want to rest), antes de sair (before leaving). Use the personal ending when naming the subject helps avoid confusion or emphasizes who is doing the action.
For a regular -ar verb, the plural endings are -mos for nós and -em for vocês/eles/elas: estudar, estudarmos, estudarem. There are irregular forms too, so begin with frequent verbs and complete phrases rather than trying to memorize every ending at once.
Vou esperar vocês terminarem a conversa.
I’ll wait for you all to finish the conversation.
Ela saiu sem nos avisar.
She left without letting us know.
Precisamos conversar antes de tomarmos uma decisão.
We need to talk before we make a decision.
Put it into practice
Use a personal infinitive such as fazermos or fazerem when it clarifies the infinitive’s subject. Use a plain infinitive when the subject is already understood.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “We need to talk before we make a decision”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
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