Introduction
Understanding how to use eles and elas is essential for English-speaking learners of Brazilian Portuguese. These pronouns mark gender and number in Portuguese and affect verbs, adjectives, and past participles. This article explains when to use eles and elas, what happens with mixed groups, and how to apply the rules naturally in everyday Brazilian Portuguese.
- What are eles and elas?
- Gender agreement rules
- Mixed groups: why masculine is used by default
- When to use elas: all-female groups and certain feminine nouns
- Special cases and common pitfalls
- Agreeing verbs and adjectives with eles and elas
- Cultural notes: how Brazilians use gendered language in daily life
- Practical tips for learners
- Conclusion
What are eles and elas?
Eles and elas are third-person plural personal pronouns in Portuguese. Eles is the masculine plural form and elas is the feminine plural form. They correspond roughly to English they, but Portuguese requires gender agreement with adjectives, past participles, and sometimes with verbs in compound tenses.
Basic forms and pronoun placement
As subject pronouns, eles and elas typically come before the verb in spoken and neutral written Brazilian Portuguese:
Eles chegaram cedo.
Elas cantaram bem.
Unlike English, Portuguese often drops subject pronouns because verb conjugations show person and number. However, pronouns are used for emphasis, clarity, contrast, or when the subject is non-specific. When you see eles or elas, note the gender implied and how it affects other parts of the sentence.
Gender agreement rules
Portuguese marks gender on nouns, adjectives, and sometimes verb participles. When using eles or elas as the subject, any adjectives or past participles that describe the group must agree in gender and number with the pronoun.
Adjective agreement
When an adjective modifies the subject, it agrees with the pronoun gender and plurality. For masculine or mixed groups, use masculine plural adjectives. For all-female groups, use feminine plural adjectives.
Examples:
Eles estão felizes.
Elas estão felizes.
Note that feliz is the same for masculine and feminine in singular and plural (feliz, felizes). But many adjectives change ending:
Eles são altos.
Elas são altas.
Past participles and compound tenses
In compound tenses with the auxiliary verb ter, the past participle does not agree with the subject and remains in its default masculine singular/plural form as needed. However, when using the auxiliary verb ser or the passive voice, the past participle agrees with the subject and follows the gender rule.
Examples:
Eles tinham terminado o trabalho. (no agreement required after ter)
O trabalho foi terminado por eles. (participle concords with o trabalho, not with eles)
When a participle is used as an adjective describing the subject and not part of a compound with ter, it agrees with the subject:
Eles estão casados.
Elas estão casadas. (both show agreement in number and are identical here, but with adjective-like participles the logic is the same)
Mixed groups: why masculine is used by default
One of the most important points for English speakers is that Portuguese uses the masculine plural by default when referring to mixed-gender groups. This is a grammatical convention in Portuguese, where masculine grammatical forms take precedence when any male is present.
Examples of mixed-group usage
Imagine a classroom with nine students: eight women and one man. To refer to the class as a whole, standard Brazilian Portuguese uses the masculine plural form:
A turma está feliz porque eles passaram na prova.
Even though most of the group is female, the presence of at least one male triggers the masculine plural eles. The same applies to adjectives and other modifiers:
Eles são inteligentes.
Eles chegaram atrasados.
Why this matters for learners
English speakers often expect gender neutrality, but Portuguese grammar requires choosing a grammatical gender. When addressing or describing groups, defaulting to the masculine plural is the safe choice in standard Brazilian Portuguese unless you are sure the group is all female or you intentionally want to mark female-only reference with elas.
When to use elas: all-female groups and certain feminine nouns
Use elas when the group is exclusively female or when the noun that represents the group is grammatically feminine and implies an all-female set. Common contexts include groups of women, female animals when gender is known, and institutional or collective nouns that are feminine and only refer to women.
Examples with all-female groups
Elas vão ao cinema esta noite.
As professoras chegaram cedo; elas prepararam a aula.
In these sentences, the pronoun elas makes clear that the subjects are all women. Adjectives and participles follow with feminine plural forms:
Elas estão cansadas.
Elas foram premiadas.
Feminine nouns and implicit gender
Sometimes the noun itself is feminine and the next reference uses elas. For example:
As alunas estudaram muito.
Elas fizeram um bom trabalho.
Since alunas is feminine plural and explicitly refers to female students, using elas is natural and required to keep agreement with the subject.
Special cases and common pitfalls
There are a few special cases where learners may get confused. These include groups with unmarked gender, mixed-gender nouns, and forms that appear similar to each other.
Groups with inanimate objects
When referring to groups of objects, gender follows the grammatical gender of the noun rather than natural gender. For example:
Os livros foram entregues; eles estão na estante. (livros is masculine)
As mesas são novas; elas são pesadas. (mesas is feminine)
Here the pronouns align with the grammatical gender of the noun, not with people. This can trip up learners who expect pronouns always to relate to people.
Professions and mixed endings
Some occupational nouns have distinct masculine and feminine forms (ex.: aluno/aluna, médico/médica). If a mixed group of professionals is present, use eles:
Os médicos e as médicas chegaram; eles começaram a reunião.
If you are referring to a group where the standard term is grammatically masculine but includes women (ex.: grupo, time), the masculine plural pronoun is used:
O time está focado; eles treinaram ontem.
Politeness, formality, and inclusive language
Recent language discussions in Brazil have introduced inclusive forms such as using @, x, or e endings to avoid the masculine default (for example, alun@s, alunxs, alunes). These forms are used in some communities and written contexts to signal gender inclusivity, but they are informal and not part of standard grammar. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, many people use neutral strategies such as repeating both genders or using collective nouns to avoid gendered pronouns.
Examples of inclusive approaches in speech:
Alunos e alunas, por favor, sentem-se.
Pessoal, por favor, sentem-se. (pessoal is a common neutral alternative)
Agreeing verbs and adjectives with eles and elas
When you use eles or elas as subjects, verbs are conjugated in third-person plural. This is the same regardless of gender. What changes with gender is adjectives and participles that must agree with the subject when they act as adjectives or when the participle is used with ser or estar.
Verb conjugation examples
Present tense:
Eles falam português.
Elas falam português.
Past tense (pretérito perfeito):
Eles viajaram para o Rio.
Elas viajaram para o Rio.
Notice the verb forms falam and viajaram are the same for both genders because they mark number but not gender. Only adjectives or participles used as adjectives change form when necessary:
Eles ficaram cansados.
Elas ficaram cansadas.
Pronoun as object and agreement
As direct or indirect objects, eles and elas are rarely used; Portuguese prefers object pronouns like os, as, lhes, and lhes. But when referring back to people in spoken language, object forms appear:
Eu vi eles na festa. (colloquial)
Eu as vi na festa. (formal with feminine group)
Be aware that using subject pronouns as objects (Eu vi eles) is common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese but considered informal or incorrect by prescriptive grammar. For written or formal contexts, use the correct object pronouns:
Eu vi-os.
Eu as vi.
Cultural notes: how Brazilians use gendered language in daily life
In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, speakers often default to the masculine plural for mixed groups without much thought. Social awareness of gender and inclusivity has been growing, so some speakers or communities will explicitly use both masculine and feminine forms when addressing a group to show respect and inclusion:
Boa tarde, meninas e meninos.
Senhoras e senhores, bom dia.
In informal contexts, people use collective nouns and neutral words like pessoal, gente, turma, galera, equipe to avoid gender marking:
Pessoal, vamos lá.
Galera! Vocês estão prontos?
Using these neutral alternatives is natural and often easier for learners who wish to avoid making gender mistakes while still communicating clearly and politely.
Practical tips for learners
1. Default to eles when the group is mixed or when you are unsure of the group’s gender composition.
2. Use elas only when you know the group is all female.
3. Pay attention to adjective and participle agreement when they modify the subject.
4. Use neutral collective nouns like pessoal, galera, turma when you want to avoid gendered pronouns.
5. In formal writing, use correct object pronouns (os, as, lhes) rather than subject pronouns as objects.
Applying these simple rules will help you sound natural in Brazilian Portuguese and avoid common errors that English speakers make when learning gendered languages.
Conclusion
Mastering eles and elas means understanding gender agreement, the masculine default for mixed groups, and how pronouns affect adjectives and participles. Use eles for mixed or male groups, elas for all-female groups, and neutral collective nouns when you prefer not to mark gender. With practice, these patterns become automatic and will make your Brazilian Portuguese more accurate and natural.
