Small attached words
Which small words lean on a neighboring word?
Significado
Some short grammar words lean on a neighboring word instead of standing on their own. They can express meanings such as possession or questions while depending on another word for their sound or position. Languages differ in which words behave this way, and some use full words or endings instead. Unlike Endings, these elements can attach to a whole phrase rather than to one word's stem.
Como identificar
Look for a short grammar element that has no stress of its own or must sit beside another word, even when it belongs in meaning to a larger phrase.
Na tua língua materna
Short, unstressed pronouns such as me, te, se, o, a and lhe lean on a verb rather than standing alone; these are called clitics. Everyday Brazilian Portuguese commonly places them before the verb, while formal writing also uses placement after the verb with a hyphen. Formal writing retains object forms o and a more often than everyday speech, which often uses a name, a full pronoun or an understood omission instead.
Ela me chamou ontem.
The unstressed pronoun comes before the verb.
Por favor, avise-me quando chegar.
Placement after this positive command is conventional in formal writing.
Não se esqueça da chave.
Não requires the pronoun before the verb in standard usage.
Na tua língua de aprendizagem
English uses short attached forms of auxiliary verbs, the verbs that help build a sentence: 'll for will and 's for is or has. The possessive 's also attaches at the end of the phrase naming the owner, not necessarily to its main noun. These small forms depend on a neighboring word and are called clitics.
I'll call you after lunch.
'll is the attached short form of will.
She's waiting outside.
Here 's stands for is.
The man next door's dog is friendly.
's attaches to the end of the whole phrase the man next door.
Learners whose language keeps auxiliary verbs as full words may avoid these forms in everyday speech. Short affirmative forms such as 'm cannot normally stand alone in a stressed reply: say Yes, I am, not *Yes, I'm.