Euphony in pronominal placement. Euphony Traits

Starting with the illustrations in the image above, it is stated that any doubts appear when the subject is pronominal placement. Where to place the oblique pronoun? Before, in the middle or after the verb? Imagine a situation in which the customer arrives at the bakery and turns to the attendant, saying:

Give me two loaves.

Certainly many who are there will simply be able to say: - Wow, what a cult!

This happens because in Brazilian Portuguese, especially in orality, the use of proclisis is more prevalent than that of enclisis. Thus, the expected would be:

Give me two loaves.

However, it would be more comfortable if we spoke at random, without worrying about rules and certain conventions, right? In fact, exactly the opposite occurs, given that not only for the pronominal placement, but also for several other matters related to grammar, there are rules, which must be strictly obeyed. Therefore, it would be convenient to use the first alternative, that is, the enclisis, since, according to the precepts governed by grammar, the sentence is not started using the unstressed oblique pronoun, nor with verbs expressed in the form imperative.

Thus, these rules are often related to euphonic issues, that is, those related to good sound quality. So, in order to make clear what we are saying, here are the following examples:

I never bothered you with my attitudes.

Or yet:

I never bothered you with my attitudes.

Paying attention to the first example, we find that the combination of the verb and the pronoun causes an unpleasant sound, as it would also occur in “foi-se”.

The second example, in addition to not contradicting the grammatical postulates, given the presence of the negation adverb “never”, still presents itself with a sound that is perfectly pleasing to our ears. But what if we had to say the same sentence, this being now in the affirmative form, with the purpose still maintained (that is, that of not committing any deviation when it comes to the cultured norm)?

It's simple, it would be enough for the subject to come explicit - a fact that would justify the use of proclisis effectively, that is:

I annoyed you with my attitudes.

And not like this:

I annoyed you with my attitudes.

He was gone quickly.

And not:

He was quickly gone.

By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters

Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/eufonia-na-colocacao-pronominal.htm

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