Formar-se (To Graduate)

Let’s look under the hood of this verb. As a reflexive verb, formar-se needs a little partner called a pronoun. These are words like me, se, or nos. These pronouns change depending on who is doing the graduating. In Brazil, you will usually see these pronouns before the verb in casual speech. For example, eu me formei. In Portugal, they often stick to the end with a hyphen, like formei-me. Don't worry, both are understood everywhere. The most important part is the preposition. When you name your subject, you use em. You say me formei em Direito (I graduated in Law). If you want to mention the university, you use por. For example, formado pela USP. It’s like a GPS for your education history. One tells people what you know. The other tells people where you learned it. It’s a simple system once you get the hang of it. Just remember: Person + Pronoun + Verb + Preposition.

1. 1Pick your subject (Eu, Você, Nós, etc.).
2. 2Select the matching reflexive pronoun: me (for eu), se (for você/ele/ela), nos (for nós), or se (for vocês/eles/elas).
3. 3Conjugate the verb formar. Since most people talk about graduation in the past, use the Pretérito Perfeito.
4. 4Add the preposition em before the name of your degree.
5. 5If you are talking about the school, add pela or pelo (by the/from the).
6. 6Example: Eu + me + formei + em + História = Eu me formei em História.

Use formar-se whenever you finish a formal level of education. This includes high school (ensino médio), college (faculdade), or a specific professional course. It is the perfect verb for a job interview. When the recruiter asks about your background, you can say, Eu me formei em Engenharia no ano passado. It sounds professional and precise. You can also use it when talking about friends. Meu irmão se formou em Medicina is a classic way to brag about your family. It also works for military or police academies. Basically, if there is a diploma or a ceremony involved, formar-se is your best friend. Even if the ceremony was just on Zoom, the grammar stays the same! Use it to establish your expertise in a conversation. It sets the stage for your professional identity.

Don’t use formar-se for short, informal things. If you just finished a two-hour cooking class, don't say you "graduated" from it. In that case, use terminar or fazer. You would say Eu fiz um curso de culinária. Also, don't use it for finishing a book or a Netflix series. That would be like wearing a cap and gown to your couch. Use acabar for those situations. Another trap is using it for "becoming" something without the academic part. If you became a professional surfer by just surfing every day, you didn't "graduate" in surfing. You se tornou a surfer. Formar-se implies a structured path of study. It’s a heavy-duty verb for serious milestones. Keep it for the big moments and the official certificates.

The biggest mistake is forgetting the pronoun. Many learners say Eu formei em Biologia. While you might hear this in very casual Brazilian slang, it is technically incomplete. It’s like trying to drive a car without the keys. Always include the me, se, or nos. Another common slip is using the wrong preposition. Don't say formado de. It’s always formado em for the subject. Also, watch out for the gender of the institution. It is pela universidade (feminine) but pelo instituto (masculine). Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes, but you can be better! Lastly, don't confuse formar-se with formar. If you say Eu formei a turma, it means you were the teacher who shaped the class, not the student who finished it. That’s a quick way to accidentally promote yourself to professor!

Let’s compare formar-se with graduar-se. Both mean the same thing, but formar-se is much more common in daily life. Graduar-se sounds a bit more formal, like something you’d read in a legal document or a very stiff academic paper. Think of formar-se as your favorite comfortable jeans and graduar-se as a tuxedo. You also have the verb concluir. This just means "to conclude" or "to finish." You can concluir a degree, but formar-se describes the personal milestone of the person. Another contrast is with especializar-se. Use this when you already have a degree and are doing a post-grad. Eu me formei em Medicina e me especializei em Cardiologia. It shows the sequence of your career. Understanding these nuances makes your Portuguese sound rich and layered.