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Adverbs like 'já' and 'nunca' that pull pronouns before the verb

In European Portuguese, and in careful written Portuguese generally, an unstressed object pronoun such as me, te, se, o or lhe normally comes after the verb, joined with a hyphen: disseram-me, lembro-me. A group of very common adverbs changes that. When já, ainda, sempre, só, também or nunca stands right before the verb, the pronoun jumps in front of the verb: já me disseram, nunca te esqueci.

English speakers find this tricky because English pronouns never move: it is they told me and they already told me, with me in the same place both times. In Portuguese, adding one small adverb changes the word order. Brazilians usually put the pronoun before the verb anyway, so for them the effect is barely visible. In European Portuguese, though, Já disseram-me sounds clearly wrong.

Word list
apenasA1 only apenas lhe pedi = I only asked him nadaA1 nothing nada me assusta = nothing scares me ninguémA1 no one ninguém me disse = nobody told me nuncaA1 never nunca te esqueci = I never forgot you sempreA1 always sempre me ajudou = she always helped me sóA1 only só me disseram = they only told me somenteA1 only somente lhe pedi = I only asked him tambémA1 also também me disseram = they told me too aindaA2 still ainda me lembro = I still remember jáA2 already já me disseram = they've already told me jamaisA2 never jamais te esqueço = I'll never forget you quaseA2 almost quase me esqueci = I almost forgot raramenteA2 rarely raramente o vejo = I rarely see him sempreA2 every time sempre se interessou = he was always interested talvezA2 maybe talvez se lembre = maybe he'll remember apenasB1 barely apenas o vi = I barely saw him atéB1 even até me ofereceram = they even offered me dificilmenteB1 barely dificilmente se esquece = it's hard to forget malB1 barely mal me conhecia = he hardly knew me nemB1 not even nem me disse = he didn't even tell me nem sequerB1 not even nem sequer me ligou = he didn't even call me quase nãoB1 barely quase não me viu = he barely saw me
How it works

Compare the plain sentence with the version that has an adverb. Without the adverb the pronoun follows the verb. With já in front, the pronoun moves before the verb and the hyphen disappears.

Disseram-me a verdade.
(They told me the truth.)
Já me disseram a verdade.
(They have already told me the truth.)

The pull only works when two conditions are met. The adverb has to come before the verb, and it has to modify that verb directly, with no comma or pause between them. If the adverb comes after the verb, the pronoun stays after the verb too.

A useful rule of thumb: if you can read the adverb and the verb as one unit (já disseram, nunca esqueci), the pronoun goes between them.

The words
Time and frequency

Já, ainda and sempre are the ones you will meet most often. Sempre works this way both when it means always and when it means every time. Raramente behaves the same way.

Ainda me lembro do primeiro dia de aulas.
(I still remember the first day of school.)
Ela sempre me ajudou com os trabalhos.
(She always helped me with my assignments.)
Raramente o vejo por aqui.
(I rarely see him around here.)
Focus words

Só, apenas and somente (only), também (also) and até (even) all pull the pronoun forward.

Só me telefonaram ontem.
(They only called me yesterday.)
Também me convidaram para o jantar.
(They invited me to dinner too.)
Até me ofereceram café.
(They even offered me coffee.)
Negative and almost negative words

These are the strongest triggers: nunca and jamais (never), nem and nem sequer (not even), mal and dificilmente (hardly), apenas in the sense of barely, and quase (almost).

Nunca te esqueci.
(I never forgot you.)
Ele nem sequer me disse adeus.
(He didn't even say goodbye to me.)
Quase me esqueci das chaves.
(I almost forgot the keys.)
Doubt

Talvez pulls the pronoun forward as well. It also takes the subjunctive, which is a separate matter.

Talvez se lembre do meu nome.
(Maybe he'll remember my name.)
Watch out

Not every adverb does this. Ordinary adverbs of time and manner, such as ontem or depois, leave the pronoun after the verb in European Portuguese.

Ontem disseram-me que a loja fechava.
(Yesterday they told me the shop was closing.)

Position matters too. If the adverb follows the verb, nothing moves.

Lembro-me sempre dela.
(I always remember her.)

Scope matters as well. In sempre que (whenever), sempre belongs to its own clause, and after the comma the main verb is free again.

Sempre que pode, ajuda-me.
(Whenever she can, she helps me.)

The most common learner mistake is to add the adverb and keep the hyphenated form: já disseram-me or nunca esqueci-te. Whenever one of these words sits right before the verb, check that the pronoun has moved.

Summary

In European and formal Portuguese the pronoun usually follows the verb (disseram-me). When já, ainda, sempre, só, também, talvez or a negative word like nunca or nem comes directly before the verb with no pause, put the pronoun between the adverb and the verb: já me disseram, nunca te esqueci.