Brazilian Portuguese Grammar
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Interrogative pronouns Pronomes interrogativos |
Interrogative pronouns are used to make information questions, and correspond to wh-words in English. The most important pronouns are:
| Portuguese | English | Example | Translation | Notes |
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O que
|
What (what thing)
|
O que é isso?
|
What's that? |
O que cannot accompany nouns.
|
| Que |
What
(what kind of) |
Que programa de televisão você prefere? Que mulher é aquela?
|
What
TV program do you prefer?
What woman is that? |
Que always accompany nouns and refers to people or things. |
| Quem | Who |
Quem é ela?
|
Who is she? | Quem can only refer to people. |
| Qual | Which |
Qual cor você prefere, azul ou amarelo? Quais são os seus maiores medos?
|
Which
color
do you prefer, blue or yellow?
Which are your biggest fears? |
Qual agrees in number (singular or plural) with the noun it refers to: qual (singular) quais (plural) |
| What |
Qual é o seu nome?
Quais são as cidades canadenses mais bonitas?
|
What's
your name?
What are the most beautiful Canadian cities? |
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| Quanto | How much | Quanto tempo mais? | How much (time) longer? |
Quanto and quanta accompany uncountable nouns: quanto (masculine) quanta (feminine) Both pronouns are more common in exclamations.
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| Quanta | Quanta cerveja você bebeu? | How much beer did you drink? | ||
| Quantos | How many | Quantos primos você tem? | How many cousins do you have? |
Quantos
and quantas
accompany plural countable nouns:
quantos (masculine) quantas (feminine)
|
| Quantas | Quantas camisas você comprou? | How many shirts did you buy? |
Wh-words such as why, where, when and how are interrogative adverbs in Portuguese. Although these adverbs fall under a different part of speech from interrogative pronouns, they have the same function, so let's check them out:
| Portuguese | English | Example | Translation |
| Onde | Where |
Onde você trabalha?
|
Where do you work? |
| Quando | When |
Quando você nasceu?
|
When were you born? |
| Como | How |
Como você vai à escola? Como você fez isso?
|
How
do you go to school?
How did you do that? |
| Por que | Why |
Por que você veio aqui?
|
Why did you come here? |
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