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Questions in Portuguese

In Portuguese, asking questions is quite easy. Simply add a question mark and... that's it! =D

Wait! No change in the word order?

Right! No change in word order!

And no auxiliary verb? (do/does/did...)

Nope! No auxiliary verbs!

Try it:

They are here = Eles estão aqui

Are they here? = Eles estão aqui? (instead of "estão eles")

.

He likes apples = Ele gosta de maçã

Does he like apples? = Ele gosta de maçã? (instead of "gosta ele")

.

She has a cat = Ela tem um gato

Does she have a cat? = Ela tem um gato? (instead of "tem ela")
.

Questions words

There are two question words that might be confusing at first, but they are distinct: "que" and
"qual".

Que - as pronoun

For "que", when a standalone pronoun, use "o que".

This one asks for definitions and explanations. It's used when you want to understand what
something is, more than simply knowing.

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/pt/Questions/tips-and-notes 1/3
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O que é isto? = What is this?

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Não sei o que é. = I don't know what it is.

O que você quer? = What do you want?

Qual - as a pronoun

This one is used to ask things that you do understand, but you don't know what/which they are.
Sometimes it's "what", sometimes it's "which":

Qual é o seu nome? = What is your name?

Qual você quer? = Which one do you want?

Não sei qual eu quero. = I don't know which one I want.

You don't ask "o que é o seu nome?", that would mean you don't understand what a name is. That
would state something near "please explain what your name is".

Both as determiners - (coming before nouns)

In this case, "que" and "qual" are exactly the same, meaning "what" or "which":

Que/Qual comida você quer? = What/Which food do you want?

Word order for question words

Question words are usually placed at the beginning of the sentence. But except for the verb "to
be", the "subject - verb" order is kept the same as in affirmative sentences:

What is that? = O que é aquilo?

How many cats does she have? = Quantos gatos ela tem? (instead of "tem ela")

How much sugar do you want? = Quanto açúcar você quer? (instead of "quer você")

The three sentences above are also right the other way around, although the first of the
following may sound informal:

Aquilo é o quê? ("Quê" at the end has "ê")

Ela tem quantos gatos?

Você quer quanto açúcar?

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Prepositions x Word order

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In Portuguese, prepositions "cannot" be loose at the end of the sentence like in English. It must
always be before what it refers to. So, if you have:

Você precisa de quantos sapatos?

When inverting you should have:

De quantos sapatos você precisa? (How many shoes do you need?)

But could the word order change?

Most of the times it can. But since the inversion is not standard, it may sound weird. The best
thing to do is really to keep the same order as in affirmative sentences.

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/pt/Questions/tips-and-notes 3/3