Question words (or “interrogative words”) like “which” and “who” are used to construct wh- questions in Brazilian Portuguese. For example:
Quem escreveu este livro?
Who wrote this book?
Perguntei que dia é hoje.
I asked which day it is today.
In this post, we’ll cover the forms of the different interrogative words in Brazilian Portuguese and how to use them to ask questions.
Brazilian Portuguese has the following interrogative words:
Interrogative | Translation |
|---|---|
que | what |
quem | who, whom |
quando | when |
como | how |
onde | where |
por que | why |
qual, quais | which |
quanto, quantos, quanta, quantas | how much, how many |
Notice that most of these words are invariable (with only one form) but a few are variable, meaning that their form changes depending on the number (singular or plural) and/or gender (masculine / feminine) of the noun they modify or replace.
Interrogative words are used to ask direct and indirect questions. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
Direct questions
Direct questions present a clear inquiry and always end with a question mark, as in:
Que dia é hoje?
What day is today?
Quem é brasileiro?
Who is Brazilian?
Reported or indirect questions
Reported questions are used in sentences that (at least when taken literally) discuss a question without asking it. However, these can sometimes still be used to imply a request for information (which makes them “indirect questions”). For example:
Queria saber quem é brasileiro.
I would like to know who is Brazilian.
Sentences containing reported questions contain two parts: a main clause containing an expression of doubt or of inquiry, and a subordinate clause, which contains the question itself. Unlike in direct questions, you don’t use a question mark at the end in indirect questions.
Alguém me diga onde estão os meus sapatos.
Somebody tell me where my shoes are.
Você sabe quanto custa a entrada para o show.
You know how much the ticket for the show costs.
Now, let’s talk about how to use each of the individual interrogative words.
The interrogative pronoun que(what) is mainly used to ask “what (thing)?” or “what kind of (thing)?”
When que asks “what (thing)?” it is often preceded by the definite article o(the), which adds more emphasis to the question. Informally, the o can be omitted.
(O) que foi aquilo?
What was that?
Não sei (o) que a aluna fez para a professora.
I don’t know what the student did for the teacher.
The answers to the two questions above would be , which makes que a pronoun, as it stands for those answers.
In direct questions, (o) que(what) can also be followed by the expression é que, which is added for emphasis and is not translated in English:
O que é que foi aquilo?
What was that?
Não sei (o) que é que a aluna disse à professora.
I don’t know what the student said to the teacher.
The expression é que is more common in informal spoken language and can also be used with all the other interrogative words when they are followed by a verb.
When que asks “what kind of (thing)?” it is directly followed by a noun, making it an .
Que barulho foi aquele?
What (kind of) noise was that?
In this use, que cannot be accompanied by the definite article o nor the expression é que.
The interrogative word quem(who) mainly refers to people, as in:
Quem quer ir ao cinema comigo?
Who wants to go to the cinema with me?
Gostaria de saber quem é o presidente dessa empresa.
I would like to know who the president of this company is.
As the examples above show, the verb placed after quem is almost always in the form.
However, when quem is followed by the verb ser(to be), the conjugation can be singular or , if it is clear that we are talking about more than one individual. It’s much like English:
Quem é o jogador?
Who is the player?
Quem são os jogadores?
Who are the players?
The interrogative word quando(when) is used to ask questions related to time, as in:
Quando viajaremos?
When will we travel?
The interrogative como(how) is used to inquire about manner and way, as in:
Como iremos para a Bahia?
How will we go to Bahia?
The interrogative word como can also be used to ask “what is it like?”:
Como é o Brasil?
What is Brazil like?
The interrogative word onde(where) is used to ask about location and direction, as in:
Onde está localizado o hotel?
Where is the hotel located?
The expressions de onde(from where) and aonde(to where) are used to ask about the source and destination of movements.
De onde você é?
Where are you from?
Aonde você vai?
Where are you going (to)?
The interrogative por que(why) is used to ask about a cause, as in:
Por que vocês não vem aqui?
Why don’t you come here?
You can also ask “why” by adding the expression por que(why) at the end of a statement:
Você esqueceu sua lição de casa, por quê?
You forgot your homework at home, why?
You may have noticed that there are four different variations on the expression por que in Brazilian Portuguese:
Por que is an interrogative that means “why” and that is used for direct and indirect questions.
Por que não vamos ao show hoje?
Why don’t we go to the show today?
Gostaria de saber por que esse hotel é caro.
I would like to know why this hotel is expensive.
Porque is a conjunction that means “because” and that is used to introduce the cause or reason.
Porque não temos tempo.
Because we don't have time.
Por quê is a form of the interrogative por que, meaning “why,” and it is used only at the end of the questions.
Você chegou atrasado, por quê?
You arrived late, why?
Porquê is a noun that means “the reason why,” and it is always accompanied by the definite article o(the).
Gostaria de saber o porquê desse hotel ser caro.
I would like to know the reason why this hotel is expensive.
The interrogative qual(which one(s)) can refer to things or people. Like “which” in English, qual is used in questions that ask someone to identify one of several elements within a group. It works as an adjective when placed right before a noun, or it works as a pronoun when it replaces a noun. In both cases, it agrees in number (singular or plural) with the noun it modifies or replaces:
qual → singular
quais → plural
For example:
Quais pessoas fazem parte do nosso grupo?
Which people are part of our group?
Eu gosto desses sapatos aí.
I like those shoes over there.
Qual você prefere?
Which ones do you prefer?
To add some emphasis, qual can be used before dos/das(of the) + noun, as in:
Qual dos sapatos você prefere: o azul ou o verde?
Which one of the shoes do you prefer: the blue or the green ones?
When qual is used before the verb ser(to be) it can mean “what is/are” when asking from a set of choices, and the verb ser can optionally be omitted.
Qual (é) o objetivo deste trabalho?
What is the goal of this work?
Quais (são) os planos para este verão?
What are the plans for this summer?
Both qual + ser and (o) que + ser mean can be translated as “what is” in English, but there is a difference:
Qual é o seu sabor favorito?
What is your favorite flavor?
Que sabor é este?
What is this flavor?
The interrogative quanto(how many / how much) is used to ask about the quantity of any noun. You can use quanto either directly before the noun you’re asking about, or, with context, you can use it to replace the noun, but it will always agree in gender and number with the noun whose quantity you are inquiring about.
quanto → masculine singular
quanta → feminine singular
quantos → masculine plural
quantas → feminine plural
When quanto means “how much”
When quanto means “how much,” it will always be singular in form because “how much” is used with , which are always singular. However, it will still need to match the gender of the noun in question.
Quanta comida precisamos para a festa?
How much food do we need for the party?
Quanto tempo ainda precisamos esperar por ele?
How much time / How long do we still need to wait for him?
When quanto means “how much (money)” it will be masculine singular, like the implied noun dinheiro(money):
Quanto custa a refeição aqui?
How much does the meal here cost?
Quanto custa o litro do leite nessa padaria?
How much does the liter of milk cost in this bakery?
Eu gastei muito dinheiro este mês.
I spent too much money this month.
Jura! Quanto você gastou?
Really! How much did you spend?
When quanto means “how many”
When quanto is followed by a it is translated as “how many,” and you will most often see the plural forms.
Quantos dias ainda faltam para as férias?
How many days are still missing for the holidays?
Eu queria saber quantas comida você tem.
I would like to know how many sisters you have.
Ainda faltam alguns dias para as férias.
There are a few days left until the holidays.
Quantos ainda faltam?
How many (days) are still missing for the holidays?
In Brazilian Portuguese interrogative words can also be used to form exclamations, much like we can in English. Take a look at these examples:
Que bagunça.
What a mess.
Que alegria!
What a joy!
Quem diria!
Who would say!
Que calor!
What warm weather!
Quanta alegria!
How much joy!
In this post, we learned the invariable and variable interrogatives in Brazilian Portuguese, including their meanings and uses. Take a look at the table below to review what we covered:
Interrogative | Common structures |
|---|---|
que what | o que (o) que é que |
quem who | quem é quem são |
quando when | |
como how | |
onde where | |
por que why | por que por quê |
quale / quais which | qual (é) quais (são) |
quanto / quanta / quantas / quantos how many / how much | quanto + custa (verb) |
Now, try to practice using interrogatives in Brazilian Portuguese with this activity!
