The main Portuguese question words are: “quem“, “o que“, “onde“, “quando“, “porque“, “como“, “quanto“, “quantos“, “qual” e “quais“. We use these words to introduce questions. They are divided into separate grammatical categories: pronouns and adverbs (Pronomes Interrogatórios & Advérbios Interrogatórios). This isn’t a distinction you need to know unless you’re studying Portuguese for academic reasons. Nonetheless, I will add an explanation of what this distinction is. So let’s dive in!
Pronoun or Adverb?
There are two main types of Portuguese Question Words: Interrogative Pronouns and Interrogative Adverbs. They are easily distinguishable as they have different forms and relate to different aspects of the question.
Interrogative Pronouns replace or substitute the noun in the question: quem (who), O que (what), qual (which) and quanto (how much). Interrogative Adverbs introduce a question by expressing the idea of time, place, way or cause:quando (when), onde (where), como (how) and porque (why) that affects the verb/action.
Interrogative Pronouns
Que / What
The pronoun que is often preceded by the definite article o when asking questions. This is not obligatory, but it does sound more conversational when one does add the o. When que appears at the end of a question or alone, we add the circumflex accent: quê and the pronunciation changes.
It’s only when que is followed by a noun that the o is NOT added. The reason is now que is classed as an interrogative determiner and not a pronoun anymore. You can also think of it as translating to “which” one out of a list of possibilities or available options.
vs
In other words, when we say “o que” we don’t know what the thing is, but when we add the noun, we know what it is, we just don’t know which one or what type it is.
More examples with que:
Avoid saying:
- O que tipo…?
O que is followed by a verb/action by someone and NOT a noun.
Quem /Who/Whom/Whose
Quem translates to who, whom and/or whose. The latter two need the prepositions por (by) and de (of/from), respectively. More on that in this lesson about Questions with Prepositions in Portuguese.
Qual / Which/ Wich one/ Which ones
Qual is variable, meaning it has a plural version: Quais. They translate to which and to which one or which ones, respectively. Sometimes they translate to “what” as well. When we ask a question using qual, we are asking ‘which one it is’ (out of all the possibilities in the context).
Qual as What
In these cases, the question word qual is followed by the verb “ser“.
*in a Portuguese conversation, we usually say Como se chama instead of Qual é o seu nome? It’s more conversational that way. ‘Qual é o seu nome’ is a bit formal, and something you might hear at an office whilst filling out a form.
Qual as Which
In these cases, the question word qual is followed by a noun. However, this is more common in Brazil. Here in Portugal, we use “que” instead of qual.
🇧🇷Qual carro compraste? = 🇵🇹Que carro compraste? (What/which car did you buy?)
🇧🇷Qual filme viram? = 🇵🇹Que filme viram? (What/which film did you all see/watch?)
I would like to say that we can use qual in these contexts in European Portuguese, but the sentence structure is altered:
Qual as Which one or Which ones
This meaning may be easier to remember because it’s “which one” out of a limited selection/list of options. Which ones is simply the plural of qual, which is quais.
Quanto, Quanta / How Much
Quanto usually indicates the cost or the amount of something singular.
Quantos, Quantas / How Many
In Portuguese, the question word for how many needs to agree with the gender of the noun you’re asking about.
Interrogative Adverbs
Interrogative Adverbs introduce a question by expressing the idea of time, place, way or cause:quando (when), one (where), como (how) and porque (why) that affects the verb/action.
Como / How
There is another adverb that is used to mean “how”. This is an Adverb of Intensity in Portuguese and it’s used just like a question word but only when it’s before an adjective. In a sense, it intensifies the “why” as well. It is used to express “to what degree”, and the adverb is “Quão“.
Quando / When
Onde / Where
Porque / Why
Similarly to “o que“, when porque is used alone or at the end of a sentence, it gains the circumflex accent on the e “porquê“.
É Que
You may have seen the words “é que” being used after Portuguese Question Words. Although it’s optional, as it doesn’t alter the meaning of the question, it’s very common to use. Moreover, it’s advisable that you do. But more details in this dedicated lesson about É que.
In Conclusion
There are many Portuguese Question Words 😉. The words quem, o que, qual and quanto are interrogative pronouns because they replace names that occur in the question’s answer.
The words quando, onde, como and porque are interrogative adverbs because they don’t replace any nouns and they express an idea of time, place, mode or cause in relation to the action expressed by the verb.
If the que is followed by a verb o is optional (but most of the time is added), if que is followed by a noun, the o is never added.
Quem means who/whose and whom.
How is como, but if you’re asking ‘to what degree’ something is, we use Quão, which isn’t a question word but can be used as one.
Quizzes to Practice
