Question words in Brazilian Portuguese

Level A1

Question words in Brazilian Portuguese

Asking questions in Brazilian Portuguese is much simpler than in English: there is no "do" or "does", and you never have to swap the verb and the subject. You say the sentence exactly as a statement and let your voice rise at the end — Você está com fome? is just the statement "You're hungry" said with a rising voice. To ask for information, put the question word first and leave the rest as it is. Choose você with most people and o senhor or a senhora with older people or anyone you want to show respect to.

The seven question words: o que, por que, quando, onde, quem, qual, como

A statement with a rising voice — and a question word in front when you need one

Ondeo senhor mora?

Question word first, then the sentence as it is — and por que or por quê

Where English adds "do" or moves "is" in front of the subject, Portuguese changes nothing: Quando a loja abre? is literally "When the store opens?", and Ela trabalha aqui? is a statement or a question depending only on your voice.

"Why" is two words, por que, at the start of a question (Por que você quer saber?), and it takes an accent at the very end: Nada de especial. Por quê? Don't mix it up with porque, one word, which means "because".

"What time is it?" is Que horas são?, literally "what hours are they?". To ask where a place is, Brazilians usually say fica, not está, right after onde: Onde fica o banheiro? And "Where are you going?" starts with pra, short for para ("to"): Pra onde você vai?

Making plans with a friend: casual questions with você, a gente and no subject at all

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