To form a yes-no question in Brazilian Portuguese, all you need to do is change the intonation in your voice. For example:
A content question will begin with a question word like quando meaning when or como meaning how, just like a wh-question in English. However, there are some differences. For example, a preposition that goes with a question word must always appear before that question word, not at the end of a sentence, as in:
Just like English, the structure of Brazilian Portuguese questions also depends on whether you are asking a direct questions (a classic question like, “Where am I?”) or using an indirect question (a statement about a question, as in, “She asked where she was.”).
In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about asking questions in Brazilian Portuguese: how to form yes/no questions, how to form content questions, and the differences between direct and indirect questions. Just keep reading this post!
How to form direct questions in Brazilian Portuguese?
Direct questions in Brazilian Portuguese are “classic” questions, which directly request an answer. As in English, they always end with a question mark. For example:
There are two main types of direct questions: yes/no questions (a.k.a. “closed questions”) and content questions (a.k.a. “open questions” or “wh- questions”). Let’s go through each type.
How to ask yes/no questions in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, yes/no questions (questions that offer only “yes” or “no” as possible answers) are very similar in structure to affirmative sentences. Compare:
- Affirmative Sentence:Você é brasileiro.Translation: You are Brazilian.
- Yes/No QuestionVocê é brasileiro?Translation: Are you Brazilian?Literally: lit. You are Brazilian?
The only two differences between an affirmative sentence and a yes/no question are:
the question mark in written questions
rising intonation in spoken questions
The basic structure of a Brazilian Portuguese yes/no question is quite simple!
However, Brazilians can also create yes/no questions by using tag questions. Let’s now take a look at some tag questions in Brazilian Portuguese and talk about their meanings.
Tag questions
Yes/no questions are often created by using tag questions. Tag questions are short questions that can help you indicate that you expect someone to confirm what you are saying, like the English “...right?” in “They’re here, right?”
Just as in English, in Brazilian Portuguese you can ask a yes/no question by making a statement and ending that statement with a tag question. Here are some of the most common tag questions in Brazilian Portuguese:
… não é? / né?
The most common tag in Brazilian Portuguese is não é?, which can be shortened to né? in spoken language. It can be translated into English as “didn’t you?”, “don’t you?”, “haven’t you?”, or “aren’t you?”, depending on the tense of the sentence that precedes the tag.
Você já esteve no Brasil, não é?
Você já esteve no Brasil, né?Translation: You have already been to Brazil, haven't you?An alternative to the tag above is to repeat the verb from the question in the negative form, similarly to how you would in English. However, this form is not used as often as adding a tag question.
Você já esteve no Brasil, não esteve?Translation: You have already been to Brazil, haven't you?… tá? / tá bom? / tá bem?
The tag tá is often used in spoken language to request agreement. It can be translated into “right?”, “okay?”, or “alright?” in English.
Passe no supermercado antes de vir para casa, tá?Translation: Stop by the supermarket before you come home, all right?The tags tá bom? and tá bem? can also be used in this situation, with the same meaning.
Passe no supermercado antes de vir para casa, tá bom?Translation: Stop by the supermarket before you come home, all right?... hein?
Hein transcribed ein, is another tag in Brazilian Portuguese, and it can be translated into “what?” or “what did you say?”. It can be used to confirm an answer, to show you didn’t understand what was said, or to emphasize the question.
O que você falou, hein?Translation: What did you say, huh?… viu?
The tag viu? is shortened from ouviu meaning listened, heard and used to reinforce commands or warnings.
Não abra a porta para estranhos, viu?Translation: Don't open the door to strangers, y'hear?Viu? is used to mean, “have you acknowledged what I just said?”, “have you understood it?”, or “have you heard it?”.
And that is how to form yes/no questions! Let’s next have a look at how you can form content questions.
How to ask open questions in Brazilian Portuguese?
We use interrogative words, such as quem meaning who, o que meaning what, and onde meaning where, to make open questions (questions that require more than a yes/no answer). These come at the beginning of the sentence, as in:
Brazilian Portuguese has the following interrogative words:
que/o que meaning what, which
quem meaning who, whom
quando meaning when
como meaning how
onde meaning where
por que meaning why
qual, quais meaning which
quanto, quantos, quanta, quantas meaning how much, how many
You can learn more about the rules for using each of these words from our post on interrogative words in Brazilian Portuguese.
We will now talk about some particularities in structure related to how Brazilian Portuguese uses the interrogative words mentioned above to make questions.
What is the word order for Brazilian Portuguese content questions?
In Brazilian Portuguese content questions, interrogative words are most often placed at the beginning of the question. For example:
However, when the main verb is ser / estar meaning to be or ficar meaning to stay, to be located, it is also common to place the verb before the subject: interrogative word + verb + subject.
When an interrogative sentence contains a main verb and a subject, the word order is: interrogative word + subject + verb.
- interrogativesubjectverbComo a Marina está?Translation: How is Marina?
- interrogativesubjectverbComo está a Marina?Translation: How is Marina?
So, as you can see in the examples above, the placement of the main verb and subject of a question is usually exactly the same as the word order in a statement, except when the verb is ser/estar meaning to be or ficar meaning to stay, to be located.
How to use a preposition with a question word in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, a preposition that works with a question word will always come before the interrogative word. The two cannot be separated as they can be in English.
Take a look at this chart to see the most common preposition + interrogative word combinations in Brazilian Portuguese.
How to use ‘é que’ in Brazilian Portuguese questions?
The meaning of the interrogative words mentioned above can be intensified in everyday spoken language by adding the phrases é que or que é que after the interrogative to create redundancy.
- Como que é que está a Marina?
Como é que está a Marina?Translation: How is Marina? - Para quem que é que você trabalha?
Para quem é que você trabalha?Translation: For whom do you work?
Between é que and que é que, the former is more commonly used in Brazilian Portuguese.
How to form indirect questions in Brazilian Portuguese?
Literally, an indirect question is a statement about a question. An example in English might be, “I wonder what this is.” In practice, we can use indirect questions either to simply report that a question was asked/considered or as a way to subtly or discreetly ask for information.
Indirect questions are found in sentences with two parts:
a main clause, which contains an expression of doubt or of inquiry
a subordinate clause, which represents the question itself
Because this is literally a statement about a question, the sentence does not end with a question mark and does not use rising question intonation. For example:
The precise structure you use will depend on whether the question you’re making a statement about is a yes/no question or a content question:
Indirect yes/no questions
When the question you’re making a statement about is a yes/no question, the subordinate clause is often introduced by the word se meaning if, whether. The word order here is:
main clause
sesubject
verb
Eu não sei se ela está vindo ou não.Translation: I don't know if she is coming or not.Indirect content questions
When the question you’re making a statement about is a content question, the word order is:
main clause
interrogative wordsubject
verb
Eu preciso saber onde você trabalha.Translation: I need to know where you work.
Summary
In this post, we talked about how to form direct and indirect questions in Brazilian Portuguese. We saw that there are two types of direct questions:
Yes/no questions → Você mora aqui? meaning Do you live here?
We also saw tag words, such as né? and tá?, which can be added at the end of yes/no questions.
Questions with interrogative words → Como você se chama? meaning How do you call yourself?
We also talked about the particularities of this form of direct questions in respect to placement of interrogatives, word order, prepositions used with the interrogatives, and redundancy:
Placement interrogative words are often placed at the beginning of a sentence
Quem ganhou o jogo?Translation: Who won the game?Word order interrogative word + subject + verb
Por que você veio aqui?Translation: Why did you come here?With verbs ser and estar meaning to be you have two structures:
interrogative word + subject + verb
interrogative word + verb + subjectOnde o convite está?
Onde está o convite?Translation: Where is the invitation?Preposition +
interrogative wordsprepositions are placed before interrogative words
De onde você é?Translation: Where are you from?Redundancy que é que and é que can be placed after interrogative words in informal spoken language
De onde é que você é?Translation: Where are you from?
With regard to indirect questions, we mentioned that they are more subtle, because they do not use a question mark or rising intonation. They are often made with a main clause that contains an expression of doubt and a subordinate clause introduced by se meaning if, whether or an interrogative word. Like direct questions, there are two forms of indirect questions:
Indirect yes/no questions → Eu estou na dúvida se vai chover. meaning I am in dout if it will rain.
Indirect content questions → Eu não sei por que você comprou esse produto. meaning I don't know the reason you bought this product.
Now how about some practice forming questions in Brazilian Portuguese with our activity?
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