How to use question words in Brazilian Portuguese?

The interrogative pronoun que (meaning 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 (meaning the), which adds more emphasis to the question. Informally, the o can be omitted.

  • (O) que foi aquilo?

    Translation: What was that?

    direct question
  • Não sei (o) que a aluna fez para a professora.

    Translation: I don’t know what the student did for the teacher.

    indirect question

  The answers to the two questions above would be nouns, which makes que a pronoun, as it stands for those answers.

• When que asks “what kind of (thing)?” it is directly followed by a noun, making it an adjective.

  noun

  Que barulho foi aquele?

  Translation: 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 (meaning who) mainly refers to people, as in:

• Quem quer ir ao cinema comigo?

  Translation: Who wants to go to the cinema with me?
• Gostaria de saber quem é o presidente dessa empresa.

  Translation: I would like to know who the president of this company is.

The interrogative word quando (meaning when) is used to ask questions related to time, as in:

The interrogative como (meaning how) is used to inquire about manner and way, as in:

The interrogative word onde (meaning where) is used to ask about location and direction, as in:

The interrogative por que (meaning why) is used to ask about a cause, as in:

You can also ask “why” by adding the expression por que (meaning why) at the end of a statement:

The interrogative qual (meaning 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:

• modified noun

  Quais pessoas fazem parte do nosso grupo?

  Translation: Which people are part of our group?

  Before a noun, qual is an adjective.
• replaced noun

  Speaker A:

  Eu gosto desses sapatos aí.

  Translation: I like those shoes over there.

  Speaker B:

  Qual você prefere?

  Translation: Which ones do you prefer?

  Qual can also be a pronoun meaning “which one(s).”

To add some emphasis, qual can be used before dos/das (meaning of the) + noun, as in:

The interrogative quanto (meaning 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 mass nouns, which are always singular. However, it will still need to match the gender of the noun in question.

  • feminine mass noun

    Quanta comida precisamos para a festa?

    Translation: How much food do we need for the party?
  • masculine mass noun

    Quanto tempo ainda precisamos esperar por ele?

    Translation: How much time / How long do we still need to wait for him?

• When quanto means “how many”

  When quanto is followed by a count noun it is translated as “how many,” and you will most often see the plural forms.

  • masculine plural noun

    Quantos dias ainda faltam para as férias?

    Translation: How many days are still missing for the holidays?
  • feminine plural noun

    Eu queria saber quantas irmãs você tem.

    Translation: I would like to know how many sisters you have.
  • masculine plural noun

    Speaker A:

    Ainda faltam alguns dias para as férias.

    Translation: There are a few days left until the holidays.

    Speaker B:

    Quantos ainda faltam?

    Translation: How many (days) are still missing for the holidays?

    Here, quantos is a pronoun, as it is not directly followed by a noun.