Portuguese Question Words: Who, What, Where, Why & How in Brazilian Portuguese
Questions are not English sentences with Portuguese words inserted.
Quem, o que, qual, onde, quando, como, quanto and por que become much easier when you learn the question each one is designed to ask.
Brazilian Portuguese question words let you ask about people, things, choices, places, time, manner, quantity and reasons. The vocabulary is small. The difficulty comes from distinctions such as o que vs. qual, onde vs. aonde, prepositions before quem, and the four written forms of porquê.
This guide teaches those distinctions with real Brazilian sentence patterns—including conversational forms you will actually hear.
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Portuguese question words at a glance
| Portuguese | Typical English | What it asks about | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| quem | who | person/people | Quem é ela? |
| o que / que | what | thing, action, meaning, type | O que você quer? |
| qual / quais | which / what | identity or selection from possibilities | Qual é o seu nome? |
| onde | where | location | Onde você mora? |
| aonde | where to | destination with a structure requiring a | Aonde você vai? |
| quando | when | time/date | Quando você chega? |
| como | how | manner, condition, method | Como você fez isso? |
| quanto/a/os/as | how much / how many | quantity, price, degree | Quanto custa? |
| por que | why | reason | Por que você está aqui? |
A major difference from English
Brazilian Portuguese usually does not need English-style subject–verb inversion
English changes word order:
You live here. → Where do you live?
Brazilian Portuguese can keep the ordinary subject-before-verb order:
Você mora aqui.
You live here.
Onde você mora?
Where do you live?
That is a very useful learner pattern:
Where do you work?
When does she arrive?
Why did you come?
Yes/no questions often keep the same words as a statement and rely strongly on intonation:
Você gosta de café?
Do you like coffee?
For that system, see Mastering Questions in Portuguese: Intonation. This article stays focused on question words.
People
Quem = who
Who are you?
Quem ligou?
Who called?
Quem vai com a gente?
Who’s going with us?
Com quem você vai?
Who are you going with?
Pra quem é isso?
Who is this for?
De quem é esse carro?
Whose car is this?
Things, actions and definitions
O que and que: two common ways English “what” appears
O que você quer?
What do you want?
O que aconteceu?
What happened?
O que significa isso?
What does that mean?
Que filme você viu?
What/which movie did you see?
Que horas são?
What time is it?
Que tipo de música você gosta?
What kind of music do you like?
A useful beginner shortcut is:
- o que often stands on its own as “what”;
- que + noun often means “what/which + noun.”
Identity and selection
Qual and quais: not simply English “which”
Qual is singular and quais is plural, but English speakers also need to know that both can translate as what.
What’s your name?
What’s the problem?
What/which options do you have?
O que vs. qual
| Question | Natural English | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| O que é isso? | What is this? | asks what the thing is / definition or category |
| Qual é o seu? | Which one is yours? | selects/identifies one from a context |
| O que você quer fazer? | What do you want to do? | asks for an action/content |
| Qual você quer? | Which one do you want? | chooses among available alternatives |
Location and direction
Onde, aonde, de onde, por onde and para onde
| Form | Idea | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| onde | in/at what place | Onde você mora? | Where do you live? |
| aonde | to what place, when the construction calls for a | Aonde você vai? | Where are you going? |
| de onde | from where | De onde você é? | Where are you from? |
| por onde | through/by what route | Por onde a gente entra? | Where do we go in? / Which way do we enter? |
| para onde | toward what destination | Para onde você está indo? | Where are you going? |
Time
Quando = when
Manner, condition and clarification
Como = how—but some of its most useful phrases are chunks
Como assim? is especially useful in conversation because English speakers often translate it too literally. It is a natural way to ask someone to explain what they mean.
Quantity, price and degree
Quanto, quanta, quantos, quantas
When quanto accompanies a noun, it agrees in gender and number with that noun.
How much does it cost?
Quanto tempo demora?
How long does it take?
Quanto você pagou?
How much did you pay?
How many people are coming?
Quantos anos você tem?
How old are you?
Quanta água você bebe?
How much water do you drink?
One sound area, four written forms
Por que, por quê, porque and porquê
| Form | Main learner use | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| por que | asks “for what reason?” in direct or indirect questions | Por que você saiu? Não sei por que ele saiu. |
Why did you leave? I don’t know why he left. |
| por quê | por que at the end/before strong punctuation | Você saiu por quê? Por quê? |
Why did you leave? Why? |
| porque | introduces an explanation/cause | Saí porque estava cansado. | I left because I was tired. |
| porquê | noun meaning “the reason”; commonly with an article/determiner | Ninguém explicou o porquê. | No one explained the reason why. |
English often leaves the preposition at the end; Portuguese usually puts it before the question word
Question words with com, de, para, por, em and other prepositions
| Portuguese | Natural English | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Com quem você falou? | Who did you talk to? | com + quem |
| De quem você está falando? | Who are you talking about? | de + quem |
| Pra quem você comprou isso? | Who did you buy this for? | para/pra + quem |
| De onde você veio? | Where did you come from? | de + onde |
| Por onde a gente vai? | Which way do we go? | por + onde |
| Em que você está pensando? | What are you thinking about? | em + que |
| Do que você precisa? | What do you need? | de + o que → do que |
| Com o que você trabalha? | What do you work with / What field do you work in? | com + o que |
What textbooks often omit but Brazilian conversations do not
É que, que que and expanded question forms
Brazilian Portuguese often expands a basic question without changing the core information requested.
O que você está fazendo?
What are you doing?
O que é que você está fazendo?
What are you doing? / What is it that you’re doing?
O que que você tá fazendo?
What are you doing?
You can hear the pattern with other question words:
Where do you live?
Who said that?
How do you do it? / How is it done?
A very Brazilian shortcut
Cadê? = “where is / where are…?”
Cadê is an informal, extremely useful way to ask where someone or something is.
Notice that cadê does not behave like a normal conjugated verb. Learn the whole question pattern as a chunk.
The question word can live inside a statement
Indirect questions in Brazilian Portuguese
Do you know where he lives?
I don’t know who did this.
I want to know why she left.
Do you remember when it happened?
The mistakes come from English mapping and over-simple rules
Nine common mistakes with Portuguese question words
Prefer Onde você mora? as your basic pattern.
Qual é seu nome? is the normal question.
It often translates naturally as English “what.”
Direction can involve a, de, por, para and other relations.
Com quem? De quem? Do que? Em que?
Use por que or final por quê.
Você fez isso por quê? is a question too.
You do not need it in formal writing, but you absolutely need to recognize it in Brazilian speech.
Learn their communicative function first; the grammatical labels differ by structure.
Choose the information you need
Quick practice: which question word fits?
Turn questions into conversations
Related Brazilian Portuguese guides
Frequently asked questions
FAQ: Portuguese question words
What are the main question words in Portuguese?
The core set is quem, o que/que, qual/quais, onde, aonde, quando, como, quanto/a/os/as and por que.
What is the difference between o que and qual?
O que often asks for content, a thing, action or definition; qual often identifies or selects. But English translation is not one-to-one: Qual é o seu nome? means “What’s your name?”
What is the difference between onde and aonde?
Normative usage distinguishes onde for location and aonde where the destination relation requires the preposition a. Brazilian speech also frequently uses onde in questions such as Onde você vai?.
How do you ask “why?” in Portuguese?
Use por que inside a direct or indirect question: Por que você veio? If it appears at the end, write por quê: Você veio por quê?
What is the difference between por que and porque?
Por que commonly asks for a reason; porque commonly gives one: Por que você saiu? Porque eu estava cansado.
How do you ask “who with?” in Portuguese?
Put the preposition before the question word: Com quem? For example, Com quem você vai? = “Who are you going with?”
What does cadê mean?
Cadê? is an informal Brazilian way to ask “where is/are…?”: Cadê meu celular? = “Where’s my phone?”
Why do Brazilians say o que que?
Conversational Brazilian Portuguese often uses expanded question structures such as o que que, onde que, quem que and como que. They are important for listening comprehension even if learners choose more standard forms in formal writing.
Do Portuguese questions invert the subject and verb like English?
Usually not in the English way. A natural pattern is Onde você mora?—question word + subject + verb. Yes/no questions can also retain statement order and rely on intonation.
How do I practice Portuguese question words?
Practice them as real information gaps: ask one person where they live, what they do, who they know, when something happened and why they chose something. Then practice preposition combinations such as com quem, de onde, do que and em que.
