Interrogative Pronouns

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Interrogative pronouns and some adverbs are frequently used to make questions (wh-words in English).

Portuguese	English	Notes
o que	what (what thing)	*O que* cannot accompany nouns.
que	what (what kind of)	*Que* always accompany nouns and refers to people or things.
quem	who	*Quem* can only refer to people.
qual	which	Qual usually implies a choice; and agrees in number (singular or plural) with the noun it refers to: qual (singular) quais (plural)
qual	what
Quanto(s)/ quanta(s)	how much	Quanto and quanta accompany uncountable nouns: Quanto(s) (masculine) Quanta(s) (feminine) Both pronouns are more common in exclamations.

Wh-words such as why, where, when and how are interrogative adverbs in Portuguese.

Remark:

In questions where using the words que (o que, por que, etc.), and this stand alone at the end of a sentence, mark the e with a circumflex accent. Example: Você sabe por quê? (Do you know why?)

The use of prepositions in questions

Portuguese	English
de que, em que, para que	what about, what about, what for
de onde, para onde	where, from where, to where

Example:

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