In this lesson, we’ll learn about determinantes interrogativosinterrogative determiners
Interrogative determiners are words we use to formulate questions or exclamations, and they are followed by nouns. There are only two of them, but they are quite important!
Que
Que is equivalent to “what”. Example:
Que livro procuras?What book are you looking for?
There is no plural form of que.
Qual / Quais
Qual is the singular form equivalent to “which”. The same form is used for both masculine and feminine nouns. For example:
Ela visitou qual museu?Which museum did she visit?
Quais is the plural form of qual. Example:
Eles foram a quais festivais?Which festivals have they been to?
In this example it’s plural because the noun (festivais) is plural.
How to Use Que vs. Qual in Portuguese
As you can probably imagine, there is some overlap between the usage of que and qual/quais, as their meanings are very similar. Keep in mind that all of these words could translate to what or which, depending on the context. For example:
Que livro procuras?What book are you looking for? – This could just as easily be translated as Which book are you looking for?
Qual é o teu plano?What is your plan?
Quais são os teus planos?What are your plans?
The choice often depends on how the sentence is constructed. In European Portuguese, que tends to be the preference when directly followed by a noun:
- Que estrela é aquela? (What star is that?)
- Que livro é o teu? (What book is yours?)
Qual is preferred when followed by the verb ser, or by de + a noun/pronoun:
- Qual é aquela estrela? (Which star is that?)
- Qual dos livros é o teu? (Which book is yours?, Which one of the books is yours?)
Note: In examples where qual is not followed by a noun, it’s being used as an interrogative pronoun.
Remember that these are just guidelines, not strict rules. You’ll come across plenty of phrases in which que and qual are interchangeable.
Thanks Jeremy! For now, the continue buttons should only show up when it’s connected to a Learning Studio Unit you’re currently working on. We will double-check this though!
Muito obrigado, Joel!
Is “Qual livro procuras?” incorrect? Or is it just saying something somewhat different from “Que livro procuras?” Also, should the definite article precede the “Que,” i.e., “O que livro procuras?”
You can use both “qual livro” and “que livro”. “Que” translates directly to “what”, while “qual” translates directly to “which”. However, you should not add the definite article when “que” is followed by a noun. So, we never say “O que livro”, just “Que livro” 🙂
So I’m drawing a blank. If O is never used before que when it’s followed by a noun, when is it used?
You might see O before ‘que’ in a number of cases, but not as a definite article (like ‘the’), only as a demonstrative (like ‘what’).
For example, before verbs:
– O que é isto? (What is this?)
– Eu sei o que aconteceu (I know what happened)
Before pronouns:
– Ele viu o que tu fizeste (He saw what you did)
– Tu sabes o que eu quero (You know what I want)
Before definite and indefinite articles:
– Eu não sei o que um moinho é (I don’t know what a mill is)
– O que o João fez foi incrível (What João did was incredible)
And so on 🙂
Dear sir
Is “a” in the sentence: Eles foram a quais festivais?, a preposition like “to”?
Yes, you can think of it as “They went to which festivals?”
Quais exemplos é que eles vão entender? Why isn’t it: Quais exemplos são que eles vão entender?
There are multiple examples and multiple people going to understand them. It would be plural in English (are not is). Not sure I understand why this is singular in Portuguese.
Olá! The verb ser (conjugated as é) isn’t coupled to the noun ‘exemplos’ or to the pronoun ‘eles’; it’s only there as part of the fixed expression “é que”, which is optionally added for emphasis, but doesn’t contribute anything in terms of meaning or grammatical correctness. So, this “é que” can be removed and you’re still left with a complete sentence.
Quais exemplos [é que] eles vão entender? = Quais exemplos eles vão entender?
We often add this “é que” to questions in European Portuguese, as discussed in this Learning Note: Practice Portuguese | Using “é que” in European Portuguese Questions
I’ve been somewhat distracted by “acredite em mim”. In Portuguese there seems to be another word as in (John 14:1): “… crede … em mim”, whereas modern English must limp along with just the one word. Is “believe” missing a prosaic or fallible nuance offered by acreditar, so that the sense lost from John 14:1 by substituting “… acredite … em mim” would be more obvious to a Portuguese listener?
I cannot speak in depth to religious use, and I don’t know if this answers your question, but overall, grammatically speaking, ‘acreditar’ and ‘crer’ are synonyms and both mean ‘believe’ without any particular nuances. Due to common usage patterns, ‘crer’ tends to be regarded as more formal, and especially in religious contexts, it tends to be considered more emphatic or intense than ‘acreditar’. But this is not an intrinsic attribute of the word. For example, in a general sentence such as “Creio que sim” (I believe so), there’s no bigger emphasis here than if we worded it as “Acredito que sim” (I believe so) or “Acho que sim” (I think so).
Your suggestion for when to prefer “que” vs. “qual” seems helpful, thank you.
For this note:
“Note: In examples where qual is not followed by noun, it’s being used as an interrogative pronoun.”
Could you please give an example of this usage?
Thanks!
Olá! You have some examples throughout this Learning Note:
– Qual é o teu plano?
– Quais são os teus planos?
– Qual é aquela estrela?
In all cases, ‘qual’ is followed by a verb and not by the noun it’s replacing. The respective nouns happen to be mentioned at the end of these questions, but if clear in context, it could very well be absent and the interrogative sentence would still be correct.