INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS IN PORTUGUESE

What they are?

Interrogative Pronouns form interrogative sentences.

They can be used in direct or indirect interrogative sentences.

Examples of direct interrogative:

Que dia é hoje? (What day is today?)

Quem fez esse café? (Who made this coffee?)

Qual das duas você prefere? (Which one do you prefer?)

Quanto custa a entrada para o Cristo Redentor? (How much is the entrance
to Christ The Redeemer statue?

Examples of indirect interrogative:

Ele perguntou que dia é hoje. (He asked what day is today.)

Queríamos saber quem fez o café. (We wanted to know who made this
coffee.)
Quero saber qual das duas você prefere. (I want to know which one do you
prefer.)

Variable and invariable interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns que and quem are invariable (do not change).

Interrogative pronouns qual and quanto are variable (change). We

have quais (plural) and quantos (plural), quanta (singular – feminine)
and quantas (plural – feminine). Quanta is rarely used in Brazilian
Portuguese.

Invariable:

Que – Que horas são? (What – What time is it?)

O que – O que ele quer fazer hoje? (What – What does he want to do today?)

Quem – Quem é a sua amiga? (Who – Who is your friend?)

Como – Como você está? (How – How are you?)

Por que – Por que quer aprender português? (Why – Why do you want to
learn Portuguese?)

Quando – Quando vai viajar? (When – When are you going to travel?)

Onde – Onde ela está trabalhando agora? (Where – Where is she working
now?)
Variable:

Quanto: Quanta – Quantos – Quantas

Quantos anos você tem? (How old are you?)

Quantas cervejas você comprou? (How many beers have you bought?)

Qual: Quais

A few possibilities…

Com quem? (With whom?)

De quem? (Whose?)

De onde? (From where?)

Para onde/Aonde? (To where?)

See!
Que comes before the noun.

Example: Que horas são? (What time is it?)

Que dia é hoje? (What day is today?)

But…
O que você quer comer? (What do you want to eat?)

The o is there to emphasize the question; we do not have a noun then.

Qual é seu nome? (What is your name?)

The noun qual has a selective value, that is, when we want to select or
choose one thing. It is used, usually, before the verb ser (to be).

Qual é a sua capa de chuva? (Which one is your raincoat?)

The selective value can be reinforced by the use of de/das/dos, followed by

a noun or plural pronoun.

Qual das meninas gostaria de ler o texto? (Which one of the girls would like
to read the text?)

Qual de vocês quer falar primeiro? (Which one of you wants to speak first?)