Portuguese questions and negation | Free Language Courses

Yes/no questions

A yes/no question has the same words in the same order as a statement. Only the voice changes: it goes up at the end. There's no word like English “do”: (You speak English.) (Do you speak English?)

To answer “yes”, Brazilians usually repeat the verb instead of saying alone: (Do you like samba? — Yes, I do.) To answer “no”, say and the verb: A tag question adds , short for : (It's hot today, isn't it?)

Você é daqui? — Sou, sim.Are you from here? — Yes, I am.
Tem água sem gás? — Tem.Do you have still water? — Yes, we do.
Você conhece o Rio? — Não, não conheço.Do you know Rio? — No, I don't.

Question words

Question words usually come at the start of the question. (why) is written as two words; the answer (because) is one. At the end of a sentence, and take a circumflex: (What?) (Why?)

For “what” before , use when you ask for a piece of information such as a name, a number or an address: Use for an explanation or a definition: (What's that?)

Portuguese	English	Meaning
	what	What do you do?
,	which, what	What's your name?
	who	Who is she?
	where	Where do you live?
	where from	Where are you from?
	where to	Where are you going?
	when	When is the party?
	at what time	What time does it open?
	how	What's your name?
,	how much	How much is it?
,	how many	How old are you?
	why	Why aren't you coming?

É que and the question word at the end

In speech, Brazilians often add after the question word. It doesn't change the meaning, but it makes the question sound more natural and a little softer: Don't change the verb: stays the same in every question.

In relaxed speech the question word can also go at the end, especially when you're surprised or ask again:

O que é que você vai comer?What are you going to eat?
Quando é que vocês voltam?When are you coming back?
Você trabalha onde?Where do you work? · informal

Saying no

To make a sentence negative, put before the verb: (I don't live here.) If there's a small pronoun such as or , goes before it: (I don't remember.)

Words like (nothing), (nobody) and (never) need before the verb when they come after it. This “double negative” is correct Portuguese: (I didn't eat anything.) When the negative word comes first, leave out : (I never drink coffee.) (Nobody knows.)

Word	Meaning	Meaning of example
	nothing, anything	I don't want anything.
	nobody, anybody	I didn't see anybody.
	never, ever	I've never been there.
,	no, none, any	I don't have any questions.
	not even, nor	I don't drink or smoke.
	(not) any more	I don't live here any more.
	(not) yet	I don't know yet.

Spoken não… não

In everyday Brazilian speech you'll often hear a second at the end of the sentence. It adds emphasis or makes the answer sound softer and friendlier: (I really don't know.) In parts of the Northeast the first is often dropped:

These forms are informal. In writing, use one before the verb.

Não vou não, obrigada.I'm not going, thanks. · said by a woman, informal
Não é caro não.It isn't expensive at all.
Sei não.I don't know. · informal, the Northeast