If you learn one relative pronoun in Brazilian Portuguese, make it que. It is the workhorse of the entire system — a single invariable word that links a clause to a noun whether that noun is a person or a thing, and whether it plays the subject or the object role inside the relative clause. English splits this job across that, which, and who; Portuguese hands almost all of it to que. This page shows you exactly how far que reaches and where it stops.
One word, four jobs
Que never inflects. The same form serves all of these:
| Antecedent | Role in clause | Example |
|---|---|---|
| thing | object | o livro que comprei (the book I bought) |
| thing | subject | o trem que chega às oito (the train that arrives at eight) |
| person | subject | a mulher que mora aqui (the woman who lives here) |
| person | object | o amigo que encontrei (the friend I met) |
Que as the object — "the X that I [verb]"
This is the pattern English speakers most often get wrong, because English lets you delete the relative entirely. Portuguese does not. "The book I bought" must keep que.
O bolo que a minha avó faz é o melhor do mundo.
The cake my grandmother makes is the best in the world.
As fotos que tirei na viagem ficaram lindas.
The photos I took on the trip came out beautiful.
Aquela série que você me indicou é viciante.
That series you recommended to me is addictive.
In each, English could drop the relative ("the cake my grandmother makes"), but Portuguese keeps que obligatorily. Leaving it out is ungrammatical, not just informal.
Que as the subject — "the X that [verbs]"
When the antecedent is the one doing the action inside the clause, que is still the link, and now neither English nor Portuguese can drop it.
A vizinha que toca piano ensaia toda tarde.
The neighbor who plays piano practices every afternoon.
O aplicativo que avisa quando o ônibus chega salvou a minha vida.
The app that tells you when the bus is coming saved my life.
Tem um cachorro que late a noite inteira aqui perto.
There's a dog that barks all night long around here.
People and things, no distinction
English speakers sometimes reach for quem whenever the antecedent is a person, by analogy with "who." Resist this. As a subject or direct object relative, people take plain que, exactly like things.
O médico que me atendeu foi super atencioso.
The doctor who saw me was really attentive.
As crianças que brincam na praça moram naquele prédio.
The children who play in the square live in that building.
Quem only enters the picture after a preposition — see Relative Quem.
Preposition + que: the prescriptive form
When the relative is the object of a preposition and the antecedent is a thing, careful standard Portuguese fronts the preposition before que (for short prepositions like em, de, a, por, com).
A casa em que moro fica perto do metrô.
The house I live in is near the subway.
O assunto de que falamos ontem ainda me preocupa.
The subject we talked about yesterday still worries me.
A caneta com que assinei o contrato era do meu pai.
The pen I signed the contract with was my father's.
This is correct, neutral-to-formal, and what you should write in essays and formal emails. Note the contrast with English: English strands the preposition at the end ("the house I live in"), Portuguese fronts it ("a casa em que moro").
The colloquial reality: speech avoids preposition + que
Here is the gap between the book and the street. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, speakers strongly prefer not to front the preposition. Two strategies dominate, both (informal):
1. Drop the preposition entirely, keeping bare que:
A casa que eu moro fica perto do metrô.
The house I live in is near the subway. (colloquial — preposition dropped)
O assunto que a gente falou ontem ainda me preocupa.
The subject we talked about yesterday still worries me. (colloquial)
2. Restructure with a resumptive pronoun later in the clause:
O cara que eu trabalho com ele é meio chato.
The guy I work with is kind of annoying. (colloquial, with resumptive 'com ele')
Both are pervasive in casual speech and stigmatized in writing. The takeaway: produce em que / de que when you write, but do not be surprised — or correct anyone — when you hear bare que in conversation.
Restrictive vs. non-restrictive
Que works in both restrictive clauses (which identify which noun — no commas) and non-restrictive ones (which add extra info — set off by commas).
O carro que está na garagem é do meu irmão.
The car that's in the garage is my brother's. (restrictive — tells you which car)
Meu carro, que comprei no ano passado, já deu defeito.
My car, which I bought last year, has already broken down. (non-restrictive — extra info)
In careful writing, some prefer o qual in non-restrictive clauses to avoid ambiguity, but que is perfectly standard in both — see Relative O Qual.
Common Mistakes
❌ O livro comprei ontem sumiu.
Incorrect — que cannot be omitted the way English drops 'that'.
✅ O livro que comprei ontem sumiu.
The book I bought yesterday disappeared.
❌ O médico quem me atendeu foi atencioso.
Incorrect — as subject, a person takes que, not quem.
✅ O médico que me atendeu foi atencioso.
The doctor who saw me was attentive.
❌ A casa que moro em fica perto.
Incorrect — Portuguese does not strand prepositions; front it as em que.
✅ A casa em que moro fica perto.
The house I live in is nearby.
❌ O assunto que falamos sobre é polêmico.
Incorrect — stranded 'sobre'; use sobre o qual / de que.
✅ O assunto de que falamos é polêmico.
The subject we talked about is controversial.
Key Takeaways
- Que is invariable and covers people and things, subject and object.
- It cannot be dropped, unlike English "that."
- Use plain que (not quem) when a person is the subject or direct object.
- In writing, front short prepositions: em que, de que, com que.
- In speech, Brazilians drop the preposition or add a resumptive pronoun — natural but informal.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Relative Pronouns: OverviewA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese links clauses with que, quem, o qual, cujo, onde, and quando — and why que does almost all the work in real speech.
- Relative Quem: For People After PrepositionsB1 — How quem relativizes people after prepositions (com quem, de quem, para quem) and heads proverb-like headless clauses meaning 'he who / whoever'.
- Restrictive Relative ClausesA2 — Restrictive (defining) relative clauses in Brazilian Portuguese — clauses that identify which one, written without commas — contrasted with non-restrictive clauses, plus the colloquial resumptive pronouns and dropped prepositions common in BR speech.
- Relative Clauses with PrepositionsB1 — How Brazilian Portuguese handles relative clauses where the relative pronoun is governed by a preposition — formal 'preposição + que/quem/o qual' (a casa em que moro, o amigo com quem falei) versus the colloquial dropped-preposition and resumptive-pronoun strategies.
- Relative Clause SyntaxB1 — The structure of Brazilian Portuguese relative clauses — que, quem, o qual, cujo, onde — and the major split between standard pied-piping and the spoken-BR resumptive/dropping strategies.