To ask about a person in Portuguese, you use the pronoun quem. It is one of the easiest interrogatives to learn because it is invariable — no gender, no number, no case. Quem? is quem? whether you are asking about one person or five, a man or a woman. But easy morphology hides a syntactic twist: when quem is the object of a preposition (with whom, from whom, about whom), the preposition must move to the front of the sentence along with quem. PT-PT does not allow preposition stranding — the pattern English relies on in who did you talk to?, with the preposition dangling at the end, is simply ungrammatical in Portuguese. The preposition travels with its pronoun.
This is the most important single fact on this page. Every time you want to ask an English-style question with a hanging preposition, you need to stop, find the preposition, and front it together with quem: who did you speak to? becomes com quem falaste? — literally "with whom did you speak?" PT-PT forces you into what English considers "formal" word order, and it does so for every preposition, every register, and every tense. Once you internalise this, you have unlocked most of the question system.
Quem as subject — asking "who did something"
When quem is the subject of the verb (the person doing the action), it simply appears at the start of the sentence, followed by the verb in third-person singular.
Quem fala?
Who's speaking? (on the phone, at the door)
Quem vem jantar hoje?
Who's coming over for dinner tonight?
Quem te disse isso?
Who told you that?
Quem ganhou o jogo ontem?
Who won the game yesterday?
The verb stays singular even when the answer is plural: Quem vem jantar? — the answer can be Vêm o João e a Rita or Vem só o João; the question itself does not anticipate the number.
Quem são? — when you know the answer is plural
If context makes clear that the answer is multiple people, you can use the plural são after quem, but it is much less common than the singular and gives the question a slightly different flavour — you are already treating the referents as a group.
Quem são essas pessoas ali?
Who are those people over there?
Quem são os responsáveis por este projecto?
Who are the people in charge of this project?
This is common with ser — quem é / quem são — because you are identifying specific individuals. With action verbs, stay with the singular.
Quem as direct object — "whom did someone see?"
When quem is the direct object of the verb (the person being acted on), it goes to the front, and the subject — if expressed — typically comes after the verb or is dropped entirely.
Quem viste na festa ontem?
Who(m) did you see at the party yesterday?
Quem conheces aqui?
Who do you know here?
Quem é que a Maria convidou?
Who did Maria invite?
Note the last example: PT-PT colloquial speech very often reinforces the interrogative with é que, producing Quem é que...? instead of bare Quem...? The reinforcement adds no meaning — it is a prosodic and syntactic crutch that makes the question flow more naturally in speech.
Quem with prepositions — the fronting rule
This is where English and Portuguese sharply diverge. In English, a preposition can sit at the end of a question:
- Who did you speak *to?*
- Who are you going *with?*
- Whose book is this? (= "Who does this book belong to?")
- Who did you buy it *for?*
In Portuguese, the preposition must come before quem, at the front of the sentence. There is no "stranded" variant. Every such question has the form [Preposition] + quem + verb + ...:
Com quem falaste?
Who did you talk to? (literally: With whom did you speak?)
Com quem é que vais ao cinema?
Who are you going to the movies with? (with é que reinforcement)
De quem é este livro?
Whose book is this? (literally: Of whom is this book?)
A quem deste as chaves?
Who did you give the keys to? (literally: To whom did you give the keys?)
Para quem é esta prenda?
Who is this present for?
Sobre quem estavam a falar?
Who were they talking about?
Em quem é que posso confiar?
Who can I trust? (literally: In whom can I trust?)
Por quem votaste nas últimas eleições?
Who did you vote for in the last elections?
A quick table of preposition + quem
| Portuguese | English equivalent | Sample question |
|---|---|---|
| com quem | with whom / who ... with | Com quem vais? |
| de quem | of whom / whose | De quem é este carro? |
| a quem | to whom / who ... to | A quem pediste ajuda? |
| para quem | for whom / who ... for | Para quem estás a cozinhar? |
| sobre quem | about whom / who ... about | Sobre quem é o livro? |
| em quem | in whom / who ... in | Em quem confias? |
| por quem | for whom / by whom / who ... by | Por quem foi escrito? |
| contra quem | against whom | Contra quem jogam? |
| entre quem | among/between whom | Entre quem vai ser dividido? |
De quem — possession and origin
The question de quem does double duty in PT-PT: it asks "whose?" and "from whom?". Context disambiguates, but both are expressed the same way.
De quem é este telemóvel?
Whose phone is this?
De quem recebeste aquela carta?
Who did you get that letter from?
De quem estás a falar?
Who are you talking about? (de = about, with verbs like falar de)
De quem são estes sapatos que estão à entrada?
Whose shoes are these by the door?
In careful speech you may also hear the full form de quem é que (with the reinforcement): De quem é que é este casaco? — the é que is a separate interrogative marker, not a duplication of the verb é, even though it looks confusing. PT-PT accepts the construction without hesitation.
Quem with "é que" — the colloquial reinforcement
The é que pattern is so central to PT-PT questions that it is worth its own section. You can insert é que between almost any wh-word and the rest of the sentence, with no change in meaning. It is a pragmatic and prosodic device, not a grammatical one.
Quem é que trouxe o bolo?
Who brought the cake?
Com quem é que vais jantar?
Who are you having dinner with?
A quem é que contaste o segredo?
Who did you tell the secret to?
De quem é que estávamos a falar?
Who were we talking about?
Two things to note:
- É que is invariable — it stays é que regardless of the tense of the main verb (Quem é que veio ontem? / Quem é que virá amanhã? — the main verb carries the tense, é que stays in the present).
- The construction is especially common in speech and casual writing. In formal writing (academic prose, news reports) it is less frequent — there, the bare Quem veio? / Com quem falaste? pattern is preferred.
Quem + ser — identification questions
A very common construction is quem é / quem são to identify a person.
Quem é este?
Who is this? (pointing at a photo, introducing someone)
Quem és tu?
Who are you? (direct — used when stranger enters room, or among children)
Quem é o teu melhor amigo?
Who's your best friend?
Quem é a senhora de vermelho ali?
Who's the lady in red over there?
A softer variant when meeting someone is Como te chamas? ("What's your name?") rather than the direct Quem és tu? — the latter can sound abrupt in adult interactions. Save Quem és tu? for situations where the directness is warranted (a stranger in your home, a mystery identification, or with children).
Indirect questions — quem in embedded clauses
Quem also introduces embedded (indirect) questions. The word order stays the same, but there is no question mark:
Não sei quem fez isto.
I don't know who did this.
Pergunta-lhe com quem ela foi ao concerto.
Ask her who she went to the concert with.
Quero saber a quem devo entregar o formulário.
I want to know who I should give the form to.
The preposition-fronting rule applies here just as in direct questions: com quem, a quem, de quem, para quem — always together, never stranded.
Comparison with English
This is the clearest way to see why quem feels different from English who / whom:
| English (stranded preposition) | PT-PT (fronted preposition) |
|---|---|
| Who did you go with? | Com quem foste? |
| Who are you talking to? | Com quem estás a falar? / A quem estás a falar? |
| Who is this for? | Para quem é isto? |
| Who did you hear that from? | De quem ouviste isso? |
| Who did you vote for? | Por quem votaste? |
| Who is this book about? | Sobre quem é este livro? |
Formal English has the option of fronting (With whom did you go? / For whom is this?) but it sounds stiff in everyday speech. PT-PT has no such register split — the fronted form is the only form, and it is entirely neutral.
Comparison with qual and o que
Quem is exclusively for people. For things, use o que; for selecting among alternatives (things or people), use qual / quais.
| Interrogative | Refers to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| quem | any person (unspecified) | Quem fez isto? |
| qual / quais | selection among known alternatives | Qual dos teus amigos fez isto? |
| o que | things, actions, ideas | O que fizeste? |
You use qual when the answer is being chosen from a defined set (Qual dos teus amigos? — João ou Pedro?). Use quem when the universe of possible answers is open (Quem fez isto? — could be anyone).
Common mistakes
❌ Quem falaste com?
English speakers try to strand the preposition at the end. PT-PT never allows this — the preposition must come with quem.
✅ Com quem falaste?
Who did you talk to?
❌ Quem é este livro de?
Same mistake: preposition *de* stranded at the end. Front it.
✅ De quem é este livro?
Whose book is this?
❌ Quem vêm jantar?
When quem is the subject, the verb stays singular even if the answer is plural. Plural *vêm* is wrong here unless you already know the referents and are asking *Quem são eles?*-style.
✅ Quem vem jantar?
Who's coming to dinner?
❌ Quem que fez isto?
The reinforcement is *é que*, not bare *que*. You need the verb *é*.
✅ Quem é que fez isto?
Who did this?
❌ Para quem você comprou?
*Você* in PT-PT is formal and distant. Among friends and peers, use *tu* with the second-person singular form of the verb.
✅ Para quem compraste?
Who did you buy it for? (tu form, neutral PT-PT)
Key takeaways
- Quem is invariable — no agreement for gender, number, or case. It is always quem.
- When quem is the subject, the following verb is third-person singular: Quem fala? Quem vem?
- When quem is the object of a preposition, the preposition moves to the front with it: com quem, de quem, a quem, para quem. PT-PT never strands prepositions.
- The é que reinforcement (Quem é que falou? / Com quem é que vais?) is a hallmark of colloquial PT-PT. Use it in speech.
- Quem is for people only. Use o que for things and qual for choosing among alternatives.
- Indirect questions follow the same syntax as direct ones — não sei com quem ela foi, not com ela foi com quem.
Related Topics
- Questions OverviewA1 — How to form questions in European Portuguese — an orienting tour of the three main types (yes/no, tag, and wh-questions), the crucial fact that Portuguese does not use do-support or subject-verb inversion, and a map of the dedicated pages that go deeper.
- Questions with Que / O Que (What)A1 — How European Portuguese asks about things and concepts — the distinction between que + noun (which book?), o que (what do you do?), stressed o quê at the end of utterances, and the colloquial é que reinforcement that makes PT-PT what in speech almost universally o que é que.
- Questions with Qual/Quais (Which)A2 — Using qual and quais to ask about selection and identification — and why PT-PT uses qual where English often says what.
- Interrogative Quem (Who)A1 — Asking about people — quem as subject, object, and after prepositions
- Relative Pronoun Quem (Referring to People)B1 — The relative pronoun used specifically for people — mostly after prepositions or as a free relative meaning 'whoever'
- Portuguese Prepositions OverviewA1 — Introduction to Portuguese prepositions and their uses, including the obligatory contractions that set European Portuguese apart.
- Ser vs EstarA1 — The two Portuguese verbs for 'to be' — how ser codes identity and essence while estar codes state and position, with the adjective pairs that change meaning, the PT-PT-specific subtleties, and the habitual errors English speakers make.