An indirect question (interrogativa indireta) is a question tucked inside a larger declarative sentence. Instead of asking Where does he live?, you report that someone asked, wondered, or doesn't know where he lives: Ela perguntou onde ele mora. The sentence as a whole is a statement — it ends with a period, not a question mark — but the embedded clause preserves the question's content.
Indirect questions matter in Portuguese for the same reason they matter in English: most of the time you're not asking a question yourself, you're reporting one. But the grammar is different enough from English that most learners slip at least once on each of three points: word order, the choice between se and que, and tense backshift in past contexts. This page covers all three.
This page focuses on the reporting relationship — which verbs introduce indirect questions, what mood and tense they require, and how register shifts the form. The sibling page Embedded Questions covers the purely syntactic side (word order, the use of é que, clitic placement in subordinate clauses). Read them together for the full picture.
The defining feature: it's a statement, not a question
The single most useful thing to internalize is that an indirect question is, grammatically, a declarative sentence. It reports; it does not ask. This has three immediate consequences:
- No question mark at the end.
- No subject-verb inversion (Portuguese doesn't invert anyway, but the intonation is declarative).
- Word order in the embedded clause is statement order, not question order.
Direct: Onde mora o João?
Where does João live?
Indirect: Ela quer saber onde o João mora.
She wants to know where João lives.
Direct: Quando chega o comboio?
When does the train arrive?
Indirect: Pergunto-me quando o comboio chega.
I wonder when the train arrives.
Notice that in the indirect versions, the word order is subject + verb (o João mora, o comboio chega), just like a normal declarative. In a direct wh-question, the subject can go before or after the verb; in an indirect question, it should go before.
The reporting verbs
Portuguese has a small but important family of verbs that introduce indirect questions. Each shades the meaning slightly.
| Verb | Meaning | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| perguntar | to ask | Reporting that someone asked: Ele perguntou se... |
| querer saber | to want to know | Softer, more conversational: Queria saber se... |
| (não) saber | to (not) know | Reporting one's own uncertainty: Não sei se... |
| perguntar-se | to wonder (to oneself) | Reflective: Pergunto-me se... |
| interrogar-se | to wonder (formal) | Literary/formal equivalent of perguntar-se |
| descobrir | to find out, to discover | Reporting discovery: Quero descobrir onde... |
| ver | to see, to find out | Very colloquial: Vou ver se... (let me check if...) |
| imaginar | to imagine, to wonder | Speculative: Imagino como... |
O polícia perguntou-me se eu tinha os documentos.
The police officer asked me if I had the documents.
Queria saber quanto custa o bilhete de comboio para o Porto.
I'd like to know how much a train ticket to Porto costs.
Não faço ideia de onde é que ela está.
I have no idea where she is.
Pergunto-me porque é que ele nunca me ligou.
I wonder why he never called me.
The last example shows that é que can survive in indirect questions, especially in everyday speech. Careful writing and formal registers drop it; conversational Portuguese keeps it. More on this below.
Yes/no indirect questions: se is obligatory
When a direct question is yes/no (no wh-word), the indirect version must be introduced by se ("whether, if"). There is no other option. Se is the embedded-question conjunction, and it cannot be replaced by que.
Direct: Tens tempo amanhã?
Do you have time tomorrow?
Indirect: Ele perguntou se tu tens tempo amanhã.
He asked if you have time tomorrow.
Não sei se o João já chegou.
I don't know if João has arrived yet.
Queria saber se ainda há lugares para o concerto de sábado.
I'd like to know if there are still seats for Saturday's concert.
Pergunto-me se ela se lembra de mim.
I wonder if she remembers me.
Se alternatives: se… ou
When a yes/no question presents two explicit options, Portuguese can use se… ou to report both sides:
Não sei se prefiro café ou chá.
I don't know whether I prefer coffee or tea.
Ela não decidiu se vai de carro ou de comboio.
She hasn't decided whether she's going by car or by train.
Wh- indirect questions: the wh-word stays
For wh-indirect questions, the wh-word itself does the introducing — no se is added. The wh-word sits at the beginning of the embedded clause, and the rest of the clause follows statement order.
Não sei onde o Pedro mora.
I don't know where Pedro lives.
Pergunto-me quando é que ela vai chegar.
I wonder when she's going to arrive.
Ele não disse porque estava tão triste.
He didn't say why he was so sad.
Quero saber quem foi que te contou isso.
I want to know who told you that.
All the usual wh-words appear: quem, o que, qual, quais, onde, quando, como, quanto, porque. When o que stands alone at the end of the embedded clause, it surfaces as the tonic o quê with a circumflex.
Não sei o quê.
I don't know what.
Indicative or subjunctive? Indicative is the default
Portuguese overwhelmingly uses the indicative in indirect questions — the mood of the embedded verb matches what would appear in the direct question.
Não sei onde ele mora.
I don't know where he lives. (indicative — factual)
Perguntou-me se eu gostava de cinema.
She asked me if I liked cinema. (imperfect indicative)
Some matrix verbs of doubt or opinion can trigger the subjunctive, but in practice, after the asking/wondering verbs listed above, the indicative is correct and natural. The subjunctive would change the meaning — it would shift from asking to expressing doubt about the embedded proposition, and that's a different kind of sentence.
Duvido que ele venha.
I doubt he's coming. (subjunctive — doubt, not a question)
Pergunto-me se ele vem.
I wonder if he's coming. (indicative — reporting a question to oneself)
Tense backshift: the past of a past question
When the reporting verb is in a past tense, the embedded verb usually backshifts. A present becomes an imperfect, a past becomes a pluperfect, a future becomes a conditional. This mirrors English reported speech but happens automatically in Portuguese.
| Direct question | Indirect (past reporting verb) | Shift |
|---|---|---|
| "Onde mora?" | Perguntou onde ele morava. | present → imperfect |
| "Já chegou?" | Perguntou se ele já tinha chegado. | perfect → pluperfect |
| "Vais ao cinema?" | Perguntou se eu ia ao cinema. | present/near future → imperfect |
| "Quando chegarás?" | Perguntou quando eu chegaria. | future → conditional |
| "O que farás?" | Perguntou o que eu faria. | future → conditional |
Ele perguntou-me onde eu morava e quando é que voltaria a Lisboa.
He asked me where I lived and when I would return to Lisbon.
A professora queria saber se os alunos tinham percebido a matéria.
The teacher wanted to know if the students had understood the material.
Perguntei-lhe se ele tinha gostado do filme.
I asked him if he had liked the film.
When the reporting verb is in the present, no shift is needed — the embedded verb keeps its original tense.
Ele pergunta onde é que ela mora.
He's asking where she lives.
Não sei se vou poder ir.
I don't know if I'll be able to go.
É que and indirect questions: a register matter
In colloquial European Portuguese, é que frequently survives into indirect questions, mirroring the way it frames direct questions. This is ungrammatical in some prescriptive views but entirely normal in speech.
Ele perguntou onde é que eu ia. (colloquial)
He asked where I was going.
Ele perguntou onde eu ia. (neutral/formal)
He asked where I was going.
In formal writing — exams, journalism, reports — drop é que in indirect questions. In everyday conversation and informal writing (texts, emails among friends), using é que is natural and you'll hear it constantly.
Register in the reporting verb itself
Portuguese scales its indirect questions along a formal–informal cline, and the reporting verb carries most of the weight.
| Register | Typical verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Very formal | interrogar-se, indagar | Interrogo-me se tal conclusão é acertada. |
| Neutral written | perguntar, querer saber | Queria saber se há comboios à noite. |
| Conversational | não saber, perguntar-se | Não sei se ele vem. |
| Casual spoken | ver, vou ver | Vou ver se ainda há pão. |
Vou ver se ainda há pão na padaria.
I'll go check if there's still bread at the bakery.
Interrogo-me se teria valido a pena.
I wonder if it would have been worth it. (literary)
Clitic pronouns in indirect questions
Subordinators like se, onde, quando, porque, quem, o que are all proclisis triggers. Object pronouns come before the verb in the embedded clause, not after.
Não sei se te disse.
I don't know if I told you.
Pergunto-me quando ele me vai ligar.
I wonder when he's going to call me.
Ele perguntou onde o encontrei.
He asked where I found him.
This is the opposite of the main-clause default (enclisis: disse-te, encontrei-o). In a subordinate clause introduced by se or a wh-word, proclisis is automatic.
Common mistakes
❌ Ele perguntou onde mora o João.
Awkward — question-style inversion is unusual in an indirect question.
✅ Ele perguntou onde o João mora.
He asked where João lives.
❌ Não sei que ele quer.
Incorrect — 'que' can't introduce an indirect yes/no-free question on its own.
✅ Não sei o que ele quer.
I don't know what he wants.
❌ Pergunto-me que ele vem ou não.
Incorrect — yes/no indirect questions require 'se'.
✅ Pergunto-me se ele vem ou não.
I wonder whether he's coming or not.
❌ Ela perguntou onde moro eu.
Direct-question inversion in an embedded clause is ungrammatical.
✅ Ela perguntou onde eu moro.
She asked where I live.
❌ Perguntou-me se eu gosto de cinema. (when the report is of a past conversation)
Missing backshift — present indicative instead of imperfect.
✅ Perguntou-me se eu gostava de cinema.
He asked me if I liked cinema.
❌ Não sei se digo-lhe a verdade.
Incorrect — 'se' triggers proclisis, so the pronoun must come before the verb.
✅ Não sei se lhe digo a verdade.
I don't know whether to tell him the truth.
Key takeaways
- Indirect questions are statements that contain an embedded question — no question mark, no interrogative inversion.
- Word order in the embedded clause is subject + verb, not the inverted order you sometimes see in direct questions.
- Yes/no indirect questions are introduced by se; wh- indirect questions keep the wh-word.
- Use the indicative after perguntar, querer saber, não saber, perguntar-se — the subjunctive belongs to doubt verbs with a different meaning.
- Backshift tenses when the reporting verb is past: present → imperfect, perfect → pluperfect, future → conditional.
- É que in indirect questions is colloquial; formal writing drops it.
- Clitic pronouns come before the verb in indirect questions (proclisis).
Related Topics
- Embedded QuestionsB1 — Questions inside larger sentences — não sei onde ele mora, perguntou se eu ia, with declarative word order and no inversion.
- Wh-Questions (Quem, Que, Onde, Quando...)A1 — Forming information questions with quem, que, qual, onde, como, quando, quanto, and porque — with or without the é que frame.
- Yes/No QuestionsA1 — How to ask questions that expect sim or não — using intonation, the é que frame, and echo-verb answers.
- Complex SentencesA2 — Main clauses with dependent subordinate clauses joined by que, quando, se, porque, embora, and other subordinators.
- Declarative SentencesA1 — The default sentence type used to make statements — affirmative or negative — with standard SVO word order.