Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Quantos funcionários trabalham no seu escritório hoje? - How many employees are working in your office today?

Here it’s referring to “funcionários”, which is masculine plural, so you must use “quantos”:
Quantos funcionários… = How many employees…

Why is “funcionários” plural?

The question is asking about more than one employee:

If you asked about one employee, you’d say:
Quantos funcionários? – How many employees? (expecting a number like 5, 10, etc.)

Because you’re expecting an answer like “5 employees”, “funcionários” must be plural. The verb also agrees with this plural subject (trabalham, not trabalha).

What’s the difference between “funcionário” and “empregado”?

Both can mean employee, but:

funcionário – more neutral and common in work / office contexts, especially for staff of a company, office, store, etc.
empregado – can also mean employee, but:
- Often used for domestic workers (e.g., empregada doméstica = maid/housekeeper).
- In some contexts can sound a bit more old-fashioned or less neutral.

In most professional contexts, “funcionário” is the safest, most neutral choice.

Why is the verb “trabalham” and not “trabalha”?

“Trabalham” is the third person plural (they) of the verb trabalhar in the present tense.

ele / ela / você trabalha – he / she / you work
eles / elas / vocês trabalham – they / you (plural) work

The subject here is “funcionários” (employees), which is they, so the verb must be plural:
funcionários trabalham = employees work

Where is the subject in this sentence? Why is there no word for “they”?

The subject is “funcionários” (employees). Portuguese often omits subject pronouns (ele, ela, eles, elas) because the verb ending shows who the subject is.

You could say:

Quantos funcionários trabalham… (normal, natural)
Quantos funcionários eles trabalham… (incorrect – double subject)

So the sentence doesn’t need a word like they; “funcionários trabalham” is enough.

What tense is “trabalham”? Does it mean “work” or “are working”?

“Trabalham” is present tense in Portuguese (presente do indicativo). It usually covers both:

They work (habitual)
They are working (right now)

In this specific sentence with “hoje”:

Quantos funcionários trabalham no seu escritório hoje?
= How many employees are working in your office today?

The word “hoje” (today) gives the idea of today’s situation, similar to English “are working today”.

What does “no” mean in “no seu escritório”?

“No” is a contraction of:

em (in, on, at) + o (the – masculine singular)

So:

em + o = no → no escritório = in the office

Since “escritório” is masculine singular, you use “no”. If it were a feminine noun, you’d use “na” (em + a), e.g.:

na empresa = in the company

Why is it “no seu escritório” and not just “no escritório”?

no escritório = in the office (general; could be any office)
no seu escritório = in your office (specifically the listener’s office)

Here, you’re asking about the listener’s workplace, so “seu” is added to show possession: your office.

What does “seu” mean exactly? Can it also mean “his” or “her”?

Yes. “Seu” is a possessive adjective and can mean:

your (singular, formal or neutral in Brazil, when speaking to você)
his
her
their (in some contexts)

So in isolation, “seu” is ambiguous. In this sentence, context tells you it means “your” (the person you’re talking to).

If speakers want to avoid ambiguity, they might say:

no seu escritório – your office (context decides)
no escritório dele – his office
no escritório dela – her office

What’s the difference between “seu escritório” and “teu escritório”?

Both mean “your office”, but they match different pronouns:

seu escritório – used with você (the default you in Brazil), more common in Brazilian Portuguese.
teu escritório – used with tu. In Brazil, tu is common in some regions (e.g., south, parts of the northeast), but less so elsewhere.

In standard Brazilian Portuguese, when speaking to most people, “seu escritório” is more typical.

Why is “hoje” at the end of the sentence? Can it go somewhere else?

“Hoje” (today) is often placed at the end for a natural flow:

Quantos funcionários trabalham no seu escritório hoje?

You can move it, and it’s still correct:

Hoje, quantos funcionários trabalham no seu escritório?
Quantos funcionários hoje trabalham no seu escritório? (less common, more marked)

All are grammatically correct, but the original version sounds the most natural in everyday speech.

Can I use “estão trabalhando” instead of “trabalham”?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

Quantos funcionários trabalham no seu escritório hoje?
– Neutral; can mean work / are working today.
Quantos funcionários estão trabalhando no seu escritório hoje?
– Focuses more clearly on right now / during today, like English “are working”.

Both are acceptable. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, the simple present (trabalham) is already very natural for this idea, especially with “hoje”.

Can I say “no seu trabalho” instead of “no seu escritório”?

You can, but it’s slightly different:

no seu escritório – in your office (a specific office space)
no seu trabalho – at your job / at your work (more general location, workplace, not necessarily an office)

So:

Quantos funcionários trabalham no seu trabalho hoje? sounds odd; people would usually rephrase as:
- Quantas pessoas trabalham com você hoje? – How many people are working with you today?
- Quantos funcionários estão no seu trabalho hoje? – How many employees are at your work today?

For office context, “no seu escritório” is the most precise.

How do you pronounce “escritório”, and what does the accent mark do?

“Escritório” roughly sounds like: eh-skree-TÓ-ree-oo (in Brazilian Portuguese).

The accent on “tó” (ó) shows that this syllable is stressed:
- es-cri-TÓ-ri-o

Without the accent, the stress would fall in a different place, and it could be pronounced incorrectly. The accent only affects stress and vowel quality, not the meaning in this case (you need it to spell the word correctly).