A senhora pode repetir a pergunta, por favor?

In Brazilian Portuguese, a senhora is a very common formal way to say you when speaking to a woman respectfully.

The a here is the definite article the, and Portuguese often uses articles before titles and forms of address in full sentences. So a senhora pode... literally looks like the lady can..., but in real usage it means you can... in a polite, formal way.

If you said just senhora by itself, that would usually be more like directly calling or addressing her, as in:

• Senhora, pode repetir? = Ma’am, can you repeat?

But in the full sentence structure, a senhora is normal.

A senhora is a formal, respectful way to address a woman. It is common when speaking to:

• older women
• strangers in formal situations
• customers, clients, or patients
• teachers, officials, or anyone you want to address politely

It contrasts with less formal options like:

• você = neutral/common you
• tu = you, used in some regions and social contexts

In Brazil, a senhora sounds more respectful and more distant than você.

The verb pode comes from poder, which means can / to be able to.

Here, it is conjugated for a senhora, which takes third-person singular verb forms. That is why you get:

• A senhora pode = You (formal, female) can

This is a very important pattern in Portuguese: forms like você, o senhor, and a senhora all use third-person singular verbs.

Examples:

• Você pode
• O senhor pode
• A senhora pode

Not:

• A senhora podes — incorrect in standard Brazilian Portuguese

That is just how Portuguese works with certain polite forms of address.

Even though a senhora refers to the person you are speaking to, grammatically it behaves like she. So the verb matches third-person singular.

Compare:

• ela pode = she can
• a senhora pode = you can (formal, to a woman)

The same happens with:

• o senhor pode = you can (formal, to a man)
• você pode = you can (common in Brazil)

So in Portuguese, not every word meaning you uses a special second-person verb form.

Because it follows pode.

After poder (can), Portuguese normally uses another verb in the infinitive:

• pode repetir = can repeat
• pode falar = can speak
• pode esperar = can wait

This is similar to English:

• can repeat
• can speak
• can wait

So pode repetir is the natural structure.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English does.

So repetir a pergunta literally means repeat the question, and that is the normal way to say it.

In English, we might sometimes say repeat the question or just repeat the question, please. Portuguese strongly prefers the article here.

You will often see this pattern:

• fechar a porta = close the door
• abrir a janela = open the window
• repetir a pergunta = repeat the question

Leaving out the article would usually sound unnatural in this sentence.

Yes. That is very common.

If the context already makes it clear what needs repeating, you can simply say:

• Pode repetir, por favor?

That means:

• Can you repeat, please?
• Could you repeat that, please?

Including a pergunta makes it more specific: you are asking the person to repeat the question.

Yes, it is polite and fairly formal.

There are two main reasons it sounds polite:

1. a senhora is respectful
2. por favor adds explicit politeness

So this sentence would sound appropriate in situations like:

• speaking to a teacher
• speaking to an older stranger
• speaking in an office, clinic, or customer-service setting

If you wanted something less formal, you could say:

• Você pode repetir a pergunta, por favor?

That is still polite, but less formal.

Yes. Por favor is flexible.

Your sentence:

• A senhora pode repetir a pergunta, por favor?

is completely natural.

You may also hear:

• Por favor, a senhora pode repetir a pergunta?
• A senhora, por favor, pode repetir a pergunta?

The most common and natural placement in everyday speech is often at the end:

• ..., por favor?

The comma separates por favor because it functions like a polite parenthetical expression, similar to please in English.

So:

• A senhora pode repetir a pergunta, por favor?

is standard punctuation.

In informal writing, people may omit the comma, but with correct punctuation, the comma is a good choice.

Yes, absolutely.

Portuguese often leaves out the subject when it is clear from context. So:

• Pode repetir a pergunta, por favor?

is very natural and common.

However, including a senhora makes the sentence more explicitly respectful and can sound slightly more formal or careful.

So both are correct, but they have slightly different tones:

• Pode repetir a pergunta, por favor? = natural, polite
• A senhora pode repetir a pergunta, por favor? = more explicitly formal/respectful

Yes, usually.

Poderia is the conditional form of poder, and it often makes requests sound softer and more polite, similar to Could you... ? in English.

Compare:

• A senhora pode repetir a pergunta, por favor? = Can you repeat the question, please?
• A senhora poderia repetir a pergunta, por favor? = Could you repeat the question, please?

Both are polite, but poderia can sound a bit gentler and more deferential.

A useful approximation is:

• senhora ≈ seh-NYO-ra

A few important pronunciation points:

• The nh in Portuguese sounds like the ny in canyon.
• The stress falls on -nho-: se-NHO-ra
• The final a is a clear vowel, not reduced as much as in English

So try something like:

• seh-NYO-rah

Not perfect, but close enough for a learner.

A rough Brazilian Portuguese approximation is:

• pergunta ≈ pehr-GOON-ta

Helpful notes:

• The stress is on gun: per-GUN-ta
• The r in pergunta varies by region, but for learners a soft r approximation is fine
• The u is pronounced

So a learner-friendly version would be:

• pehr-GOON-ta

Yes, it is natural and correct.

In real conversation, Brazilians might also use shorter or slightly more informal versions, such as:

• Pode repetir a pergunta, por favor?
• Pode repetir?
• Desculpa, pode repetir a pergunta?
• Você pode repetir a pergunta, por favor?

Your sentence is especially good if you want to sound respectful and polite to a woman.

In this sentence, pergunta is the normal word for question in the sense of something someone asks.

• pergunta = a spoken or written question someone asks

Questão can also mean question, but it often has other senses too, such as:

• a problem
• an issue
• a test/exam question
• a matter/topic

So if someone has just asked you something and you want them to say it again, repetir a pergunta is the most natural choice.