A senhora prefere este ou aquele?

A senhora is a formal and respectful way to say “you” when speaking to a woman in Brazilian Portuguese.

It is commonly used:

• with older women
• in polite customer-service situations
• when you want to sound respectful or distant

Grammatically, it literally means the lady, but in real usage it often functions like you.

The a is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

In Portuguese, titles and forms of address such as o senhor and a senhora often include the article. So a senhora is the normal full expression.

Compare:

• a senhora = formal you (to a woman)
• o senhor = formal you (to a man)

Because a senhora takes the third-person singular verb form.

Even though it means you, grammatically it behaves like she:

• A senhora prefere
• not A senhora preferes

This is similar to how você works in Portuguese:

• Você prefere
• not Você preferes

So formal you in Portuguese often uses third-person grammar.

They are both demonstratives, but they show different distance relationships.

• este = this one, usually closer to the speaker
• aquele = that one over there, farther away from both speaker and listener, or at least more distant

So the sentence is contrasting two things:

• this one
• that one

In traditional grammar, Portuguese has a three-way system:

• este = near the speaker
• esse = near the listener
• aquele = far from both

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, though, este is often replaced by esse in speech.

Because here they are being used as pronouns, standing in for an implied noun.

In English, we often say:

• this one or that one?

Portuguese does the same thing:

• este ou aquele?

The noun is understood from context. For example, if you are looking at two shirts, books, or phones, you do not have to repeat the noun.

They are masculine because the implied noun is masculine singular.

For example:

• if the hidden noun were livro (book), you would say este ou aquele
• if it were carro (car), also este ou aquele

If the implied noun were feminine, the sentence would change:

• esta ou aquela?

So the form of the demonstrative has to match the gender and number of the thing being referred to.

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, many speakers would more naturally say:

• A senhora prefere esse ou aquele?

That is because in spoken Brazilian Portuguese, esse often takes over the role of este.

So:

• este is correct
• esse is often more common in conversation

If you are learning standard grammar, it is good to know este. If you are learning natural spoken Brazilian Portuguese, be aware that esse is very frequent.

Yes, sometimes it can be omitted if the context already makes it clear who you are are speaking to.

For example:

• Prefere este ou aquele?

This can sound perfectly natural in conversation.

However, keeping a senhora:

• makes the sentence more formal
• makes the addressee explicit
• can sound more polite or more careful

So both are possible, depending on context.

You would change the form of address, and sometimes the verb as well.

To a man, formally:

• O senhor prefere este ou aquele?

To one person, less formally:

• Você prefere este ou aquele?

To more than one person:

• Vocês preferem este ou aquele?

If you use tu, the verb depends on the variety of Portuguese. In much of Brazil, você is more common than tu.

In Brazilian Portuguese, prefere is typically pronounced approximately like:

• preh-FEH-ree

A few useful points:

• the stress is on fe
• the final e is usually pronounced like ee in many Brazilian accents
• the r in the middle is usually a light tapped sound

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• pre-FE-re

It sounds polite and somewhat formal because of a senhora.

The rest of the sentence is neutral:

• prefere = prefers
• este ou aquele = this one or that one

So the politeness comes mainly from the way the person is addressed. In a shop, restaurant, or other polite interaction, this kind of sentence is very natural.

Yes. A very common alternative is:

• Qual a senhora prefere, este ou aquele?

or simply:

• Qual prefere?

Adding qual makes the question more explicitly like Which do you prefer?

The original sentence,

• A senhora prefere este ou aquele? is also completely natural and directly presents the two options.