Para onde vai esse trem que para perto do shopping?

Para onde means to where and is used when there is movement toward a destination.

• Para onde vai esse trem? = Where is this train going?
• Onde está esse trem? = Where is this train?

A useful shortcut:

• onde = where, for location
• aonde / para onde = where to, for movement

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, para onde is very common and often sounds more natural than aonde.

Vai is the third person singular form of the verb ir (to go).

So:

• eu vou = I go / I’m going
• você vai = you go / you’re going
• ele/ela vai = he/she goes / is going
• esse trem vai = this train goes / is going

In this sentence, vai means is going.

Both esse and este can mean this, but in modern spoken Brazilian Portuguese, esse is very often used where a textbook might expect este.

Traditional distinction:

• este = this, near the speaker
• esse = that, near the listener or previously mentioned

But in real Brazilian usage:

• esse is very common for this/that in many contexts
• este can sound more formal or more written

So esse trem is completely normal in Brazil.

This part means that stops near the mall.

It is a relative clause describing esse trem:

• esse trem = this train
• que = that / which
• para = stops
• perto do shopping = near the mall

So the whole thing is:

• esse trem que para perto do shopping = this train that stops near the mall

No. The two para words are from different things.

1. In para onde, para is a preposition meaning to

   • para onde = to where

2. In que para perto do shopping, para is the verb parar

   • para = stops

So:

• Para onde = To where
• que para = that stops

They look the same, but they have different jobs.

Context tells you.

In que para perto do shopping, after que you expect a verb describing the train:

• the train that stops near the mall

If it were the preposition para, the structure would not make sense there.

Also, para as a verb form comes from parar:

• o trem para = the train stops

So here it is clearly the verb.

Que here means that or which and introduces a clause that describes the noun before it.

• esse trem que para perto do shopping
• literally: this train that stops near the mall

This is one of the most common uses of que in Portuguese.

Compare:

• o ônibus que passa aqui = the bus that passes here
• a menina que mora ali = the girl who lives there

Because de + o contracts to do in Portuguese.

So:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• de + os = dos
• de + as = das

Since perto is followed by de, you get:

• perto de o shopping → perto do shopping

This contraction is required in normal Portuguese.

In Brazilian Portuguese, shopping or shopping center commonly means shopping mall.

So:

• vou ao shopping = I’m going to the mall
• perto do shopping = near the mall

This is a very common Brazilian usage and may sound surprising to English speakers, because in English shopping usually means the activity, not the place.

Usually, yes—but there is an important regional note.

In most contexts, trem means train.

However, in some parts of Brazil, especially in Minas Gerais, trem can also be an informal word meaning thing/stuff.

Examples:

• o trem chegou = the train arrived
• pega aquele trem pra mim (regional/informal) = get that thing for me

In your sentence, because of vai and para perto do shopping, it clearly means train.

Portuguese does not use do/does the way English does to form questions.

English:

• Where does this train go?

Portuguese:

• Para onde vai esse trem?
• literally: To where goes this train?

Portuguese usually forms questions with:

• intonation
• question words like onde, quando, por que, quem
• sometimes inversion is possible, but it is less common in everyday speech

So no separate does is needed.

Yes. That is grammatical and understandable.

• Para onde vai esse trem?
• Esse trem vai para onde?

Both mean the same thing, but they can feel slightly different:

• Para onde vai esse trem? is the more neutral, standard question order
• Esse trem vai para onde? can sound a bit more conversational, or it may emphasize the destination question

In many cases, Portuguese allows this flexibility.

A natural approximate pronunciation is:

PA-ra ON-dji vai EH-si trẽĩ ki PA-ra PEHR-tu du SHOP-ping?

A few notes:

• onde often sounds like ON-dji
• esse often sounds like EH-si
• trem has a nasal sound, roughly trẽĩ
• que here sounds like ki
• shopping is pronounced in a Brazilian way, usually something like SHOP-ping

Also notice that the two para words may sound slightly reduced in fast speech, but they are still understood from context.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• esse trem = this train / that train, relatively near or already identified
• aquele trem = that train over there, farther away

So:

• Para onde vai esse trem...? = Where is this train going...?
• Para onde vai aquele trem...? = Where is that train going...?

Use aquele when the train is farther away or more clearly that one over there.

Yes. Esse trem points to a specific train, not trains in general.

Compare:

• Para onde vai esse trem? = Where is this train going?
• Para onde vão os trens que param perto do shopping? = Where do the trains that stop near the mall go?

So your sentence refers to one particular train, identified by context and by the clause que para perto do shopping.