Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Quem é que trouxe a frigideira para o piquenique? - Who brought the frying pan to the picnic?

It’s a very common European Portuguese “focus”/cleft structure used in questions. It adds emphasis or naturalness, roughly like “Who is it that…?” in English. It doesn’t change the meaning: Quem é que trouxe…? and Quem trouxe…? both mean “Who brought…?”; the first just sounds more conversational in Portugal.

Can I just say Quem trouxe a frigideira para o piquenique?

Yes. That’s fully correct and a bit more neutral/compact. Quem é que… is simply more colloquial and often preferred in everyday speech.

Why is the verb trouxe (3rd person singular) if “who” could be more than one person?

In Portuguese, quem is grammatically singular, so the verb is in the 3rd person singular: Quem trouxe…? Even if more than one person did, the question form stays singular. To explicitly ask about multiple people, rephrase, e.g. Quais de vocês trouxeram a frigideira? or Quem foram as pessoas que trouxeram a frigideira?

How do I conjugate trazer in the simple past (pretérito perfeito)?

It’s irregular:

eu trouxe
tu trouxeste
ele/ela/você trouxe
nós trouxemos
vós trouxestes (rare)
eles/elas/vocês trouxeram

Why trouxe (brought) and not levou (took)?

trazer = bring toward the speaker’s/current reference point.
levar = take away from the speaker’s/current reference point.
If you’re at the picnic (or treating the picnic as the “here” of the conversation), trazer fits: Quem é que trouxe…? If you’re asking from elsewhere about someone who took it to the picnic, you could say Quem é que levou a frigideira para o piquenique?

Is Quem foi que trouxe…? also correct? Does using foi match the past time?

Yes, Quem foi que trouxe…? is common and a bit more emphatic. In Portugal, Quem é que… is extremely frequent even for past events; foi que is also heard. Both are fine.

Why a frigideira and not uma frigideira?

The definite article a implies a specific, identifiable frying pan that the speakers have in mind. Uma frigideira would mean “a (non-specific) frying pan,” e.g. Quem é que trouxe uma frigideira para o piquenique? (any pan, not a particular one everyone knows about).

What exactly is a frigideira? Are there other words I should know?

frigideira = frying pan.
panela = pot/saucepan.
tacho = pot/cauldron (often larger, traditional).
In some European Portuguese varieties, sertã can also mean frying pan.

How would I say “Who brought it to the picnic?” replacing a frigideira with a pronoun?

Use the feminine direct object pronoun a:

Question: Quem é que a trouxe para o piquenique? (the é que and the wh-word trigger proclisis, so the pronoun goes before the verb)
Possible answers: Eu a trouxe. / Foi o João que a trouxe.
In neutral affirmative statements without triggers, European Portuguese also accepts enclisis: Trouxe-a.
With a negation, use proclisis: Não a trouxe.

Why para o piquenique and not no piquenique or ao piquenique?

para o = to/for (destination or purpose): trouxe… para o piquenique = brought it to/for the picnic.
no = in/at (location): Deixei a frigideira no piquenique = I left the pan at the picnic.
ao (a + o) isn’t idiomatic here for “bring to an event”; para o is the natural choice.

Can para o be contracted to pro/pra?

In Portugal, write para o. In informal speech, you’ll often hear reductions like pr’o or p’ra; they’re common in fast speech but are informal in writing. In Brazil, pro/pra is widely used in informal writing; in European Portuguese, stick to para o/para a in standard writing.

Any pronunciation tips (European Portuguese)?

Quem: nasalized “kehng.”
é que: usually flows as “É-ke,” often very short.
trouxe: “TROH-seh” (the ou is close to ‘oh’).
a (article): reduced, like a quick “uh.”
frigideira: “free-zhee-DAY-rah” (final -r is a light tap).
para o: often reduced in speech, sounding like “p’RO.”
piquenique: “pee-keh-NEE-keh” (final -e may be very light).
Intonation: wh-questions typically end with a falling intonation in European Portuguese.

Can I move para o piquenique earlier in the sentence?

The most natural place is at the end: Quem é que trouxe a frigideira para o piquenique?
Fronting for emphasis is possible: Para o piquenique, quem é que trouxe a frigideira? (sounds more formal/contrasty).
Placing it between verb and object is less natural in everyday speech.

Do Portuguese questions invert like English (e.g., “Did you bring…?”)?

No. With wh-words, Portuguese keeps the regular verb form and uses the wh-word (optionally with é que) at the front: Quem (é que) trouxe…?, Onde (é que) deixaste…? There’s no auxiliary-verb inversion like in English.

Is the spelling piquenique standard? Why not “picnic”?

Yes, piquenique is the standard Portuguese form, adapted from French pique-nique. The hyphen was dropped by the 1990 orthographic agreement. picnic is English and not standard in Portuguese.

Is there any difference between European and Brazilian Portuguese here?

Structure: Both accept Quem trouxe…?; Brazil often uses Quem foi que trouxe…?, while Portugal very commonly uses Quem é que trouxe…?
Colloquial contractions: Brazil writes pro/pra informally; Portugal prefers para o/para a in writing and reduces it only in speech.
Pronoun placement: The rules are similar, but EP uses enclisis more in neutral affirmatives (e.g., Trouxe-a), whereas BP strongly prefers proclisis (A trouxe) in many contexts.