Breakdown of Ela quer aprender um novo instrumento, mas ainda não decidiu qual.
Questions & Answers about Ela quer aprender um novo instrumento, mas ainda não decidiu qual.
In Portuguese, quer is the conjugated (finite) form of the verb querer in the 3rd person singular, present tense:
- querer = to want (infinitive, “dictionary form”)
- ela quer = she wants
Because the subject is ela (she), the verb must agree with it, so we use quer, not querer:
- Ela quer aprender... = She wants to learn...
In Portuguese, querer is followed directly by another verb in the infinitive without a preposition:
- quer aprender = wants to learn
- quero comer = I want to eat
- eles querem viajar = they want to travel
You don’t add de or a between querer and the infinitive.
So Ela quer aprender is the natural, correct structure.
Yes, there’s a subtle difference in nuance, similar to some adjective order effects in Romance languages:
- um novo instrumento
- usually means a different instrument / another instrument, i.e., new to her, something she didn’t have or play before.
- um instrumento novo
- usually emphasizes that the instrument itself is new, not used or old (brand‑new, recently made or bought).
In context, um novo instrumento suggests:
“She wants to learn a new (different) instrument,” not necessarily that it is newly manufactured.
Portuguese is a “null subject” language: once the subject is clear from context, it is often omitted, especially if it would just repeat information.
The full version could be:
- Ela quer aprender um novo instrumento, mas ela ainda não decidiu qual.
However, this repetition sounds heavy. It’s much more natural to drop the second ela:
- Ela quer aprender um novo instrumento, mas ainda não decidiu qual.
= “She wants to learn a new instrument, but (she) hasn’t decided which (one) yet.”
The verb ending -u in decidiu already tells you it’s 3rd person singular (he/she), and the context provides ela.
Yes. In many contexts, especially when the subject is already known from previous sentences, you could say:
- Quer aprender um novo instrumento, mas ainda não decidiu qual.
This would typically be understood as “He/she wants to learn…” depending on context.
If you need to be explicit (e.g., first mention in a conversation, or you want to stress she), you keep Ela:
- Ela quer aprender...
Portuguese often uses the preterite (decidiu) with ainda to express an English “hasn’t done X yet” idea:
- Ela ainda não decidiu.
Literally: “She still did not decide.”
Natural English: “She hasn’t decided yet.”
So:
- ainda não decidiu = “hasn’t decided yet”
European Portuguese does not normally use a present perfect form (tem decidido) for this meaning.
The simple past (decidiu) + ainda is the default pattern.
ainda means still / yet, expressing that the decision has not happened up to now.
In this sentence:
- Ela quer aprender um novo instrumento, mas ainda não decidiu qual.
ainda modifies the negated verb phrase não decidiu → “has not yet decided”.
You could also say:
- mas não decidiu ainda qual
- mas não decidiu qual ainda
All of these are grammatically correct.
The most neutral and common position, especially in European Portuguese, is ainda não decidiu.
They are completely different words:
- mas (without i) = but
- Ela quer aprender…, mas ainda não decidiu qual.
- mais (with i) = more
- Ela quer aprender mais instrumentos. = She wants to learn more instruments.
They also have different sounds in European Portuguese:
- mas: short a, like “mʌsh” without the “h”
- mais: like “majs”, rhyming roughly with English “mice”
In this sentence, qual means which (one), referring to one item from a known or limited set (the possible instruments).
- Ela quer aprender um novo instrumento, mas ainda não decidiu qual.
= “…but she hasn’t decided which (one).”
In general:
- qual = which (one), which of them
- que / o que = what
Examples:
- Qual instrumento quer aprender? = Which instrument do you want to learn?
- O que quer aprender? = What do you want to learn? (open question, not limited to “instruments”)
Portuguese, like English, allows ellipsis (omitting words that are understood from context).
Full version:
- …mas ainda não decidiu qual instrumento.
Because instrumento is already mentioned earlier, it’s natural (and more elegant) to drop it and leave just qual:
- …mas ainda não decidiu qual.
= “…but she hasn’t decided which (one).”
Listeners automatically fill in instrumento from the earlier part of the sentence.
Both exist and are common, with a small nuance:
decidir (non‑reflexive): to decide something
- Ela decidiu o instrumento. = She decided (on) the instrument.
- Ela ainda não decidiu qual. = She still hasn’t decided which (one).
decidir-se (reflexive): to make up one’s mind
- Ela ainda não se decidiu. = She still hasn’t made up her mind.
- Ela ainda não se decidiu por nenhum instrumento. = She still hasn’t settled on any instrument.
Your sentence uses the simpler, very common decidir.
Not always, but often.
- instrumento = instrument, tool, device, implement (general word)
- instrumento musical = musical instrument
- instrumentos de trabalho = work tools/instruments
- instrumento cirúrgico = surgical instrument
In Ela quer aprender um novo instrumento, the most natural interpretation without extra context is musical instrument (piano, guitar, violin, etc.), especially because we “learn” instruments in that sense.
In Portuguese, nouns have grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), which you mostly have to memorize, though there are some tendencies.
For instrumento:
- dictionary form: instrumento (sm.) → substantivo masculino (masculine noun)
- masculine singular indefinite article: um
- feminine singular indefinite article: uma
So:
- um instrumento = a(n) instrument (masculine)
- uma guitarra = a guitar (feminine)
In your sentence:
- um novo instrumento
Both um and novo are in the masculine singular form to agree with instrumento.