Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que o tempo passa depressa.

Whoever is in love knows that time goes by quickly.

Breakdown of Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que o tempo passa depressa.

• estar: to be
• o tempo: the time
• que: that
• passar: to pass
• saber: to know
• depressa: quickly
• quem quer que: whoever
• apaixonado: in love

Questions & Answers about Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que o tempo passa depressa.

What exactly does Quem quer que mean, and why does it look like the verb querer (to want) is repeated?

Quem quer que is a fixed expression that means “whoever / anyone who”.

It can look confusing because:

• quem = who
• quer = wants (3rd person singular of querer)
• que = that / who / which (a conjunction here)

But in this set phrase, you should treat quem quer que as one chunk:

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado ≈ Whoever is in love / Anyone who is in love

You’re not really saying “who wants that is in love.”
The literal pieces are less important here; functionally it just introduces an indefinite, general subject, which is why in English we translate it as “whoever” rather than something with want.

Why is it esteja and not está in Quem quer que esteja apaixonado?

Esteja is the present subjunctive form of estar.

In Portuguese, the subjunctive is required after quem quer que because:

• The subject is indefinite / unknown (we don’t know who exactly is in love).
• This kind of clause expresses a general condition or possibility, not a concrete, identified fact.

So:

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado
  = Whoever may be in love (general, indefinite → subjunctive)

If you said:

• Quem quer que está apaixonado ❌

it would sound ungrammatical to a native speaker. The structure quem quer que + [verb in the subjunctive] is standard:

• Quem quer que seja o autor… – Whoever the author may be…
• Quem quer que venha… – Whoever comes…

Why is quem (which can mean “whoever” here) followed by sabe in the singular and not something like sabem in the plural?

In Portuguese, quem grammatically behaves as a singular pronoun, even when it has a “whoever / anyone who” sense that could logically include many people.

So:

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que…
  → sabe (3rd person singular) is correct.

You don’t say:

• ❌ Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabem que…

Even if you’re thinking of many people, the verb still agrees with quem as singular:

• Quem telefonar, deixa recado. – Whoever phones, leaves a message.
• Quem vier amanhã, traz os documentos. – Whoever comes tomorrow brings the documents.

Why is it estar apaixonado and not ser apaixonado?

In Portuguese:

• estar apaixonado = to be in love (with someone) – a state / emotion, usually seen as temporary or changeable.
• ser apaixonado (por algo) = to be passionate / very fond of (something) – a characteristic, more permanent or habitual.

So:

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado
  → talking about being in love (romantic feeling, current emotional state)

Compare:

• Ele está apaixonado pela Maria. – He is (romantically) in love with Maria.
• Ele é apaixonado por música clássica. – He is passionate about classical music (likes it a lot, as a trait).

Using ser apaixonado in the original sentence would change the meaning to something like “whoever is a passionate person”, which is not the same idea.

Why is apaixonado in the masculine form? What if the person is a woman?

Apaixonado is the masculine singular form of the adjective apaixonado / apaixonada (in love).

In Portuguese, when you talk in general about an unspecified person (or people), you often use the masculine singular as the default:

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado
  = Whoever is in love (not specifying gender)

If you want to be explicitly inclusive, you have options:

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado ou apaixonada…
• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado/a… (colloquial written shorthand)
• Or rephrase: Qualquer pessoa que esteja apaixonada… (using pessoa, which is feminine)

But grammatically, apaixonado (masculine) is fully acceptable and very common as the generic form.

Could I say just Quem esteja apaixonado instead of Quem quer que esteja apaixonado?

Quem esteja apaixonado is grammatically possible, but:

• It sounds less idiomatic and more bookish/literary.
• In everyday European Portuguese, quem quer que esteja apaixonado is the natural, set expression for “whoever is in love”.

So:

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que…
  → normal, idiomatic
• Quem esteja apaixonado sabe que…
  → might sound a bit formal or unusual in spoken language

If you want a simpler everyday alternative, you could say:

• Qualquer pessoa que esteja apaixonada sabe que… – Any person who is in love knows that…

What does depressa mean here, and is it different from rápido / rapidamente?

In this sentence, depressa means “quickly / fast”.

• O tempo passa depressa. – Time goes by fast.

About the options:

• depressa
  – Very common in European Portuguese as an adverb: quickly, fast.
• rápido
  – Adjective fast / quick; used a lot as an adverb in speech (passa rápido), especially in Brazilian Portuguese, but also heard in Portugal.
• rapidamente
  – More formal / neutral adverb: rapidly, quickly.

All of these could work in meaning, but nuance and naturalness differ:

• O tempo passa depressa. – Very natural, everyday in Portugal.
• O tempo passa rápido. – Also understandable and used, but sounds more Brazilian.
• O tempo passa rapidamente. – Correct, but sounds a bit more formal or written.

In European Portuguese, depressa is the most idiomatic choice here.

Why is it o tempo and not just tempo in o tempo passa depressa?

Portuguese uses the definite article (o, a, os, as) more often than English, especially with abstract or general nouns.

• o tempo = literally “the time”, but in many contexts it just means “time” in general.

So:

• O tempo passa depressa.
  → Literally: The time passes quickly.
  → Naturally in English: Time passes quickly / Time goes by fast.

If you drop the article:

• Tempo passa depressa. ❌

it sounds unnatural or incomplete in standard Portuguese; you almost always need the article in this kind of general statement.

Similar patterns:

• A vida é curta. – Life is short.
• O amor é complicado. – Love is complicated.

In English we can say “Whoever is in love knows time passes quickly” without “that”. Can Portuguese drop que in sabe que o tempo passa depressa?

No. In Portuguese, the conjunction que in this kind of sentence is not optional.

• …sabe que o tempo passa depressa. ✅ – correct
• …sabe o tempo passa depressa. ❌ – sounds wrong / ungrammatical

So:

• English: knows (that) time passes quickly → “that” can be omitted.
• Portuguese: sabe que o tempo passa depressa → que must be present.

This que is introducing a content clause (what is known), and Portuguese normally requires it.

Is the word order flexible? Could I say Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que depressa passa o tempo?

Yes, Portuguese word order is somewhat flexible, but not all orders sound equally natural.

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que o tempo passa depressa.
  → Most natural, neutral word order.

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que depressa passa o tempo.
  → Grammatically possible, but sounds more literary or emphatic. It draws attention to depressa and sounds stylised.

In everyday speech, you would normally keep the original order:

• …sabe que o tempo passa depressa.

Is this sentence specific to European Portuguese, or is it also fine in Brazilian Portuguese?

The sentence is perfectly correct in both European and Brazilian Portuguese.

• Quem quer que esteja apaixonado sabe que o tempo passa depressa.

Small stylistic differences:

• In Brazil, many speakers might more naturally say:
  • …sabe que o tempo passa rápido.
• In Portugal, depressa is particularly common:
  • …sabe que o tempo passa depressa.

But the structure quem quer que + subjunctive and the rest of the sentence are standard in both varieties.