Ontem a motorista perguntou-me se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar no centro da cidade.

Yesterday the female driver asked me if I was studying or working in the city centre.

Breakdown of Ontem a motorista perguntou-me se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar no centro da cidade.

• eu: I
• de: of
• estar: to be
• a cidade: the city
• estudar: to study
• em: in
• trabalhar: to work
• ontem: yesterday
• ou: or
• se: if
• me: me
• perguntar: to ask
• o centro: the centre
• a motorista: the driver

Questions & Answers about Ontem a motorista perguntou-me se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar no centro da cidade.

Why is it a motorista and not o motorista?

In Portuguese, motorista is one of those nouns that can be either masculine or feminine, even though it always ends in -a.

• a motorista = the (female) driver
• o motorista = the (male) driver

The ending -a here does not automatically mean the person is female. The article (o / a) is what marks the gender:

• o artista / a artista
• o jornalista / a jornalista
• o turista / a turista

So in this sentence, a motorista tells you the driver was a woman. If it were a man, it would be o motorista with exactly the same form of the noun.

Does motorista mean any driver, or only a professional one (like a bus driver)?

It can be both, but context often suggests a professional driver.

• In everyday speech, motorista can mean:
  • any person driving a vehicle:
    
    • Ele é um motorista muito prudente. = He’s a very careful driver.
  • more specifically, a professional driver (bus, taxi, Uber, etc.):
    
    • A motorista do autocarro = the bus driver

In your sentence, the context (no centro da cidade, asking about work/study) makes it easy to imagine a bus or taxi driver, but grammatically motorista itself doesn’t force that meaning.

Why is it perguntou-me (with a hyphen) instead of perguntou me or me perguntou?

Because me is a clitic object pronoun, and in European Portuguese the default in a main clause like this is to attach it to the end of the verb with a hyphen:

• perguntou-me = asked me

Rules relevant here:

• In European Portuguese, in affirmative main clauses that don’t have a “trigger” for proclisis (like não, que, se, porque, nunca, já, ainda, etc.), the pronoun normally goes after the verb:
  
  • A motorista perguntou-me…
• In writing, there is always a hyphen between the verb and the attached pronoun:
  
  • perguntou-me, vi-o, disse-lhe

So:

• perguntou me → wrong in standard writing
• me perguntou → typical Brazilian order; not standard European Portuguese in this context

Can the pronoun me go anywhere else in this sentence in European Portuguese?

In this exact structure, no: in standard European Portuguese it stays as perguntou-me.

So:

• ✅ Ontem a motorista perguntou-me se…
• ❌ Ontem a motorista me perguntou se… (sounds Brazilian, not standard EP)
• ❌ Ontem me a motorista perguntou se… (wrong)

If you change the structure and add a “proclisis trigger,” then the pronoun can go before the verb, but you are no longer using the original sentence:

• A motorista não me perguntou se… (negation não pulls me before perguntou)
• Quando me perguntou isso, eu… (the conjunction quando pulls the pronoun)

But with Ontem a motorista perguntou…, the standard European pattern is enclisis: perguntou-me.

What does se do here? How is it different from English if / whether?

Here se introduces an indirect question (a reported yes/no question):

• perguntou-me se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar
  = asked me if / whether I was studying or working

So:

• se in this sentence ≈ if / whether in English indirect questions.

Note that Portuguese uses the same se both for:

1. Conditional if:
   
   • Se chover, não saio. = If it rains, I won’t go out.
2. Indirect-question if/whether (your sentence):
   
   • Perguntou-me se eu estava… = She asked me if I was…

The function is clear from context and structure. You cannot omit se here; the sentence would become ungrammatical.

Why is it estava and not estou or estive?

Because the sentence is in the past and it’s reporting what was being asked at that time:

• perguntou-me → simple past (pretérito perfeito) “asked me”
• se eu estava… → imperfect past (pretérito imperfeito) “if I was…”

This is the usual “backshift” in reported speech:

• Direct:
  
  • Ela perguntou: “Estás a estudar ou a trabalhar…?”
• Reported:
  
  • Ela perguntou-me se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar…

Using estou would sound like she asked “Are you (now) studying or working?” with reference to the present moment of speaking, which doesn’t fit with Ontem.

Using estive would mean “if I was for some completed period studying or working”, which isn’t the intended “at that moment / in general” contrast here.

What’s the difference between estava a estudar and simply estudava?

Both are past forms, but they don’t feel exactly the same:

• estava a estudar
  
  • Progressive aspect: focuses on an action in progress at a specific moment.
  • Close to: I was in the middle of studying.
• estudava
  
  • Imperfect, more neutral: can be ongoing, habitual, or background information.
  • Often translates as I studied / I used to study / I would study.

In your sentence:

• se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar
  → if at that moment I was busy studying or working.
• se eu estudava ou trabalhava
  → more like “if (in general) I studied or worked there” (what I usually do / my situation).

Both are correct, but the nuance is different.

Why is it a estudar / a trabalhar instead of estudando / trabalhando, like in Brazilian Portuguese?

Because you’re looking at European Portuguese, where the normal progressive construction is:

• estar + a + infinitive

So:

• estava a estudar (EP) ≈ estava estudando (BP) ≈ “was studying”
• estava a trabalhar (EP) ≈ estava trabalhando (BP) ≈ “was working”

In European Portuguese:

• estudando / trabalhando are understood, but sound much more Brazilian or very formal/archaic in everyday speech.
• The natural everyday choice is estar a + infinitive.

Do I need to repeat a before trabalhar, or could I say a estudar ou trabalhar?

Both are possible:

• se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar
• se eu estava a estudar ou trabalhar

Repeating a is very common and slightly clearer, especially in careful or written language.

Omitting the second a is also grammatical, because the preposition a can be “shared” by both verbs in a coordination. In fast speech, many people will naturally drop the second a.

For a learner, it’s perfectly safe to always say a estudar ou a trabalhar.

Can I omit eu and just say se estava a estudar ou a trabalhar?

Yes, you can:

• …perguntou-me se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar…
• …perguntou-me se estava a estudar ou a trabalhar…

Portuguese is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb ending already shows the person/number. Here, perguntou-me already tells you it’s 1st person singular (me), so eu is not strictly necessary.

Including eu can:

• add slight emphasis (if I was studying or working), or
• make things clearer in a longer, more complex sentence.

In short: both versions are correct; omitting eu is very natural in speech.

What exactly does no centro da cidade mean? Is it literally “in the center of the city”?

Yes, literally:

• no centro da cidade = em + o centro
  • de + a cidade
    → “in the center of the city”

But functionally, it corresponds to:

• in the city centre (UK)
• downtown (US), depending on context

Portuguese often says:

• no centro da cidade (more explicit)
• or just no centro when it’s obvious we mean the city centre.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the exact geometric center; it’s the central, usually more commercial area, like “downtown” in English.

How do the contractions no and da work here, and why is it da cidade and not do cidade?

Two contractions are happening:

1. no = em + o

   • em = in / at
   • o = the (masculine singular)
     → em + o = no
   • no centro = in the center

2. da = de + a

   • de = of / from
   • a = the (feminine singular)
     → de + a = da
   • da cidade = of the city

Why da cidade and not do cidade?

• cidade is feminine, so its article is a / a cidade, not o.
• Therefore you must use de + a = da, not de + o = do.

So:

• no centro da cidade = in the centre of the city
• Literally: (in the) centre (of the) city

Can I move ontem to another place in the sentence, like you can move “yesterday” in English?

Yes. Common options include:

• Ontem a motorista perguntou-me se… (your version)
• A motorista perguntou-me ontem se…
• A motorista ontem perguntou-me se…

All are grammatical. The differences are mostly about rhythm and emphasis:

• Ontem a motorista… puts a bit more focus on when it happened.
• A motorista perguntou-me ontem… sounds slightly more neutral.

The one thing that does not change in European Portuguese is the position of me in this structure: you still say perguntou-me, not me perguntou, regardless of where ontem goes.

Is this sentence written style, or would people actually say it like this in Portugal?

People would absolutely say it like this in Portugal. It’s natural European Portuguese.

In ordinary conversation you might also hear small variations, for example:

• dropping eu:
  
  • Ontem a motorista perguntou-me se estava a estudar ou a trabalhar…
• using no centro without da cidade if the city is obvious:
  
  • …no centro.

But:

• Ontem a motorista perguntou-me se eu estava a estudar ou a trabalhar no centro da cidade.

is perfectly normal in both spoken and written European Portuguese.