Breakdown of Eu quero descobrir se o filme é português.
Questions & Answers about Eu quero descobrir se o filme é português.
You don’t have to say eu here.
Portuguese is a “pro‑drop” language, so the subject pronoun is often omitted when the verb ending already shows the person:
- Quero descobrir se o filme é português. – perfectly natural.
- Eu quero descobrir… – also correct; adds a bit more emphasis on I.
You’d normally keep eu if you want to contrast with someone else (e.g. Eu quero descobrir, mas ele não quer.).
In Portuguese, when one verb directly follows another like querer, the second verb usually stays in the infinitive:
- Eu quero descobrir… = I want to find out…
- Eu gosto de ver filmes.
- Eu preciso estudar.
So the pattern is [conjugated verb] + [infinitive], not two conjugated verbs in a row. Quero descubro is ungrammatical.
Yes, you can say:
- Eu quero saber se o filme é português.
It’s fully correct and very common.
Nuance:
- descobrir – focuses on the process of finding something out, “to discover”, “to find out”.
- saber – focuses on having the information, “to know”.
In this sentence, both are fine and very natural. Quero saber is slightly more neutral; quero descobrir subtly highlights the act of finding out.
In this sentence, se means “if / whether” introducing an indirect yes/no question:
- Quero descobrir se o filme é português.
→ I want to find out *if / whether the film is Portuguese.*
You cannot drop se here.
You use se whenever English uses if/whether in an embedded question:
- Não sei se ele vem. – I don’t know if he’s coming.
- Pergunta se ela está em casa. – Ask if she’s at home.
The natural word order is:
- …se o filme é português.
Putting o filme at the end (…se é português o filme) sounds very marked and unnatural in modern everyday Portuguese, except in some special poetic or emphatic contexts.
For normal speech and writing, keep:
- subject before verb: o filme é português, not é português o filme.
O filme = the film, referring to a specific film that both speaker and listener can identify.
Um filme = a film, non‑specific, any film.
In this sentence, the speaker clearly has one particular film in mind, so the definite article o is appropriate:
- Quero descobrir se o filme é português. – that specific film we’re talking about.
- Quero ver um filme português. – some Portuguese film, not a specific one yet.
Filme is masculine in Portuguese: o filme.
Adjectives normally agree in gender and number with the noun. For the adjective português, the main forms are:
- português – masculine singular (o filme português)
- portuguesa – feminine singular (a série portuguesa)
- portugueses – masculine plural (os filmes portugueses)
- portuguesas – feminine plural (as séries portuguesas)
So o filme é português matches masculine singular filme.
You use ser (é), not estar (está), for:
- nationality or origin
- permanent or defining characteristics
Being Portuguese (by language/national cinema/type of production) is seen as an inherent feature of the film:
- O filme é português. – The film is Portuguese (by origin/type).
Use estar for temporary states or conditions:
- O filme está muito popular este ano. – The film is very popular this year.
- O filme está disponível online. – The film is available online.
You can, but it’s slightly different:
- é português – usually means the film is Portuguese-language / Portuguese-made / from Portuguese cinema in a broad sense.
- é de Portugal – more literally “is from Portugal”, stressing geographical origin.
Often they overlap, but português is the more idiomatic adjective for language and nationality, just like English prefers “a Portuguese film” over “a film from Portugal” in most contexts.
Eu quero descobrir… is fine and neutral in most contexts.
In European Portuguese, for extra politeness or softness, people often use:
- Gostava de saber se o filme é português. – I would like to know…
- Queria saber se o filme é português. – literally I wanted to know…, used as a polite form of I’d like to know.
These sound a bit less direct than eu quero and are very common in service or formal situations.
In Portuguese, the present tense often expresses:
- current intentions and plans
- near‑future actions
So:
- Eu quero descobrir se o filme é português.
= I (now) have the wish/intention to find that out (probably soon).
Using the simple future quererei is very rare and sounds literary or very formal. For intentions, prefer:
- Quero descobrir…
- or Vou tentar descobrir… – I’m going to try to find out…
Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (Lisbon-style):
- Eu – like “eh-oo”, often reduced, sometimes almost just “ô”.
- quero – KEH-roo (first syllable like English “care” but shorter).
- descobrir – roughly dsh-kuh-BREER
- des- → often reduced: dsh or duhs
- -brir → close to “breer” with a rolled or tapped r.
- se – very short, like suh.
- o – usually just u (like the “oo” in “book” but shorter).
- filme – FEEL-mə (final e is a very short, almost muted “uh”).
- é – open “eh” (like in “egg”).
- português – pohr-tu-GEHSH (final -ês like “eish/sh”, with a strong “sh” sound).
Spoken quickly, words link together:
[eu]quero descobrirseofilmeéportuguês with many vowels reduced.
The sentence Eu quero descobrir se o filme é português is perfectly correct and understandable in both European and Brazilian Portuguese.
Minor differences:
- Pronunciation is quite different. Brazilian Portuguese has clearer vowels and a different r sound.
- In Brazil, you’d also very often hear Eu quero saber se o filme é português. (though this is also fine in Portugal).
Grammatically, the structure is the same in both varieties.