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### Emphasizing the subject with *Quem*

To emphasize exactly *who* performed an action, use a structure similar to "The one who..." in English:

**Quem** + verb + **é** / **foi** + subject

Use **é** (is) for present situations and **foi** (was) for the past. This is especially useful for navigating office politics.

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Because the action is in the past (*provocou*), use *foi* before naming the leadership (*a liderança*).

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For a present action (*culpa*), use *é*.

### Assigning blame and responsibility

Use this structure to clarify who should take the blame or assume responsibility (*assumir a responsabilidade*).

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### Giving credit

You can use the exact same pattern to highlight who deserves a raise (*o aumento*), a promotion, or recognition (*o reconhecimento*).

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Emphasizing the subject (quem... é/foi)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

prep

preposition

pron

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstratives and the verb to be (isto é, o, a)

Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)

Yes/no questions and question words (quem, o que)

Plural pronouns, articles, and verbs (somos, são, os, as)

Origin and possession (de, do, da)

Introductions (chamar-se)

Indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)

The verb to be for locations (estar)

Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)

Preposition for locations (em, no, na)

Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)

The verb to have (tenho, tem)

Regular -ar verbs (falar, trabalhar)

Regular -er verbs (comer, beber)

Regular -ir verbs (abrir, partir)

My, your, and our (o meu, a nossa)

His, hers, and theirs (dele, dela)

Adjective agreement and placement

Days of the week (segunda-feira)

Months of the year (janeiro)

Counting by tens to 100 (trinta, quarenta...)

Telling time (é uma, são...)

Asking about time (quando, a que horas)

The verb to go (ir)

Prepositions of direction (a, para)

Preposition a contractions (ao, à, aos, às)

Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)

Demonstratives (este, esse, aquele)

Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)

Asking which and how many (qual, quanto)

Plurals ending in -ão (-ões, -ãos, -ães)

Plurals ending in consonants (-ns, -is, -es)

The verb to like (gostar de)

The verb to need (precisar de)

The verb to want (querer)

The verb can or may (poder)

Expressing obligation (ter de)

Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)

Quantifiers (muito, pouco)

Comparatives (mais... do que, menos... do que)

Equality comparisons (tão... como)

The preposition com (comigo, contigo)

Coordinating conjunctions (e, mas, ou, porque)

The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Double negation (nunca, nada, ninguém)

Present continuous (estar a)

Near future (ir)

Past tense of regular -ar verbs

Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs

Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)

Direct object pronouns (me, te, o, a, nos, os, as)

Pronoun placement with negatives and questions

Greetings and courtesy (bom dia, obrigado)

Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)

Asking the way (à direita, sempre em frente)

Colours (vermelho, amarelo, cor-de-rosa)

Money and shopping (custar, a moeda)

Getting around (o motorista, a paragem de autocarro)

Weather and seasons (faz calor, o inverno)

Omitting the subject pronoun

Where things are: ficar (Onde fica...?)

Richer questions: que + noun and é que

Numbers above 100 (cento e vinte, mil)

First-person sound changes (durmo, prefiro)

Advice and ability: dever and saber

Asking why: porquê and porque

When one thing happens: quando-clauses

Here and there: aqui, aí, ali (cá e lá)

Formal and plural possessives: o seu, o vosso

Irregular presents: ver, vir, dar

Present irregulars

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Stem-changing reflexives

Attached object pronouns (-lo, -la, -los, -las)

Nasal attached pronouns (-no, -na, -nos, -nas)

Pronoun placement with adverbs

Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

Past tense of ter, estar, poder, and saber

Past tense of querer and vir

Past tense of ver, dar, and ler

Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)

Time elapsed in the past (há)

Question	Answer
the disaster	o desastre
the leadership	a liderança
The one who caused the disaster was the leadership.	Quem provocou o desastre foi a liderança.
to blame	culpar
You must not blame the manager.	Não deves culpar o gerente.
The one who blames me for the mistake is the director.	Quem me culpa pelo erro é o diretor.
to assume	assumir
the responsibility	a responsabilidade
The director doesn't want to assume the responsibility.	O diretor não quer assumir a responsabilidade.
The one who must assume the blame is my colleague.	Quem deve assumir a culpa é o meu colega.
to deserve	merecer
the raise	o aumento
Maybe our team deserves the raise.	Se calhar, a nossa equipa merece o aumento.
The one who deserves the raise is the employee whose project won.	Quem merece o aumento é o funcionário cujo projeto venceu.
to promote	promover
Besides that, they don't want to promote you.	Além disso, eles não te querem promover.
The one who promoted the colleague was the boss.	Quem promoveu o colega foi o chefe.
the recognition	o reconhecimento
Given that you worked a lot, you deserve the recognition.	Dado que trabalhaste muito, mereces o reconhecimento.
The one who demanded the recognition was the author.	Quem exigiu o reconhecimento foi o autor.
the bonus	o bónus
The one who won the bonus was the woman that you helped.	Quem ganhou o bónus foi a mulher que ajudaste.
The boss didn't pay the bonus because of the disaster.	O chefe não pagou o bónus por causa do desastre.
I asked if the leadership is afraid of the change.	Perguntei se a liderança tem medo da mudança.
The one who has the responsibility is the person who approved this.	Quem tem a responsabilidade é a pessoa que aprovou isto.