Emphasizing with prepositions (foi a ele que)

Emphasizing with Cleft Sentences

When you want to emphasize a specific detail in a sentence—like exactly who you danced with or what you tripped on at the carnival—Portuguese uses a structure called a cleft sentence. This involves wrapping the emphasized information between the verb ser and que.

In English, we often leave prepositions at the end of a sentence (e.g., "Was it him you threw the confetti at?"). In Portuguese, the preposition cannot be left dangling; it must stay firmly attached to the noun or pronoun it modifies, coming immediately after the verb ser.

The general structure is: [Ser] + [Preposition] + [Emphasized Noun/Pronoun] + que + [Rest of Sentence]

Notice how the tense of ser generally matches the tense of the main verb. If the action happened in the past, use foi:

If the action is happening in the present, use é:

Moving Required Prepositions

Many common verbs naturally require a specific preposition. When emphasizing the object of these verbs, that required preposition is pulled to the front of the sentence along with the noun.

For instance, verbs like esbarrar (to bump into) and tropeçar (to trip on) require the preposition em (in/on). When moved to the front, em still contracts normally with the following article (e.g., em + a = na):

Finally, if you are emphasizing a continuous or repeated background action in the past, ser takes its imperfect form, era: