The Preposition Comes First
In English the preposition trails: Who do you live WITH? Portuguese fronts it — always:
| Com quem vives? | Who do you live with? |
| De quem é esta mochila? | Whose backpack is this? |
| A quem deste o livro? | Who did you give the book to? |
| Para quem é o bolo? | Who is the cake for? |
| De que falas? | What are you talking about? |
There is no Portuguese sentence that ends ...vives com? — the preposition and its question word travel together to the front.
De quem é...? is THE ownership question, and the answer mirrors it: — De quem é esta mochila? — É da Rita.
| Whose backpack is this? | De quem é esta mochila? |
Asking Without Moving Anything
In speech, Portuguese can also leave the question word exactly where the answer would sit: Vives onde? (You live WHERE?), Chegas quando? It sounds natural and slightly informal — the rising intonation does the work.
| You live where? | Vives onde? |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
