The Unique Plural of qualquer
In Portuguese, the word for "any" is qualquer. When modifying plural nouns, it takes a highly unusual form:
| any (plural) | quaisquer |
This is the only word in the Portuguese language that pluralizes in the middle rather than at the end. Because it is historically a combination of two words, qual (which pluralizes to quais) and quer, only the first half receives the plural treatment.
Use quaisquer before plural nouns to mean "any whatsoever" or to establish sweeping, open-ended conditions. Just like its singular counterpart, it is gender-neutral, meaning it stays exactly the same before both masculine and feminine nouns.
| Under any circumstances, we need to trigger the protocol. | Em quaisquer circunstâncias, precisamos de acionar o protocolo. |
| The contingency plan covers any scenarios. | O plano de contingência cobre quaisquer cenários. |
| They implement safeguards against any failures. | Eles implementam salvaguardas contra quaisquer falhas. |
Because it covers "all possible" variables, you will frequently see quaisquer used in formal contexts, contingency planning, and emergency protocols where every scenario must be accounted for.
| We mitigate any urgent incidents. | Mitigamos quaisquer incidentes urgentes. |
| Any safeguards fail without the correct procedure. | Quaisquer salvaguardas falham sem o procedimento correto. |