A ti, quem te convidou?

Breakdown of A ti, quem te convidou?

quem
who
convidar
to invite

Questions & Answers about A ti, quem te convidou?

Why do we have both a ti and te in the same sentence?
This is a common way to add emphasis or contrast in Portuguese. The pronoun te is the actual direct object of the verb, meaning "invited you". The phrase a ti is added at the beginning to strongly highlight who you are talking about, much like saying "And YOU..." or "As for you..." in English.
Why is the pronoun te placed before the verb (quem te convidou) instead of after it?
In European Portuguese, pronouns usually attach to the end of the verb. However, certain words act as "magnets" and pull the pronoun to the front. Question words like quem (who) are strong magnets, making it strictly quem te convidou rather than quem convidou-te.
Since te is a direct object here, why does the emphasis part use the preposition a (a ti)?
In Portuguese, whenever you use a stressed pronoun for emphasis (like mim, ti, or si), it must follow a preposition. The preposition a is the standard choice for pointing back to the direct or indirect object being emphasized, even though the verb convidar (to invite) takes a direct object and doesn't require a preposition itself.
Why is the verb in the third-person singular form (convidou)?
Even though the sentence is asking about "you" (ti and te), the grammatical subject of the verb is the question word quem (who). Just like in English, quem is treated as a third-person singular subject, which is why we use convidou.

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