Log inSign up

Olá, como te chamas?

Olá, como te chamas?
Hello, what is your name?
From Lesson 6:Introductions (chamar-se)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Olá, como te chamas?

olá
hello
como
how
chamar-se
to be called

Questions & Answers about Olá, como te chamas?

Why does the pronoun te come before the verb here (te chamas)? I thought it was supposed to come after.
In European Portuguese, pronouns usually attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen. However, certain words act like magnets and pull the pronoun in front of the verb. Question words like como (how) are magnet words. Because of como, the pronoun te is pulled to the front, making it como te chamas? instead of como chamas-te?.
If como means 'how', why does the English translation use 'what'?
In English, we ask 'what is your name?', but in Portuguese, the phrase uses the reflexive verb chamar-se, which literally means 'to call oneself'. So, the Portuguese sentence como te chamas? actually translates word-for-word as 'how do you call yourself?'.
Is this sentence formal or informal?
This is the informal way to ask someone their name. We know this because it uses the pronoun te and the verb ending -as (chamas), both of which belong to the informal 'you' (tu). If you wanted to ask a stranger politely, you would use the formal version: como se chama?.
Why is the word for 'you' (tu) missing from the sentence?
In Portuguese, you do not need to include the subject pronoun (like tu) because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action. The -as ending on chamas makes it perfectly clear that you are asking 'you'. You could say como tu te chamas?, but it is much more natural to drop the tu.

Learn Olá, como te chamas and more in Portuguese

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Portuguese →