Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O que tens nesse bolso? - What do you have in that pocket?

O que tens nesse bolso?

What do you have in that pocket?

Breakdown of O que tens nesse bolso?

in that (m/sg), nessa (f/sg), nesses (m/pl), nessas (f/pl)

Questions & Answers about O que tens nesse bolso?

How is the word "nesse" formed?

It is a contraction of the preposition em (in/on/at) and the demonstrative esse (that). In Portuguese, these two words combine into one: em + esse = nesse. Because bolso (pocket) is a masculine noun, we use the masculine form.

Why use "nesse" instead of "neste" here?

The word nesse (in that) is used when the object is close to the person you are talking to. Since the speaker is asking about a pocket on the listener's clothes, nesse is the perfect choice. If they were talking about a pocket on their own clothes, they would use neste (in this).

Why does the sentence start with "O que" instead of just "Que" for "What"?

While que means "what", it is very common in Portuguese to add the word o (the) before it when asking a direct question. Both are correct, but O que (literally "the what") is the most natural and frequent way to start questions like this.

Where is the word for "you" in this sentence?

The "you" is built right into the verb! tens is the informal "you" form (tu) of the verb ter (to have). Because this specific verb ending tells us exactly who is doing the action, the pronoun tu doesn't need to be included.