Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O que lhes mostras?

O que lhes mostras?

What do you show them?

Breakdown of O que lhes mostras?

o que

what

lhes

to them / to you (plural formal)

mostrar

to show

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Questions & Answers about O que lhes mostras?

Why is lhes before the verb instead of attached to the end with a hyphen?

Usually, pronouns attach to the end of the verb in Portuguese, which would look like mostras-lhes. However, question words like O que act as magnets and pull the pronoun to the front of the verb. This movement is called proclisis.

Does lhes mean them or to them here?

It means to them. The verb mostrar (to show) gives something to someone, so it uses the indirect object pronoun lhes to represent the people being shown something.

How do we know the sentence is asking what you show, since the word tu is missing?

The ending of the verb mostras gives it away. The -as ending is only used for the tu (informal you) form. Because the ending makes it obvious, the actual word tu is usually left out of the sentence.

Why do we use O que for what, rather than just Que?

When asking What as a standalone question (like What do you show?), O que is the standard and most natural phrasing in Portuguese. We usually only use Que by itself when it is directly next to a noun, like Que livro (What book).