Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Quem te dá esse conselho?

Quem te dá esse conselho?

Who gives you that advice?

Breakdown of Quem te dá esse conselho?

quem

who

esse

that (esse, essa, esses, essas)

you (informal object)

dar

to give

Questions & Answers about Quem te dá esse conselho?

Why is the pronoun te before the verb dá instead of attached to the end?

Normally in European Portuguese, object pronouns like te attach to the end of the verb (like dá-te). However, question words like Quem (Who) act as magnets that pull the pronoun before the verb. This rule is called proclisis.

What is the subject of the verb dá in this sentence?

The subject is the question word Quem (Who). In Portuguese, just like in English, Quem takes the third-person singular form of the verb, which is why we use dá (he/she/it gives).

Why use esse instead of aquele for that?

In Portuguese, esse means that when referring to something near the person you are talking to, or something they just brought up in conversation. If the advice was conceptually distant from both the speaker and the listener, you would use aquele.

In English, advice is an uncountable word with no plural. Is that true for conselho?

No, unlike English, conselho is a regular countable noun. You can receive a single piece of advice (um conselho) or multiple pieces of advice (conselhos). In this sentence, esse conselho refers to one specific piece of advice.