Question 1

Why is the pronoun lhes before the verb (lhes dás) instead of attached to the end (dás-lhes)?

Accepted Answer

Usually in European Portuguese, pronouns attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen. However, question words like onde (where) act like a magnet, pulling the pronoun to the front of the verb. Because the sentence starts with Onde, it forces the pronoun to move, so we must say Onde lhes dás instead of Onde dás-lhes.

Question 2

Why do we use lhes here instead of another word for "them"?

Accepted Answer

Lhes is an indirect object pronoun, which answers "to whom" or "for whom" an action is done. In Portuguese, you give something to someone. Since you are giving the money to them, you use lhes (to them). If you were replacing the money itself, you would use a direct object pronoun like o (it).

Question 3

How do we know the sentence means "do you give" when there is no word for "you"?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, you can usually drop subject pronouns (like I, you, we) because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. The verb dás is the informal "you" (tu) form of the verb dar (to give). If you wanted to include it for emphasis, you could say Onde tu lhes dás o dinheiro?

Question 4

Why does dás have an accent mark?

Accepted Answer

The accent on dás tells you to stress that vowel, but it also has a very important second job: it tells this verb apart from the word das. Without the accent, das means "of the" or "from the" (a combination of de + as).

Onde lhes dás o dinheiro?

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