Breakdown of Tens aí a chave?
Questions & Answers about Tens aí a chave?
Why is there no word for "do" or "you" in this question?
In Portuguese, you don't need helper words like "do" to ask a question; you just raise your tone of voice at the end! Also, the verb tens specifically means "(you) have". Because the verb form already tells us who the subject is, the pronoun tu (you) is usually dropped. Why does the sentence use aí for "there" instead of ali?
Portuguese is very specific about locations! Aqui means "here" (near the speaker), aí means "there" (near the listener), and ali means "over there" (away from both). Because you are asking if the person has the key right there with them, you must use aí. Could I put the word aí at the end of the sentence instead?
Yes, you can. Tens a chave aí? is perfectly correct because Portuguese sentence structure is quite flexible. However, placing the short location word right after the verb, as in Tens aí a chave?, flows really well and sounds very natural to native speakers. The word chave ends in "-e". Is there a rule to know it is feminine?
Unfortunately, no. While words ending in "-o" are usually masculine and "-a" are usually feminine, words ending in "-e" can be either. For example, a chave (the key) is feminine, but o dente (the tooth) is masculine. It is best to always memorize "-e" words together with their "the" word (a or o). Learn Tens aí a chave and more in Portuguese
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