Question 1

Why do we use veio for 'nobody'?

Accepted Answer

veio is the past tense (Pretérito Perfeito) of the irregular verb vir (to come) for the 'he/she/you' form. Pronouns like ninguém (nobody) or alguém (somebody) always take the third-person singular verb form, just like 'ele' or 'ela'.

Question 2

Could I say aqui instead of cá?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but cá is much more natural here. Both mean 'here', but in European Portuguese, cá is heavily used with verbs of movement or direction, like vir (to come). The word aqui is usually preferred for exact, fixed locations without movement.

Question 3

If ninguém is a negative word, shouldn't there be a não before the verb?

Accepted Answer

You only need a double negative if ninguém comes after the verb, as in Não veio ninguém. Because ninguém appears before the verb in this sentence, it already makes the phrase negative on its own, so we do not add não.

Question 4

Why does porquê have an accent mark?

Accepted Answer

The Portuguese word for 'why' is spelled porquê (as one word, with an accent) when it stands completely alone or comes at the very end of a sentence or clause. If you were asking a question with 'why' at the beginning of the sentence, you would write it as two words without an accent: Por que.

Ninguém veio cá e não sei porquê.

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