Asking "Why" in Portuguese

Learn how to ask "Why?"

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Select your level

Or sign up using Facebook

By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.

Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Select your level

Or sign up using Facebook

By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.

Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

Oi, meu nome é Paloma. Hi everybody! I’m Paloma.

Welcome to PortuguesePod101.com’s “Português em Três Minutos”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Portuguese.

In the last lesson, we learned how to ask "Who" questions in Portuguese.

This time, we are going to ask questions with the interrogative word "Why?"

Imagine your boss is giving you a call because you are not at work today... He will certainly ask you Por que você não veio trabalhar hoje?

“Why didn’t you come to work today?”

[slowly] Por que você não veio trabalhar hoje?

So let’s break down this question.

First we had...

Por que, which is the basic translation of "Why" in Portuguese.

Você não veio means “you didn’t come”

Trabalhar which is "to

And finally hoje which is "today"

All together it is Por que você não veio trabalhar hoje?

So in Portuguese, Por que is the exact translation of "Why", used to ask the reason for something.

So for example, if your boss is asking you "Why are you late?" he will say Por que você está atrasado?

Here, he uses "Why" in order to get explanations and reasons.

Another common usage of Porque is to answer the question. But in this case, it becomes one word, porque.

So, in this case, porque? is closer to the meaning of "because." For example, you could excuse yourself for not going to work by saying Porque eu estou doente, meaning “Because I’m sick.”

Now it’s time for Paloma’s Points.

Porquê has also another meaning. The writing is a little different from the previous ones, but the reading is the same- porquê.

It means “reason” or “cause” as in O porquê da vida, “the reason of life”. This is the only porque that you can use in the plural form - Os porquês da vida, “the reasons of life”.

Before ending this lesson, Let’s review all the ways to translate "Why" in Portuguese-

- Por que is the basic translation of "Why," as in Por que você está atrasado? "Why are you late?"

- Porque which is "because”, as in “Because I have a fever.” Porque eu estou com febre.

This lesson is the last lesson of this Absolute Beginner’s video series.

But it’s hopefully not the last you learn about the Portuguese language! To take your language ability to the next level, check out PortuguesePod101.com, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Portuguese.

Até a próxima!!

Comments

Hide